What if Lee has accepted command of the AOP

[rbenne]

One big "if" I have never seen here.

I seem to remember Lee being offered command of the AOP, Union that is. What if he had accepted and stayed Union?

The arguably most competent general in the war on the Union side at the start of the war......


(Message edited by rbenne on April 10, 2004)

[unionblue]

Ray,

What a great 'what if!' Could this be the one act that could have shortened the war? Hard to say, isn't it? Would Lee been able to whip all those political generals into line? Good question!

Unionblue

[rbenne]

Neil;

Would he even have had to? What might have happened at first bull run?

it might have been a short war....

The war should have been shortened considerably. Almost everyone, that has studied the war, gives the genius of Lee, the reason, for its length. Just think, without Lee, Stonewall Jackson, may have been in complete charge of the AONV, then we would have had Lee versus Stonewall.

Charlie

[gary]

Lee would have compelled Johnson to retreat beyond Richmond. Gotta catch Uncle Joe before you can fight him.

[rbenne]

Charlie;

That opens a huge can of "what if".

How would Lee done against Jackson? The possibilities are endless.

With Stonewall's strong points, being planning and attacking, and Lee's being defense, and counter punching, I wouldn't have any idea, where to start, with the possibilities, of what might have happened, had those two Generals, had come face to face on a battlefield.

Charlie

[gary]

In this hypothetical, we're only switching army commanders.

Jackson would have added the aggressive element to Johnston. Johnston would attack only when he had the advantage. Jackson would have prodded him at every opportunity that he saw.

Even if Lee was with the Army of the Potomac, if he had a bunch of political generals (and he seemed to initially favor balancing the generals from among the states - see Douglas Freeman's Lee's Lieutenants), he would have had some of the same incompetents that needed to be weeded out. Ultimately Lee with his greater resources (and he would have stiffened up the command structure in time) would prevail. As I said earlier, Johnston was predisposed towards a fighting retreat and would have yielded Richmond before his army was destroyed.

[rbenne]

Gary;

Using your input and my crystal ball....

First bull run stays about the same. However, AOT is reorganized faster and the march to richmond happens sooner and far more effectivly.

Richmond falls to Lee's Union Army, war continues, ends late 1862/early 1863 with a confederate surrender.

[gary]

Would the capture of a nation's capital signal the end of the war though? That was certainly the mentality in previous wars during the Napoleonic conflicts. However, the British capture and burning of Washington, D.C. and Napoleon's capture of Moscow didn't result in victory. Jeff Davis would have pulled up his coat-tails and fled just like he did in 1865.

The other states (and perhaps many soldiers) would have been discouraged but whether collapse was imminent following the loss of Richmond is debatable.