Quote of the Day May 11, 2011

Lee fought with his back to the Potomac (shown here near Shepherdstown)

“in referring to criticisms that had been made on the great risks he had taken…that such criticisms were obvious but that the disparity of forces between the contending armies rendered the risks unavoidable.”  William Allan.  Lee discussing with William Allen the need for taking risks.  He was an ordnance officer in the ANV during the war and a faculty member at Washington College afterward and knew Lee there.  From Taken at the Flood Robert E. Lee & Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 by Joseph L. Harsh.  Kent:  The Kent State University Press, 1999 page 50.  Allan William.  The Army of Northern Virginia in 1862 by William Allan  (Dayton, Ohio:  Morningside House, 1984) page 200.