What if Gen, Hood had not fallen at Gettysburg..

[5fish]

What if Gen Hood had not been struck down in the early moments of his attack on the union's far left at Gettysburg? Would LRT have fallen to the AL. regiments?

If you look at his attack he chose to his digression and change the attack. It looks like he was going to pivot on one brigade and swing his division around on the union left. A bigger flanking move then either Lee and Longstreet envision.

Remember, those 4 Al. regiments that attack LRT never got any support because the original brigades cut their flanking motion short and the reserve regiments were not used wisely.

Once Gen Hood was struck down the brigade leaders and regimental leaders were on their own.

Gen. Law was unable to exercise control once Gen Hood had fallen.

Think, if those Al. regiments would had got some reserve support, they would have taken LRT...or if the flanking motion Hood had sent his division on had been guide right...LRT would have fallen to the confederates...

Day3 at Gettysburg would have been completely different....no Pickett's charge. Maybe a Union retreat??

[5fish]

There is no excitement about this "What if". If one thinks about it Gen. Hoods attack on the far left of union line was the key to Longstreet's attack.

Mclaw and the others were in support of Gen, Hood rolling up the union left.

It looks like Hood had his own plans but was injured to early in his attack to complete it. Once he was down his division went on autopilot. The important thing was that his reserve units enter the fight on their own accord. Which means they were most likely not used where they were most needed.

LRT those 4 exhausted AL. regiments almost took the hill if they could have gotten a couple more regiments in support the hill would have fallen.


If Gen. Hood had avoided being injured he made have been the hero of Gettysburg instead of Col. Chamberlain..

[Elennsar]

Don't forget Weed's brigade and the rest of Ayres's division (and anything else that would have been hurried that way.)

I do think it could have pushed Vincent off Little Round Top, but I'm not as certain it would add up to a different overall outcome.

After all, if ("Tige") Anderson's brigade had been sent to Little Round Top, that's five good Georgia regiments not availabe where they were historically, which would shift the situation there.

I believe one could construct a victory for Hood here, but I can see it being pushed off the hill too (though later).

[5fish]

At Little Round Top the confederates had the following units a mix of Laws and Robertson brigades.

Texas 4th-5th
Alabama 4th-15th-47th-48th

While on the union units were Vincent brigade.

Maine 20th
Mich. 16th
NY. 44th
Penn. 83rd

Then later in the day NY 140th came up for support for Vincent brigade.

One question is if the Alabama 47th and 15th would not have been chasing some US sharpshooters would they have even been on LRT. I guess most likely not.

I think if Hood could have survived the battle and sent support to those six regiments like at least two reserve regiments the hill could have been carried.

If the Alabama 47TH AND 15TH had not chased those US sharpshooters, LRT would not have become lore.

[Elennsar]

The rest of Weed's brigade was only sligthtly behidn O'Rorke's 140th New York, and it arrived at roughly the time Chamberlain charged with the 20th Maine.

So, weigh this in, please.

Other than that, good point there. I imagine they would have dealt with it after chasing away Ward's brigade, however...Little Round Top is not a position you want the enemy to hold when in the area Hood's division was in.

[5fish]

Most of us do not realize that the AL 15th and 47th would not have been there except they were chasing Sharpshooters which brought them two LRT by the way of BRT. If Al 15th and 47th don't move on to LRT and attack the Maine 20th Chamberline does not become a Hero.

Without the Al 15th and 47th striking at LRT then the chances of LRT being taken are poor for other TX and AL. regiments

My question is if Al 15th and 47th had not chased after the sharpshooters but followed Law's brigade into the Devil Den or Plum Run Gorge would they have made a difference there?

[ole]

We ought first to establish whether the taking of LRT would have had any sort of effect on the overall battle. Artillery on the hill could not have been assembled in any force threatening to the Union position. Hood's entire division, going over those hills and woods, would have emerged on the other side in a disorganized mob. (And a brigade wouldn't be enough.)

I suspect that an uninjured Hood would have made little difference to the outcome. The original plan was bollixed up before Longstreet stepped off. Hood's fall, if anything, contributed only a little more to the bollixing.

ole

[30th_il]

Well Ole! I have never heard/read the word billoxed before, so I had to go and look that one up! :-)

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This bol·lix also bol·lox Audio Help (bŏl'ĭks) Pronunciation Key
tr.v. bol·lixed also bol·loxed, bol·lix·ing also bol·lox·ing, bol·lix·es also bol·lox·es Informal
To throw into confusion; botch or bungle: managed to bollix up the whole project

[ole]

Maybe SNAFU or FUBAR would have been better choices?

ole