Shew...only took me the better part of a decade. Great read. Or reads. It has only reinforced my opinion that the war was won (or lost, depending on the perspective of the combatants) in the west. The south didn't have much of a chance to win a protracted war of attrition anyway. But they doubled down on it by ignoring Frederick the Great's warning: "Those who try to defend everything defend nothing." Critical manpower losses trying to defend places like Fort Donelson and Vicksburg were just horrible decisions by the commanders on the spot. There was no centralized command to make those decisions, and the regional commanders messed it up big time. Doubtful that it would have changed the overall result, though the extra 12k troops that surrendered at Fort Donelson may have tipped the scales at Shiloh, and if that had been the case Grant likely never would have been made CinC. Now...re-reading The British Are Coming before I dive into The Fate Of The Day. ** Edited by Chris Coleman at 5/7/2025, 9:09:10 AM ** Edited by Chris Coleman at 5/7/2025, 9:09:37 AM