If the Confederacy had survived

[Mr.Bigglesworth]

Originally posted by IEX Totalview
Still, considering Grant outnumbered Lee almost 2:1, expecting an outright victory would not have been unreasonable.

Lee was also a great commander, and Lee was on the defensive. Everywhere Grant tried to move to cut off Richmond, Lee was already there and putting up fortifications and trenches.

I also beleive that Sherman coming up from the south was what caused the ANV to break. Lee was forced out of his defensive position, and forced to attack before he was hit on both sides and cut off from his supplies. Sheridan's scorched earh policy in the Shenandoah kept the ANV from being supplies from Virginia.

 

[Mr.Bigglesworth]

Originally posted by Helium Hound
I mentioned the battle of the crater because it showed how willing Grant was to take casualties to win a battle.

They did take a number of casualties, but I don't think that was Grant's intention. The reason they created the crater was that they did not want to risk a frontal assault against the fortifications.

Originally posted by Helium Hound
PS I thought that thing about NYC, and their army had to do with the large Irish population?

There probably were a lot of Irish in NYC, and they were the most under-represented immigrant group in the Union army. NYC also had a large number of unskilled workers who didn't want their jobs taken by blacks and so voted Democratic.