Donald Trump spoke at a rally in Lebanon, Ohio, Friday and decided to give a little Civil War history lesson to illustrate a point about native Ohioan Ulysses S. Grant.

It’s not surprising that Twitter exploded in rage:

Robert E. Lee was not a great general, President Trump. He waged a war to hold onto the legal institution of white supremacy. https://t.co/TZvUood3kg — Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) October 13, 2018

And now that Lost Cause "history" is being perpetuated by President of the United States. Robert E. Lee was not an incredible general. And monuments to his name are not "beautiful." — Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) October 13, 2018

Robert E Lee was part of a faction that was willing to rip this nation apart to protect its own interests at the expense of other people & the Constitution. https://t.co/1OV96ytz79 — Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) October 13, 2018

Robert E. Lee was a traitor and a loser. Just like Donald J. Trump. — Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) October 13, 2018

Seven thousand Ohioan soldiers–fighting for the Union–were killed during the Civil War. Trump praises Robert E. Lee, who led the troops that killed them. And Trump's Ohio supporters cheer. Now that's deplorable. — David Corn (@DavidCornDC) October 13, 2018

You know what? All of this is true — to one degree or another.

But Trump never said that Robert E. Lee was a great person. He said he was a great general. And therein lies the story. Left-wing hysterics are entitled to their opinion about Lee, Grant, Lincoln, and Trump. But Robert E. Lee’s generalship, while much criticized, is considered by many historians to be without peer in U.S. military history — and not just revisionist historians of the “Glorious Lost Cause.”

Several of his victories are studied to this day at military academies around the world. He did more with less than any other general except perhaps George Washington. And perhaps the surest sign that Lee was a great general was the way the men under his command felt about him.

Say what you will about him, but just because he was a slave owner doesn’t make him a poor general.

Trump, however, bollixed up the story on Lee and Grant, demonstrating a Bluto-like knowledge of history.

“So Robert E. Lee was a great general. And Abraham Lincoln developed a phobia. He couldn’t beat Robert E. Lee,” Trump said before launching into a monologue about Lee, Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. “He was going crazy. I don’t know if you know this story. But Robert E. Lee was winning battle after battle after battle. And Abraham Lincoln came home, he said, ‘I can’t beat Robert E. Lee,’ ” Trump said. “And he had all of his generals, they looked great, they were the top of their class at West Point. They were the greatest people. There’s only one problem — they didn’t know how the hell to win. They didn’t know how to fight. They didn’t know how,” he continued. Trump went on to say, multiple times, that Grant had a drinking problem, saying that the former president “knocked the hell out of everyone” as a Union general. “Man was he a good general. And he’s finally being recognized as a great general,” Trump added.

To quote Boon, “Forget it. He’s rolling.”