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Question: Which Confederate General was probably the reason the south lost the war!?
Not talking about Lee or Longstreet, but GettysburgWww@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
With those hints I would have to say Richard Ewell!.
He could have taken Cemetery Hill and should have a least taken Culp's Hill on Day 1!.

A case could be made for AP Hill also for engaging when he was ordered not to!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Well, who you're thinking of is General George Pickett, famous for "Pickett's Charge" on the third day of the battle!. However, if you really want to place the blame, do so of the other two generals that you mentioned!.

First off, the Confederate army had been stopped cold on the 2nd day of the battle due to two things: first, poorly coordinated attacks on the left flank of the Union, and poor decisions regarding who to send into battle!.

Remarkably then, Lee chose to stay for a third day, when he allowed the Union Army get between him and the South (the exact opposite of what the South wanted to do!.) Then, ignoring Longstreet's protests, Lee orders an attack on the center of the Union line, which the Federal army had been bolstering all day long!.

Longstreet then comes up with the only attack he could think of, a direct frontal assault using the remaining division from his corps (the other two had seen action already on day 2,) and used 2 from A!.P!. Hill's corps (under the command of Generals Pettigrew and Trimble!.) Pickett simply followed orders, and unfortunately, history has saddled the failure of the confederacy at Gettysburg onto him!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

True!. Stuart was missing and might have provided valuable reconnaissance!. However, I sincerely believe the South did not lose the war because of one general!.

Obviously, you're trying to think of someone specific, but I'm not sure who you're after!. Sorry!. It's possible the South never had any real shot at winning the war in the first place due to population and industrial deficiencies!. In addition to those arguments, which are more traditional, there are many other reasons posed as to why the South came up short!.

Added later: OK, yes, Dan gave you what you were looking for and makes good points about it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Many Southern generals made mistakes at Gettysburg - so did many Northern generals!. The South didn't lose the war because of he actions of a single general - if anything , the Southern armies were much better trained and more adept marksmen, with much better-qualified generals!. What really did in the South was economics - they eventually couldn't gather the money or resources to continue the war!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

I would disagree that the South was doomed from the start, although you make a good point up there about the simple economics of it!.

A better way to put that might be that the the Union always had the ability to triumph, however, it was not until the Abolitionist movement turned the war into an anti-slavery crusade that the North really took the initiative and found the will to win!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

J!. E!. B!. Stuart

His cavalry was notably missing on the first day of Gettysburg, leaving Lee blind to Union troop movements!.

This only facilitated this one battle, though!. The South lost the war not because of the actions of one general, but through the lack of resources!. You can't shoe a horse if you don't have the iron and you can't clothe men without textile mills to make the cloth!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The South had lost the war the moment they fired on Fort Sumter!. The inevitability of economics!.

However: of Gettysburg, Richard Ewell is supposed to have said, "It took many mistakes to lose Gettysburg, and I myself made most of them!." Www@QuestionHome@Com

The south lost the war because they lacked the man power and resources to defeat the Union Army, it wasn't a case of having poor leadership in the military!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Are you thinking of Ewell at Culp's Hill!?Www@QuestionHome@Com