Reply #32: Kind of muddled history - first of all, Jeb Stuart WAS the intelligence [View All]

[yellowcanine]

apparatus for Lee, so the statement doesn't quite make sense. It would make more sense to say, "If Lee had better intelligence....". But anyhow, it is still lousy history. Any Civil War historian worth his salt will tell you that the South was doomed from the start as a result of the overwhelming advantages the North had in industrial capacity, wealth, and manpower. It was only the tactical genius of the Southern generals (particularly Lee) combined with the ineptitude of the Northern generals (and possibly treason in the case of McClellan), save for Grant, that kept the war going as long as it did. Also it is absurd to suggest that the center of government of the United States would have been Richmond if the South had somehow won the war. There would have been two countries - if anything, the South would likely have moved ITS capitol to Washington, D.C. and demanded that Maryland and the other border states be incorporated into the Confederacy. The capitol of the North would have likely reverted to Philadelphia or New York City. The only reason Washington, D.C was the capitol in the first place was that it was a compromise location between the South and the North.