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Bad ones.

The Southern President (Jefferson Davis) was an ex-Army officer, who had hoped to be General-in-Chief of all the Confederate armies, and did not appreciate being 'kicked upstairs'.

He showed no strategic insight, and tended to clash with his Generals. He effectively lost the war in the West, by urging the commander of the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi to hold Vicksburg at any cost - while the area commander was urging the same General to evacuate the place and save his army.

Meanwhile, the brilliant Robert E. Lee was displaying a blind spot about the West - he was so dedicated to the defence of his home-state, Virginia. In an effort to invade the prosperous state of Pennsylvania, to feed and clothe his barefoot and starving troops, he almost lost his army.

That double defeat was the beginning of the end for the Confederacy - in battlefield terms, at least. After that, they just had to hope that Lincoln would be voted-out in November 1864. (He wasn't).

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12y ago

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