A pile of generals should have been shot for dereliction and criminal negligence in that war.
When you lead millions of men and boys to their death, ignorance is no excuse.
The parallels with the later stages of the US Civil War are remarkable. So it wasn't new.... though heavy machine guns in the thousands (and gas) was new.
I have not seen it but I understand about how some generals fight. Some never learn from the past. I saw it in Vietnam, Take that hill and then leave it and go back in 6 months and do it again. When you get it keep it. The movie WE Were Soldiers, I was a scout in the 1st Air Cav and saw first hand the mistakes that were made with ground troops. There is nothing wrong with retreating regrouping and getting back in the fight. There were times they did not listen to us scouts, do not send troops in yet, shell the place with arty some more. Then they would not let us go back and pull them out and the outcome was not pretty. Some real blunders from the past never were changed. I always said study your enemy fight like your enemy and become your enemies enemy.