Not to lionize Lee, but direct comparisons probably aren't a good metric. One has to consider the North's considerable advantages in battle a few of which were greater numbers, better technology, and the superior condition of its troops. The one advantage the South had was that it was consistently on the defensive in its own territory.
Even so, Grant did not always win the war of numbers. In the Wilderness campaign, despite outnumbering Lee 5-3, Grant lost something like 17% while Lee lost less than 13% This was followed by Spotsylvania where Grant lost an incredible 33% to Lee's 18%. Subsequently, at the lopsided Cold Harbor Grant lost 12% (7,000 in under an hour), Lee 4%.
This series of battles in May 1864 is probably where Grant gets his "bulldozer" reputation. Union Casualties for the month were ~52,000 while the Confederates suffered ~23,000.
I wanted to add that one of the innovations of the war, especially by the Confederates was the widespread use of trenches as a defensive tactic. Lee, when he first took command, was nicknamed the "King of Spades" for his use of entrenchments in the Peninsula campaign (1862) and General Longstreet is credited with the invention of the traversed trench as described in Foote's second volume:
"Formerly, (trench) works had been little more than long, open ditches, with the spoil thrown forward to serve as a parapet, which gave excellent protection from low trajectory fire from dead ahead but were vulnerable to flank attack and the lateral effect of bursting shells. To offset these two disadvantages - particularly the latter, intensified by the long range rifled cannon of the Federals, firing from positions well beyond the reach of most Confederate batteries - Longstreet's engineers had broken the long ditches into quite short, squad sized rifle trenches, staggered in depth, disposed for mutual support, and connected by traverses which could be utilized against flank attacks and afforded solid protection from all but direct artillery hits."
The ability of the Confederates to quickly throw up these defenses was what enabled Lee to not only hold off Grant's superior force in the battles mentioned above, but inflict such terrible casualties upon them that the Federal soldiers preparing for an assault took to pinning name labels to their uniforms.
Doug
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