Civil War History - "What if..." DiscussionsWhat if they had attacked instead of digging in...? What if he was in charge of the army instead...? Did you ever have a "What if..." question, and you weren't sure where to post it? Here's the place to ask these speculative questions!
With, Lee in command the army would have performed much better. At this point in the conflict, Lee wouldn't have been able to pull out a victory for the south. The supply lines from Tenn. were already gone, and Vicksburg was lost, and even though not extremely effective, the blockade was in place. Most blockade runners, were bringing in high dollar luxury items instead of weapons.
If Lee had led in the West and some other commander in the East, would not the war had been over much more quickly?
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
An interesting angle on this, would be Lee's knowledge that without open supply lines, the South was doomed. It would be interesting if he might could have set a plan of attack, that would have reopened the lines of supply in western Tenn. Then eventually making his way south, to try to win back Vicksburg, which if successful, may have changed the outcome of the war.
If Lee was transferred to the Army of Tennessee, chances are that Longstreet, might have taken over the AONV. What events, do you think might have happened, that would have shortened the war?
Makes for an interesting scenario, doesn't it? Old Pete was a man who liked being on the defensive, or so I have been led to believe.
It seems to me, maybe is the operative word here? What if Bragg had taken over the ANV? Talk about a short war! Why would Lee give up Longstreet? Wouldn't he just take his staff or would he want some of his best commanders to come along? This is the 'hell' of what ifs. You can just about head off in any direction and come up with entirely different outcomes, especially the outcomes you would like to see!
What if Lee had taken over the AOT and met Grant early on at Shiloh? Or Vicksburg? My, my, wouldn't that have been interesting! I have no idea what the outcome there would have been.
Still, its nice to suppose every once in a while, isn't it?
Sincerely,
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
Another question that could be asked is what if Lee had been transferred to the AOT, and Joe Johnston had retaken command of the ANV. Now that would have made for an interesting scenario, and dare I say a different outcome.
Standing in lines facing the foe with a semblance of Napoleonic tactics, the outcome was mass graves either way. After 1862 the outcome would have had similar effects despite the results. Governing on a national scale afte the war would have been an impossible task either way. I think there was too much money at stake to split the nation for long. Heaven forbit the alternative.
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