re: #1376 windsagio

There’s a serious fallacy in your post, referring to the rebels as ‘better man-to-man’. It may have been the case in a situation of hardened criminals/ex-soldiers vs. townspeople, but in the context of the war, its very very far from true.

It’s that much of the disparity early on was really about leadership, you’re right. The South did have better battle leaders for the first part of the war and that made a difference. Once the Union found Generals who could win battle such as George Gordon Meade, and Ulysses Simpson Grant, the Southern edge was eroded.