Happy April 9

[striker42]

https://www.historyonthenet.com/comp...y-in-contrasts

It took a certain amount of perspective (in the form of 50 years and some non-American historians) to properly begin the process of appraising Grant and Lee as generals.

One of the problems with a lot of treatments of each man is that they're in books with the point of these books being to sell. If you wrote a book saying "Lee and Grant were generals of their time that made some brilliant and some foolish moves" you wouldn't sell many copies. You need to either paint Grant/Lee as a hero or as a villain or your books aren't going to sell well.

[nsacpi]

One of the problems with a lot of treatments of each man is that they're in books with the point of these books being to sell. If you wrote a book saying "Lee and Grant were generals of their time that made some brilliant and some foolish moves" you wouldn't sell many copies. You need to either paint Grant/Lee as a hero or as a villain or your books aren't going to sell well.

There is also the statistical or moneyball approach to evaluating generals. I linked this a while back in another thread. As a rule, I think every country's historians bring a bit of baggage to writing about their own country. Better to read what the fereiners think. They are less likely to have an axe to grind.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/might...by-statistics/

Btw I don't think there is much doubt that Napoleon was the greatest military genius of all time. But he left his country in tatters! I have an ancestor who was slightly intertwined with him. He was allegedly part of a plot to assassinate Napoleon. He was sent into exile for it. One of the lucky ones. Most of the others were executed.

[striker42]

There is also the statistical or moneyball approach to evaluating generals. I linked this a while back in another thread. As a rule, I think every country's historians bring a bit of baggage to writing about their own country. Better to read what the fereiners think. They are less likely to have an axe to grind.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/might...by-statistics/

I cannot even begin to imagine how you'd moneyball generals.

[nsacpi]

I cannot even begin to imagine how you'd moneyball generals.

The basic approach is to compile data on the forces each has at his disposal and also take into account which one is attacking and which one is defending. From that you formulate probability of winning. Let's say the odds are 70% General A wins the battle in question. If he wins then he gets a +0.3 and the other guy gets a -0.3. If he loses he gets a -0.7 and the other guy gets a +.7. Rinse and repeat for the rest of his career. It's a kind of Wins Above Replacement level concept, similar to baseball.