Elements of Influence

CHAPTER 7FINDING INSPIRATIONAppealing to Values and Modeling

In the third summer of the American Civil War, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, and Robert E. Lee, commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia, hatched a bold plan they hoped would force an end to the war. Months earlier, the South had won the Battle of Chancellorsville and the Union Army, commanded by Joseph Hooker, was retreating. Fledgling peace movements were gaining ground in the North as politicians despaired over a series of military defeats, and the will to continue the struggle wavered. Lee reasoned that if he attacked north through Pennsylvania and swung east to threaten Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, morale in the Union states would plummet ...