- Joined
- Aug 25, 2012
People find fault with the performances of all three Confederate Corps commanders at Gettysburg and a few people even find fault with Lee himself. So did Lee have any real other options for Corps commanders?
I see no possibility of Lee replacing Longstreet as Corps commander before the Battle of Gettysburg so I think this option is off the table. This leaves Lee with the option of keeping the two Corps army system, or forming a three Corps army. Did Lee have anyone who could have led this second Corps? Lee probably had A.P. Hill, Ewell, or Stuart for choices. Did any of these three have the skills necessary to command half of Lee's army?
So let us look at Lee's three Corps options. Again we probably have Hill, Ewell and Stuart as possible commanders of the last two Corps. Would have Stuart made a better Infantry Corps commander than Hill or Ewell? I am not sure we can know how Stuart would have done. Did Lee have any other candidates for Corps commanders?
In the end Lee was probably correct with who he picked to be Corps commanders, with Stuart being an unknown player as Corps commander. I remain unconvinced that Lee would have won at Gettysburg with different Corps commanders. Who else could have Lee used as Corps commanders that could have performed better at Gettysburg?
I see no possibility of Lee replacing Longstreet as Corps commander before the Battle of Gettysburg so I think this option is off the table. This leaves Lee with the option of keeping the two Corps army system, or forming a three Corps army. Did Lee have anyone who could have led this second Corps? Lee probably had A.P. Hill, Ewell, or Stuart for choices. Did any of these three have the skills necessary to command half of Lee's army?
So let us look at Lee's three Corps options. Again we probably have Hill, Ewell and Stuart as possible commanders of the last two Corps. Would have Stuart made a better Infantry Corps commander than Hill or Ewell? I am not sure we can know how Stuart would have done. Did Lee have any other candidates for Corps commanders?
In the end Lee was probably correct with who he picked to be Corps commanders, with Stuart being an unknown player as Corps commander. I remain unconvinced that Lee would have won at Gettysburg with different Corps commanders. Who else could have Lee used as Corps commanders that could have performed better at Gettysburg?