GDG- Lost Cause and Inevitibility

[George Connell]

Well, there are those who say, in a pejorative way, that if one maintains that the South was inevitably doomed to lose, because of the industrial and demographic disparities, that person is a "Lost Causer"--because a host of other variables made the outcome far from certain.

I don't disagree with that. Instead, I say that defeat was inevitable because of those Northern capabilities IF (note the big 'if') the Union maintained the will to fight. The other variables, in my opinion, are all of secondary importance.

Regards,

George
Semper Fi, do or die!

On Jan 22, 2012, at 18:22, CWMHTours at aol.com wrote:

> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:
> George-
> 
> I find myself a bit confused by what you posted.
> 
> What exactly do you mean by the "Lost Cause"  line?
> 
> I do believe that if the North had the will to resist  Southern secession 
> that the South was doomed.
> 
> But that depended on Lincoln.  Clearly the nation was  fortunate to have 
> the right man in the right place.
> 
> But, for the sake of discussion, in the spring of 1861 let's  say Buchanan 
> or George McClellan were (was?- the posts on language in here scare  me.) 
> president and decided to let the South go in peace without a war than that  
> would have been the end of it.
> 
> Had James Buchanan had a second term I can't see him raising  the might of 
> the North to bring down wrath on the South.
> 
> And certainly Lincoln was not elected in the fall of 1860  because his 
> supporters envisioned and predicted civil war.  It was just  good fortune the 
> nation had him.
> 
> Or, maybe, an act of God (Thank you God.) 
> 
> 
> "Just  the facts, ma'am." 
> 
> Your Most Obediant Servant
> Peter  
> 
> 
> In a message dated 1/22/2012 5:32:41 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
> general.jackson at yahoo.com writes:
> 
> Esteemed  GDG Member Contributes:
> 
> 
> From: George Connell  <georgeconnell at mac.com>
> To: GDG  <gettysburg at arthes.com> 
> Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2012  5:14 PM
> Subject: GDG- Lost Cause and Inevitibility
> 
> Esteemed GDG  Member Contributes:
> I have long been bothered by the belief that anyone who  maintains that the 
> South's defeat was inevitable as long as the Union retained  the will to 
> fight is a  "Lost Causer!"
> 
> I think this is an utterly  realistic assessment of the 'correlation of 
> forces' and a great example of why  the South was nuts to risk war.
> 
> What am I not  getting?
> 
> George 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------
> 
> Now  George, You know that just because the South was out-manned and  
> out-supplied...That had NOTHING to do with it....wink wink
> 
> As far as  the South being nuts to risk war always remember "It isn't the 
> size of the dog  in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the  dog".
> 
> 
> Respectfully,
> 
> William  Richardson
> Mount Gilead, North Carolina
> 
> " The  direct cause of the outbreak of the War Between The States was 
> slavery; the  direct object of the prosecution of the war was the preservation of 
> the Union.  "
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