RPTM Podcast Episode 48: The American Civil War Part Five

I would be remised if I didn't mention the characters on the stage of the American Civil War. I genuinely find history to be formulaic, almost like a math equation. If A happens while B also happens, then C will be the outcome. This is a comical worldview for anyone who truly knows me, as I greatly disdain all things math-related. The people and the places are almost interchangeable for me. What ultimately drives the story, narrative, or however you wish to view the past is the events and place, not so much the individuals. I will admit that this is almost a too simplistic view and most likely deeply flawed logic. My only rational defense is, in the words of the great animated philosopher of the 20th century, Popeye the Sailor Man, "I Yam What I Yam and Dats What I Yam!" 

This all being said, credit needs to be given where credit is due. The larger-than-life cast of players, movers and shakers, and the like during the war are significantly examined within the realm of academia and our textbooks. Historians have steered books and, in some instances, their entire career in the service of retelling and analyzing civil war generals. This interests me less than most because I look at the more significant concepts to answer why instead of fine combing everything mundane detail like a forensic scientist. You could say I see the forest, not the trees kind of historian. I wish not to be overwhelmed by detail to the point where it obscures the overall situation. But let us not do a great disservice to you. Without a doubt, there are tales to be told from some serious heavy hitters like Robert E Lee to William T Sherman. Make sure to bring your microscope for this investigation.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Robert E. Lee renamed his command the Army of Northern Virginia, and under his direction, it would become the most famous and successful of the Confederate armies. This organization also boasted some of the Confederacy's most inspiring (and villainous) military figures, including James Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson, and the flashy cavalier J.E.B. Stuart. 
• In March 1864, President Lincoln elevated Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of lieutenant general and named him general-in-chief of the Armies of the United States. Making his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, Grant was determined to destroy Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia at any cost.
• George McClellan is one of those generals who looks great on paper. McClellan was a great organizer, a West Point-trained engineer who did much to build the Union army almost from scratch.  But he was too conservative by nature. Despite Lincoln's pleas for aggressive action, his Army of the Potomac moved hesitantly. 
• It might not seem like it to some, but the American Civil War greatly impacted the development of the sport of wrestling. Men like George Flagg honed their skills in soldier camps and left the Army as top-notch wrestlers. 
• Robert Smalls was Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil War by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, CSS Planter, in Charleston harbor, on May 13, 1862, and sailing it from Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the U.S. blockade that surrounded it.

CHAPTERS
0:37 Intro
2:40 Robert E. Lee
8:48 Ulysses S. Grant
14:00 George B. McClellan
19:21 George W. Flagg
24:14 Robert Smalls
30:10 Outro

RESOURCES
Robert E. Lee
Ulysses S. Grant
9 Worst Generals in History
These Are the Five Worst Generals of All Time
Lincoln removes General McClellan from Army of the Potomac
Flagg, George W.
Which Slave Sailed Himself to Freedom?
Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls Pt. 2: Steering the CSS Planter