Kentucky Derby Cavalier.
First Sergeant
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2019
Thoughts?
There seems to be some debate on this. I do wonder what would've happened if Bragg pursued. I know Forrest wasn't happy about it.Chickamauga. Bragg missed an exploitation opportunity:
Did Hooker really have a chance to destroy Lee?Hooker at Chancellorsville. What if he hadn’t “lost confidence in Joe Hooker”?
Why didn't the PGT Beau follow up at Manassas?First manassas, Chancellorsville, Spring Hill, seven days with Jackson’s poor performance.
Hooker at Chancellorsville. What if he hadn’t “lost confidence in Joe Hooker”?
Did Hooker really have a chance to destroy Lee?
It was also a very real opportunity for Lee to smash 2 Federal Corps. ( II and XVIII)I think the biggest lost opportunity in the war was when Grant gave Lee the slip after Cold Harbor and crossed the James undetected. He moved a large portion of his army up the river on the south side and sat in front of Petersburg and hesitated. The CS lines were thinly defended and one corps of the AoP could have walked into Petersburg and captured the place without so much as real fight. Had they captured Petersburg then and there, Richmond could have not been held and the war in the east would have most likely ended in 1864. Lee's only choice would have been to give up Richmond and head west but he would have very few, if any, options to feed/supply his army as all the rail lines south would have been severed. I assume the AoP was extremely gun shy of making a frontal assault on any position having just fought at Cold Harbor but one would think that there scouts and intelligence would have known that Lee was still at least a day away from reaching Petersburg.
with what?Why didn't the PGT Beau follow up at Manassas?
One thing Hooker might have done that he did not seem to think of was to make his main point with Sedgwick.He had over twice Lee's numbers, with a strong force coming in on Lee's flank - or we could even say rear, since the ANV was facing east along the Rappahannock (Meade's comment that "We're on Lee's flank and he doesn't know it" may have understated the situation). How often does an army have such an advantageous position?
Had they pressed the advance on May 1, Meade was close to opening up Banks' Ford, which would speed up the movement of Union troops from the Fredericksburg front to the south bank.
Holding the enemy in front with part of your army while sending your striking force around the flank is a classic strategy, but there may be a moment when the enemy can concentrate on one or the other. The solution is to press the attack and bring all one's combat power to bear.
There seems to be some debate on this. I do wonder what would've happened if Bragg pursued. I know Forrest wasn't happy about it.
I've heard about this, I'm still curious what would've happend if Bragg pursued, but I believe you're not wrong in the fact that success was far from a gurantee.I doubt the Army of Tennessee was in shape to exploit its victory; it suffered terrible losses and was in a state of confusion the evening the battle ended. And the Army of the Cumberland had but a short retreat into a fortified town and its veteran troops quickly recovered from the loss.
How? all his units with the exception of less than a division of infantry was committed and used in the attacks or to cover units was was completely disordered. He had no organized formation to be more aggressive with.Antietam - McClellan could have taken the Army of Northern Virginia off the Civil War map with a little more aggression rather than caution