Suppose Pickett was successful, then what?

ntsb

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I just wonder if Lee had broken through the middle of the union lines, with the losses he had already suffered, wouldn't he just be between two strongly defended portions of high ground, and therefore be sitting ducks? Like a pincer arrangement, it seems like a poor position to be in. He didn't have enough resources to attack both northward and southward from that position, did he?
 
I have no idea, but I'll chime in until someone more knowledgable answers. Seems to me your speculation is probably correct.
 
IF Pickett (& Pettigrew and Trimble) are successful, that presumably means that the Union defenders on Cemetery Hill have also caved. It probably means that the defenders on Culp's Hill are tied up or otherwise unable to come to the Union center.

It may also mean that the Union artillery is in no shape to fight in the near future after the bombardment by Alexander.

After all, merely piercing the Union lines with a handful of men won't last long enough as a breakthrough to have to worry about what next. Ask Armistead.
 
I just wonder if Lee had broken through the middle of the union lines, with the losses he had already suffered, wouldn't he just be between two strongly defended portions of high ground, and therefore be sitting ducks? Like a pincer arrangement, it seems like a poor position to be in. He didn't have enough resources to attack both northward and southward from that position, did he?

Remember, he was also planning on a win with his cavalry. :smile:
 
That was where Custer and Gregg did good. Jeb Stuart wasn't an easy guy to whip but they did it that day! He was supposed to get into the rear of that Union line Pickett was charging. If he had succeeded and Pickett had succeeded, it would have been a game changer. However...if Stuart had succeeded and Pickett had not, Stuart would have found himself in a world of hurt.
 
Don't forget, the moral of the defenders would have been affected upon witnessing the center cave in.....After being tired from 2 previous days' fighting, would they have thought Lee had fresh troops and more in reserve to follow the charge??......Who knows what would have happened......
 
Scattered all over the field though. If Lee really manages a breakthrough in the center, assembling 6th Corps for a counterattack/plug the gaps defense would be quite a chore.
True, but there were men from the 6th close and lee's men would have broken through tired, hot, thirsty and undermanned. I'd take those odds. The 1st Minnesota held a tired confederate brigade at bay for long enough the day before.
 
True, but there were men from the 6th close and lee's men would have broken through tired, hot, thirsty and undermanned. I'd take those odds. The 1st Minnesota held a tired confederate brigade at bay for long enough the day before.

I wouldn't object to them, but it's not the same as 6th Corps waiting to pounce on anyone who somehow burst through Hancock.

IMO, if Pickett's Charge really works, that by definition means that there's enough of 'em to withstand a 1st Minnesota like "buy me five minutes and I don't care how much it takes" effort. A few hundred men more with Armistead won't need 6th Corps to do anything to dispose of.
 
I wouldn't object to them, but it's not the same as 6th Corps waiting to pounce on anyone who somehow burst through Hancock.

IMO, if Pickett's Charge really works, that by definition means that there's enough of 'em to withstand a 1st Minnesota like "buy me five minutes and I don't care how much it takes" effort. A few hundred men more with Armistead won't need 6th Corps to do anything to dispose of.

Wasn't he expecting a brigade or at least someone behind him? Seems there was supposed to be support - think that was what Lee was muttering to Imoden later that night.
 
True, but there were men from the 6th close and lee's men would have broken through tired, hot, thirsty and undermanned. I'd take those odds. The 1st Minnesota held a tired confederate brigade at bay for long enough the day before.

And there's the other weakness in that answer. Tired = tired. Hot.....everyone is.
 
Wasn't he expecting a brigade or at least someone behind him? Seems there was supposed to be support - think that was what Lee was muttering to Imoden later that night.
Wilcox and Perry??? But they were handled by the guns on LRT and some enfilading regimental fire as well.
 
And there's the other weakness in that answer. Tired = tired. Hot.....everyone is.
Much more tired and hot if you are advancing a mile+ under artillery fire with the guy next you's blood, brains and guts splattered on you.
 
I'm wondering who Armistead was expecting - as you say, Wilcox and Perry were busy. But who did Armistead think was behind him?
I think it was Wilcox and Perry that Armistead was expecting. They just never got there.
 
I think Wilcox and Lang were meant to come in on the flank, nearer Kemper - more to prevent something like what Stannard did OTL than reinforce success.

By process of elimination, the only possible reinforcements to be thrown in would be the other two brigades of Pender's (Trimble's) division and anything of Anderson's.

McLaws and Hood are defending their position, Heth's whole division went into this fiasco, Ewell's men are not in a position to move up behind Pickett's.
 
I wouldn't object to them, but it's not the same as 6th Corps waiting to pounce on anyone who somehow burst through Hancock.

IMO, if Pickett's Charge really works, that by definition means that there's enough of 'em to withstand a 1st Minnesota like "buy me five minutes and I don't care how much it takes" effort. A few hundred men more with Armistead won't need 6th Corps to do anything to dispose of.
How much of the 6th corps was nearby? If more than a few regiments, for example a few brigades, to a division or more, that's enough to stop Wilcox, Perry and whatever breaks through the line.

Again...playing what ifs here.
 
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