Wizard of Cozz
Private
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2021
Before I get into this I want to point out that I think Lee was one of the best generals in the war. I rank him and Grant as the two best generals, and I think that they did the best at managing and organizing large bodies of troops. Sherman and Thomas were also very good, it's hard to find another Confederate at the army level who could do this, there were some interesting options at Corps level I would have liked to have seen what they could do but didn't get opportunities for some reason or another (Longstreet, Jackson, Taylor are the three that come to mind). Having said all of that I don't necessarily feel that I'm a Lee homer, or really a homer for any one leader during the war. They all made mistakes, and honestly, it was extremely hard coordinating that many men at any one time.
Having said all of that I've recently purchased Sears Gettysburg book and have been re-reading some of my other purchases, and the once the battle commenced on July 1st, I feel like the biggest mistake Lee made that he had the most control over was not moving Ewell's Corps around to the right. He clearly was thinking this on both the nights of July 1st and 2nd, and while I understand why he didn't I don't necessarily agree with it. IF Lee had moves Ewell on the night July 1st he negates one of the Union's strongest advantages that they hold on the last 2 days of the battle and that is their use of interior lines. This would have also lengthened his line on Day 2 giving them a more opportunities to explore tactical advantages on the Union left flank. I just feel that the advantages outweight the disadvantages. From my readings Ewell convinced Lee he could be aggressive against Culp's Hill and in doing so could unravle the Union position. Obviously I have hindsight, but I'm trying to look at it from what they knew then, and I believe Lee should have went with his initial preference.
What are all of your thoughts??
Having said all of that I've recently purchased Sears Gettysburg book and have been re-reading some of my other purchases, and the once the battle commenced on July 1st, I feel like the biggest mistake Lee made that he had the most control over was not moving Ewell's Corps around to the right. He clearly was thinking this on both the nights of July 1st and 2nd, and while I understand why he didn't I don't necessarily agree with it. IF Lee had moves Ewell on the night July 1st he negates one of the Union's strongest advantages that they hold on the last 2 days of the battle and that is their use of interior lines. This would have also lengthened his line on Day 2 giving them a more opportunities to explore tactical advantages on the Union left flank. I just feel that the advantages outweight the disadvantages. From my readings Ewell convinced Lee he could be aggressive against Culp's Hill and in doing so could unravle the Union position. Obviously I have hindsight, but I'm trying to look at it from what they knew then, and I believe Lee should have went with his initial preference.
What are all of your thoughts??