If the enemy is there tomorrow...

[UKMarkw]

I was listening to a podcast and this statement attributed to Lee was mentioned. "If the enemy is there tomorrow, we will attack him" and it got me thinking. Did Lee expect the federal army to leave? Fall back towards Washington to ensure there could be no attack on the capitol?

 

[Gettysburg Guide #154]

Without longer range cavalry reconnaissance, it seems to me that Lee did not know where the bulk of the Army of the Potomac was located. He probably knew that two Corps (1st and 11th) had been engaged, and was perhaps aware of reports of Union troops to the east. Beyond that, the whereabouts of the rest of the Army of the Potomac was at best a guess. He may even have hoped that the two Corps he faced would not be reinforced, or if reinforced that it would be by less than the entire balance of Meade's troops. The more interesting question for me is this: What Lee's plan was if the Army of the Potomac was not "there" the next day?

 

[Tom Elmore]

I think that's a reasonable explanation of Lee's sentiments - not expecting but at least considering the possibility of a Federal withdrawal. Some other Confederates had the same thought, for instance, mistaking the rumbling of wagons behind the Federal lines as indicating a Federal retreat.