irreplaceable veteran troops needed against Union forces already enjoying a 2:1 numerical superiority. Thus, despite losing fewer men in each battle of the Overland Campaign, Lee lost higher percentages of his forces.9 Many historians and southern generals such as Jubal Early argue that strategy of attrition lengthened the war by forcing him to fight a yearlong Grant’s campaign of trench warfare.10 While this argument has merit as Union tactical blunders prolonged the campaign (E.g. Cold Harbor), it fails to consider that strategy depleted Grant’s resources at a faster rate than Grant pressured army until it could no longer Lee’s Grant’s. Lee’s retreat and thus broke due to lack of manpower culminating in surrender at Appomattox Lee’s Courthouse.11 Thus, strategy accomplished what all previous Union strategies had failed Grant’s to do: destroy army and expedite the end. Additionally, the campaign caused Lee to Lee’s war’s lose experienced officers such as J.E.B. Stuart. In 20 days of fighting at Spotsylvania Courthouse, Lee lost 20 general officers.12 These losses forced the Confederate army to fight defensively behind trench lines as Lee was forced to rely upon inexperienced officers who could not be trusted with offensives to exploit local Union blunders. strategy of attrition Grant’s expedited the war by directly killing irreplaceable troops and officers necessary for Lee’s offensive-defensive strategy to succeed. Destroying Southern Morale Due to the upon Southern manpower, the campaign quickly ended the campaign’s effects war by destroying all preexisting Southern hopes for victory. steady advance forward Grant’s boosted Union morale while weakening Southern morale. Southerners became demoralized and incapable of sustaining the war due to the shortages of materials and their extreme lack of manpower. This loss of morale is evidenced in that the Mary Chesnut’s diary entry stating
irreplaceable veteran troops needed against Union forces already enjoying a 2:1 numerical superiority. Thus, despite losing fewer men in each battle of the Overland Campaign, Lee lost higher percentages of his forces.9 Many historians and southern generals such as Jubal Early argue that Grant’s strategy of attrition lengthened the war by forcing him to fight a yearlong campaign of trench warfare.10 While this argument has merit as Union tactical blunders prolonged the campaign (E.g. Cold Harbor), it fails to consider that Grant’s strategy depleted Lee’s resources at a faster rate than Grant’s. Grant pressured Lee’s army until it could no longer retreat and thus broke due to lack of manpower culminating in Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.11 Thus, Grant’s strategy accomplished what all previous Union strategies had failed to do: destroy Lee’s army and expedite the war’s end. Additionally, the campaign caused Lee to lose experienced officers such as J.E.B. Stuart. In 20 days of fighting at Spotsylvania Courthouse, Lee lost 20 general officers.12 These losses forced the Confederate army to fight defensively behind trench lines as Lee was forced to rely upon inexperienced officers who could not be trusted with offensives to exploit local Union blunders. Grant’s strategy of attrition expedited the war by directly killing irreplaceable troops and officers necessary for Lee’s offensive-defensive strategy to succeed. Destroying Southern Morale Due to the campaign’s effects upon Southern manpower, the campaign quickly ended the war by destroying all preexisting Southern hopes for victory. Grant’s steady advance forward boosted Union morale while weakening Southern morale. Southerners became demoralized and incapable of sustaining the war due to the shortages of materials and their extreme lack of manpower. This loss of morale is evidenced in Mary Chesnut’s diary entry stating that the
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