One of the things I had to memorize as a plebe at West Point, besides esoteric stuff such as ‘How’s the Cow’ was an interesting piece of not-so-trivia: In sixty of the major battles of the Civil War, West Pointers commanded both sides. In the other five, they commanded one side.
I always found that tidbit troublesome for a number of reasons.
First, was that so many West Pointers became traitors to the country they’d sworn to defend. I’ve heard and read all the various excuses why they did that, but the bottom line is they made the decision to fight against their own country.
Secondly, it explained why the war was so bloody and lasted so long. The commanders on both sides knew each other. They’d been taught by the same people. They’d studied the same strategy and tactics. In the first major engagement, Bull Run, both commanders came up with the same plan. In fact, it was the failure of the Confederates to swiftly implement their plan that allowed them to succeed; that’s how war works. It’s as much luck as skill. Also subliminal but important: many were friends despite now wearing different uniforms. They had deep bonds as members of the Long Gray Line. For example, there is an unsubstantiated long-standing story that James Longstreet was Ulysses S. Grant’s best man at his wedding. What is certain is those two spent three years…
