Part of that was Grant's fault as he was a nondescrept, almost seed looking, fellow who didn't give a very good first impression. His stellar accomplishments have also been beslimed by Southern "Lost Cause" Apologist who could only deify Lee by denigrating the General who defeated him and because most Northerners didn't give a shit and wanted to get on with life, they ignored the Lost Cause apologist and thus Grants substantial historical accomplishments were denigrated. The view by many uninformed people on Grant was that he was an untalented butcher and a drunk who used overwhelming force to defeat the Confederacy, which is an unmitigated lie. So the propaganda published post war about Grant by the Lost Cause Apologist was effective.
But it doesn't take a whole lot of research to discover what a remarkable General Grant was. Unquestionably one of the top 2 or 3 generals this nation has ever produced. Certainly the best of the Civil War era Generals, though Sherman, Thomas and Forest were top notch Generals too. Forest in particular, given his background and character is a very interesting study. Forest was with out a doubt the best of the Confederate Generals followed closely by Johnston and Jackson. Lee, was a brilliant tactician and a genius at manuevers but over all was a mediocre General. Brilliant in defense, Lee blew chunks on the offensive and on strategy. Every time Lee went on the offensive it resulted in uneccessary and catastrophic strategic failure that played a large role in the Confederacy losing the Civil War. Lee went on the offensive in West Virginia and lost West Virginia and I'm sure you are well aware what strategic catastrophes Antietam and Gettysburg was for the Confederacy.
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