I missed the initial discussion about Lee downstairs, but I wanted to add my two cents: Lee was a poor general because no matter how good a tactician he was, he totally failed to appreciate the overall strategic picture. And that strategic picture was that so long as Confederate forces were dependent upon foreign aid in order to wage war, they could never support the sustained operations necessary to force the Union to capitulate. Once the blockade began and that foreign aid was cut off, the Confederacy’s days were numbered.