Bragg & Johnston Switching Places In 1863

Joshism

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Wouldn't it have made sense in the summer of 1863 for Braxton Bragg to be the one attempting to lift the Siege of Vicksburg while Joe Johnston led a defensive campaign against Rosecrans in Tennessee? It would have played to both generals' strengths (such as they were) while getting Bragg away from toxic command situation with the Army of the Tennessee while not really demoting him.

Was this ever considered by Johnston or Jeff Davis? Would it have made any difference at Vicksburg or Tullahoma?
 
Wouldn't it have made sense in the summer of 1863 for Braxton Bragg to be the one attempting to lift the Siege of Vicksburg while Joe Johnston led a defensive campaign against Rosecrans in Tennessee? It would have played to both generals' strengths (such as they were) while getting Bragg away from toxic command situation with the Army of the Tennessee while not really demoting him.

Was this ever considered by Johnston or Jeff Davis? Would it have made any difference at Vicksburg or Tullahoma?

Interesting idea! While Bragg would have done much better than Johnston at Vicksburg, I fear that Johnston would have abandoned Chattanooga to Rosecrans in this scenario... and possibly Atlanta...
 
I'm not sure what Bragg would have done to significantly make a difference at Vicksburg. To begin with, the proposed scenario seems to keep Pemberton in charge of the Army of Mississippi, the command which was most involved in the decisions affecting the defense of Vicksburg. Davis of course, wanted Pemberton to defend the city, while Johnston believed in maneuvering the army to a more defensible position. If Bragg were to have supported Davis and Pemberton's decision to garrison Vicksburg, the result would not have changed. But if Bragg supported saving the AOM, as did Johnston, I don't know if Davis' opinion about defending Vicksburg would have been any different.
 
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