The erratic
effort of the Confederate, heroic though it was, yet failed to
achieve the maximum result just because it was erratic. Moreover, two
serious evils attended that excessive egotism and individuality which
came to the Confederate through his training, association, and
habits. He knew when a movement was false and a position untenable,
and he was too little of a machine to give in such cases the
wholehearted service which might have redeemed the blunder. The other
evil was an ever-growing one. His disregard of discipline and
independence of character made him often a straggler, and by
straggling the fruit of many a victory was lost."* (* Southern
Historical Society Papers volume 13 page 261.)
General Lee was not less outspoken. A circular issued to his troops
during the last months of the war is virtually a criticism on their
conduct. "Many opportunities," he wrote, "have been lost and hundreds
of valuable lives uselessly sacrificed for want of a strict
observance of discipline. Its object is to enable an army to bring
promptly into action the largest possible number of men in good
order, and under the control of their officers. Its effects are
visible in all military history, which records the triumph of
discipline and courage far more frequently than that of numbers and
resources.
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