The more things change . . . .

In his 1959 book "To Appomattox: Nine April Days, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-Five," Burke Davis recounts this story told of General Robert E. Lee:

Once while entertaining a visiting dignitary, B.H.Hill, [General Lee] said quietly, "Mr. Hill, we made a great mistake in the beginning, and I fear it will be fatal."

"What is that, General?"

"Why, we appointed all our worst generals to command the armies, and all our best generals to edit the newspapers. I have given the work all the care and thought I could, and sometimes, when I was through, my plans seemed to me to be perfect. But when I have fought the campaigns I have discovered defects. When it was all over, I found by reading a newspaper that these editor-generals saw all the defects plainly from the start...but they did not tell me until it was too late."

Hill smiled uncertainly as Lee paused.

"I have done my best," Lee said, "but I haven't succeeded as I would like. I'm willing to yield my place to these best generals, and I will do my best for the cause by editing a newspaper."