The Longstreet-Gettysburg Controversy

Thanks. I skimmed it. 2400 Confederate Casualties to 400 Union Casualties. Can't happen.

If General Greene had not built the breastworks as he had been so advised not to do, I do believe that that simple change would have rendered a very different outcome to the battle.
 
That's kind of the theme of every major conventional war if X would of zigged instead of zagged then X side would beat Y side. True a lot of Civil War battles could of gone either way. True Gettysburg could of gone either way but the odds favored the Union.
Leftyhunter

Not if you add a brigade to the confederate attack on July 2.
 
The question postulated was, what if Lee had Stuart, or adequate cavalry reconnaissance. With that, the Stonewall Brigade is not used to probe the flank on Day 2 and is instead available for the assault on Culp's Hill. Culp's Hill probably falls, rendering Cemetery Hill untenable and forcing the AotP to retreat back to its supply base at Westminster, MD, and possibly to the Pipe Creek Line.
So many suppositions. Lee doesn't need the Plumed One. Lee needs to tell the cavalry at hand no, matter their pedigree, to go see where the Federals are located.....The Federals were last seen at Frederick. Lol.
 
So many suppositions. Lee doesn't need the Plumed One. Lee needs to tell the cavalry at hand no, matter their pedigree, to go see where the Federals are located.....The Federals were last seen at Frederick. Lol.

Sorry, I depend on history, not on pulling stuff out of one's posterior.
 
Sorry, I depend on history, not on pulling stuff out of one's posterior.
Yeah,I wish you would stop doing that. The facts are Lee should have sent cavalry to ascertain the Union position. This was a huge blunder by Lee.
 
My argument is that it's very difficult to beat an enemy deep in his own territory with no secure logistical support and is numerically superior. Not to say it is impossible but not easy.
I am trying to understand how Lee almost succeeded. Even if the AoP abandons Gettysburg they can still inflct heavy casualties on the AnV unless they are thoroughly defeated. Again that is a very tall order.
Leftyhunter
The war was being fought on more than one front. The confederacy was in a must act situation. If the Union was once more demoralized it would have certainly had its effect on the northern population and could have resulted in Ernest negotiations for peace.
 
Stuart should have raided the wagons and left. Gathering supplies was part of lee's plan. So was for stuart to be off ewell's flank. Stuart should have seen the need to get moving. As lee said stuarts wagons were an impediment.
 
Stuart should have raided the wagons and left. Gathering supplies was part of lee's plan. So was for stuart to be off ewell's flank. Stuart should have seen the need to get moving. As lee said stuarts wagons were an impediment.

Where exactly did Lee tell Stuart that, other than in Killer Angels? As it turned out, that wagon train was vital in Lee's retreat from PA.
 
Stuart should have raided the wagons and left. Gathering supplies was part of lee's plan. So was for stuart to be off ewell's flank. Stuart should have seen the need to get moving. As lee said stuarts wagons were an impediment.

Stuart needed the fodder on those wagons and consequently the wagons carrying that fodder.

The wagons were certainly not an impediment during the retreat.

I'm not convinced Lee said what was claimed, but I am convinced people would be better off forgetting 98% of what Shelby Foote said in the Ken Burns series.
 
The question postulated was, what if Lee had Stuart, or adequate cavalry reconnaissance. With that, the Stonewall Brigade is not used to probe the flank on Day 2 and is instead available for the assault on Culp's Hill. Culp's Hill probably falls, rendering Cemetery Hill untenable and forcing the AotP to retreat back to its supply base at Westminster, MD, and possibly to the Pipe Creek Line.




Very true, at least as far as Meade was concerned. His concerns over Culp's Hill, to me, explains to a very large extent, Meade's conduct of the battle.
 
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