I often refer to the Lost Cause myth — the story spun by leaders of the Confederacy after their bid to destroy the country was defeated on the battlefield — as one of the few examples in history I know of where the losers got to frame what happened. Normally that’s a privilege that goes to the victors.

One prominent aspect of that myth involves Robert E. Lee, often considered to be the Confederacy’s leading military leader. Or genius, depending on who you talk to. “Lee never allowed a negative word to be said about Grant after the war” is an oft-quoted testament to his nobility.

Noble traits he may have had . He was a Virginian, after all, and their upper classes held such characteristics in high regard.

But military genius? That’s open to argument. Talented, yes. But the facts on the ground paint a more complex, and interesting, picture.

Of course, what’s on that particular patch of ground has been heavily modified by the Lost Cause team. A clearer picture emerges from an article written by William Tecumseh Sherman, the Union general who marched through Georgia (and the Carolinas), putting the fear of god in the Confederacy’s heartland.

The article was prompted by a particularly laudatory piece written by a British general some years after the Civil War. It’s relatively short, and quite well-written.

Plus, it highlights another very important Union general, George Thomas. Who, like Lee, was a Virginian…but whom, unlike Lee, abided by his oath to the country he was sworn to serve and fought very hard to defeat the Confederacy, which had violated the Constitutional framework simply to maintain slavery, the source of much of their wealth.

Enjoy!