Could anyone have won the war in the West?

MikeyB

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Sep 13, 2018
A very tough job. AS Johnston commanding the West with the fundamental problem of having too long a line, with too few men, against too many enemies. You also had the disadvantage of facing some very capable and aggressive generals as opponents. The Union did well in this theater, but was not without its setbacks. For example, Shiloh could have ended in disaster for the Union. And the CSA won a nice victory at Chickamauga.

So my question is this - with the right leadership, could the CSA have exploited some of its victories (destroy Grant or Rosecrans?) and stalemated the Federal army in the west? Or was this an utterly thankless and hopeless job?

I've always wondered - if JEJ was not wounded, and if Lee was sent West. Would it have mattered, or are you just wasting a very good general in a no-win situation?
 
One of their key advantages was operating on interior lines, as when they shifted troops from the ANV to win their only major victory in the west at Chickamauga. Shiloh was another great example of concentrating forces from all over to have a reasonable chance of defeating Grant.

Fall 1862 was another interesting situation. They concentrated their main army against Buell and relied on smaller mobile forces to stymie Grant's offensive against Vicksburg - successfully, by destroying his supply depot at Holly Springs.

Those are some of the "how"s, not sure about the "who" except that whoever it was needed total authority in his area of responsibility.
if JEJ was not wounded, and if Lee was sent West

At the time JEJ was wounded, Lee had not had much success in the war, although he was well regarded in the prewar Army. Later, when he was established as the Confederacy's preeminent general, sending him west might have given the impression of a "new broom" come to clean up the mess and might not have gone over well with the contentious generals of the western Confederate armies. And of course Lee himself was most devoted to protecting his beloved Virginia.
 
I think the South only had 2 chances to win the war. First was the day or two after 1st Bull Run. Second was from the end of the 7 Days Battles to the end of 1862. War weariness had not set in, presidents and generals were willing to try risky plans, and the South had its best and largest pool of soldiers.

But, with that said, I see no winning strategy for the South in later 1862. They could do better on defense perhaps, but what realistically could they do to WIN? What would it have taken to get the US to give up -- and how could the South have accomplished it?
 
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