- Joined
- Jul 28, 2015
- Location
- New York City
The curious name of this thread relates to a question I have about Grant's operations in Virginia in the spring of 1864. Specifically, was it not possible for Grant to mount an amphibious style landing up the James River and land in the rear of Confederate forces commanded by Lee and Beauregard? In other words, a military operation similar to that launched by Douglas MacArthur in September 1950 when US forces successfully landed behind enemy lines in Inchon, South Korea, beginning a drive to oust the North Koreans from Seoul and the Pusan perimeter in South Korea.
Under this scenario, rather than commence the Overland Campaign, would Grant and the Armies of the Potomac and James have been able to pull off a landing possibly near City Point or Harrison's Landing on the James River and quickly strike towards lightly defended Petersburg? Such an operation would have to be a combined Army-Navy affair, but the federal experience with landing troops along the Peninsula and the Carolina coasts in 1862 shows that the Union was capable of mounting such an effort. Essentially, under this plan, Grant would have begun his campaign where he in fact, ended up in mid June 1864, when after countless casualties and failure to flank and destroy the ANV, the AOTP crossed the James River and began the encirclement of Petersburg. I completely understand the opposition that this concept would have aroused in the Lincoln administration because it would have left the ANV between Grant and Washington DC. But a swift strike by Grant towards Petersburg and Richmond would very likely have caused Lee to turn his attention southwards, rather than towards the Washington area and possibly have ended the war by the summer of 1864.
Anyway, all thoughts are welcomed!
Under this scenario, rather than commence the Overland Campaign, would Grant and the Armies of the Potomac and James have been able to pull off a landing possibly near City Point or Harrison's Landing on the James River and quickly strike towards lightly defended Petersburg? Such an operation would have to be a combined Army-Navy affair, but the federal experience with landing troops along the Peninsula and the Carolina coasts in 1862 shows that the Union was capable of mounting such an effort. Essentially, under this plan, Grant would have begun his campaign where he in fact, ended up in mid June 1864, when after countless casualties and failure to flank and destroy the ANV, the AOTP crossed the James River and began the encirclement of Petersburg. I completely understand the opposition that this concept would have aroused in the Lincoln administration because it would have left the ANV between Grant and Washington DC. But a swift strike by Grant towards Petersburg and Richmond would very likely have caused Lee to turn his attention southwards, rather than towards the Washington area and possibly have ended the war by the summer of 1864.
Anyway, all thoughts are welcomed!