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In the June 1969 issue of Civil War History — Volume 5, Number 2, pages 116-132 — a renowned Southern historian attacked the legacy of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
"No single war figure stands in greater need of reevaluation than Lee," wrote Thomas L. Connelly, the late University of South Carolina professor. "One ponders whether the South may not have fared better had it possessed no Robert E. Lee."
Connelly's essay was among the first academic musket shots fired on Lee's standing as an outmatched but not outwitted military genius presiding over a Lost Cause — a reputation celebrated in fawning biographies and monuments like the one removed Friday in New Orleans.
Was General Lee overrated? Get your armchair historian on...
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The Truth About Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee: He Wasn’t Very Good at His Job
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I am a bookaholic. If you are a decent person, you will not sell me
another book.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 12 2017, @05:58AM (12 children)
Sometimes, great men are forced to make decisions that they don't like. Lee didn't fight for slavery, he fought for his home state. Big difference there. Of course, today's politically correct crowd are incapable of distinguishing the difference.
Another great man who should be honored, but is not, is Erwin Rommel. Rommel was among the most honorable men in Germany, and in Europe. A career soldier, who served his country, and served well. Historians don't all agree, but many say that he was part of a plot to kill Hitler. Agreed or not, Hitler and his cronies gave Rommel the option of suicide, or public execution. Rommel suicided.
Now - I wonder if you can identify the politician who ran for office in the United States, who enjoyed the fruits of slave black labor? Which of those well known candidates personally supervised black slaves, and had them punished when they got out of line?
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday June 12 2017, @06:19AM (1 child)
Like any country, they had their good and bad generals. August von Mackensen is respected in Serbia despite the fact that he was an enemy commander because of his behaviour towards the Serbs (Google "Serbian Heroes Rest Here" / "ОВДЕ ПОЧИВАЈУ СРПСКИ ЈУНАЦИ"). Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was another example, highly respected by both friend and foe alike because of his conduct.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 12 2017, @06:37AM
Thank you for that. I've heard of Mackensen, but know almost nothing about him. I had never heard of this monument before. My studies have been from the Anglo point of view, most of the time. There was a time, when good officers were taught to respect the enemy. If the enemy could make you bleed, he was a worthy opponent, and worthy of respect. If the enemy couldn't bleed you, then of course, there was no glory in oppressing him.
Today, we have forgotten all of that. Today, all enemies are ignorant barbarians. Today, we are mostly Indian Fighters, with that (then common) attitude, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian."
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Tuesday June 13 2017, @02:06AM (7 children)
I wonder, do you mean Hillary Clinton?
While I find the practice of slavery in all its forms, including the enslaving the incarcerated, repugnant, there is a significant difference: that form of slavery has not been made illegal.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @02:34AM (6 children)
Ahhhh - relativism. If it's not been made illegal, then it's not so bad. Or less bad. Excusable, anyway. Got it.
Anyway, here's one lady's take on the issue: https://kmgarcia2000.blogspot.com/2016/01/hillary-clintons-house-slaves.html [blogspot.com]
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Tuesday June 13 2017, @03:11AM (5 children)
That's a gross mis-characterization of what I wrote.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @01:45PM (4 children)
Oh, well, I do that sometimes. Whatever, that's the attitude from the left. And, the right. It's not really slavery unless you call them slaves, or something like that.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Tuesday June 13 2017, @03:01PM (3 children)
You know who else has benefited from slavery? Pretty much everyone in the USA.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @03:55PM (2 children)
Yeah, well, some benefited directly, others benefited indirectly, and others benefited not so much, while yet others benefited not at all. As for me and mine, we don't have one single slave owner in our lineage. Not one. The Native Americans in mine and my wife's ancestry practiced something similar to slavery, but after a generation or two, the slave's descendants were part of the tribe. It's only the white men in America who settled on that slavery into perpetuity bullshit. That's a very special flavor of poison.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Wednesday June 14 2017, @04:01AM (1 child)
No, I mean you, now.
Slavery exists in many countries. I suspect that you have bought products that have been made with slave labor, either abroad, or in a US prison. Not deliberately, because it's impossible for an ordinary person to know where many of the products you buy come from.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 14 2017, @01:48PM
I did miss your point. Sorry.
I try to avoid things that are probably made with slave labor. But, as you say, it's hard to know which is which. We can't assume anything, either. Wal-Mart has taken heat for purchasing items made in sweat shops, especially after a fire a couple years ago. Where is the line drawn between a sweat shop, and slavery? I think when the plant manager locks the doors to keep employees inside, he's on the wrong side of the line.
(Score: 1) by lars_stefan_axelsson on Tuesday June 13 2017, @08:44AM (1 child)
Before putting Rommel on that pedestal you might want to e.g. watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw1UJCwcgNc [youtube.com]
It's not so black and white, and Rommel was most definitely not part of the 20 July plot. But the plotters sure wanted him to be, and that's why he was implicated.
Stefan Axelsson
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:14PM
I'm fairly sure that Rommel is worthy of admiration, with or without the Desert Fox mystique. The video does make a very good point though. That whole Desert Fox thing is basically propaganda. At the same time, Rommel was as good as Sherman in the US Civil War, with the added benefits of mechanization. Where Sherman could move troops fifty miles, Rommel could move his troops a hundred and fifty. Sherman would probably have given both of his testicles for Rommel's motor vehicles, especially the panzers. Any of the armor, really.