Title: Confederate tide rising
First published: 1998
Description: n this reexamination of Confederate war aims, Joseph L. Harsh analyzes the military policy and grand strategy adopted by Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis in the first two years of the Civil War.

Recent critics of Lee have depicted him as a general of tactical brilliance, but one who lacked strategic vision. He has been accused of squandering meager military resources in vain pursuit of decisive victories during his first year in field command. Critics of Davis claim he went too far in adopting a “perimeter” policy which attempted to defend every square mile of Southern territory, scattering Confederate resources too thinly.

Harsh argues, to the contrary, that Davis and Lee’s policies allowed the Confederacy to survive longer than it otherwise could have and were the policies best designed to win Southern independence.
Subjects: Campaigns, History, History, Military, Military History, Military leadership, Military policy, Strategy, United States Civil War, 1861-1865
Places: Confederate States of America, United States
People: Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), Robert E. Lee (1807-1870)
Time periods: 19th century, Civil War, 1861-1865
LC classification: E487 .H34 1998