Was the Maryland Invasion Really Necessary?

Lee, in his correspondence to Davis wrote about the severe straggling that occurred before he crossed into Maryland; there are also a number of other reports of the large quantity of stragglers roaming over northern Virginia. This evidence indicates that straggling mostly occurred before the crossing. Lee may have had ~72,000 on paper as of September 1, but the actual force that crossed the river was quite a bit smaller.

Yes, and they reduced his numbers down to "only" 75,000 instead of the >150,000 he had on paper*. That's what he was talking about.

The first complete post-Antietam (10th October) return gives:

154,888 Total strength
78,204 Physically present with the army
64,273 Combat effective

Lee is primarily concerned with where 76,684 men, half his army, actually are. Of those only a little over 20,000 are in the hospital system, leaving ca. 55,000 men who are absent for no good reason. These "estrays" are what Lee talks about, not temporary straggling on campaign.

* Probably around 160,000 given the KIA etc. or even 180,000 if you include the division he left at Richmond during the campaign.
 
Note that DH Hill claimed only 5,000 men at Antietam, sometimes less (he claimed only 3,000 infantry at the battle) - in fact there's a good case for over 7,500, and indeed the 22 September return (plus re-adding casualties) isn't too far from this number. Since 22 September is almost immediately after re-crossing the Potomac there's been no time for stragglers who dropped out on DH Hill's march through Virginia to rejoin.

This means DH Hill's claim for what happened to his division in the second half of 1862 is:

July 20 at Richmond: 9,600 (official report of PFD)
Ordered up August 21, joined Lee's army and crossed the Potomac on the 4th of September: 5,000 (sheds almost half of his strength in a two week marching up through Virginia!)
Antietam: 5,000 (or 3,000 on the field)
Antietam casualties: 1,852 wounded, 464 killed, 925 missing (total 3,241) (from DH Hill's own campaign report)
Straight after Antietam: 1,750
22 September: 5,060 (official report of PFD, noted as "very imperfect")
30 September: 7,100 (official report of PFD)

This is simply not a credible story. It's even sillier that he sometimes claimed 3,000 infantry on the field, as he took more casualties than that. (Granted that some of the casualties he claimed were at South Mountain instead of Antietam, it's still very silly.)

It looks like what actually happened was that he took on the order of 8,000-9,000 men into Maryland, suffered several thousand casualties, and brought on the order of 6,000 back across the river (with wide error bars on that number due to how wounded the wounded were.)
 
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The 5,000 of late August is only three of his brigades. Two went with Lee ahead of DH Hill.

edit because on phone in Margraten.
 
Okay, so how come they (the ~72,000, sans casualties) show up on the September 30 states? None of the troops who didn't cross the river had rejoined yet at that point.
They had rejoined. Baffles me on why you would say "None of the troops who didn't cross the river had rejoined". They had been redirected all during September to Winchester.
 
Note that DH Hill claimed only 5,000 men at Antietam,

In his report he claimed 5,000 at South Mountain. At Antietam he claimed just 3,000 infantry.


Since 22 September is almost immediately after re-crossing the Potomac there's been no time for stragglers who dropped out on DH Hill's march through Virginia to rejoin.
Baloney. There had been plenty of time. It had been about 3 weeks since the March through Virginia. You really think 3 weeks is not enough time for someone to get from say Leesburg to Winchester?


This is simply not a credible story.
Seems entirely credible to me.


It's even sillier that he sometimes claimed 3,000 infantry on the field, as he took more casualties than that. (Granted that some of the casualties he claimed were at South Mountain instead of Antietam, it's still very silly.)
At least you admit that the casualties he claimed were for more than just Antietam. He reported 925 missing, which fits with his claim of a big drop in numbers between South Mountain and Antietam. Rhodes, in his report, broke down his brigade's casualties between the two engagements: South Mountain 422; Antietam 203.
 
They had rejoined. Baffles me on why you would say "None of the troops who didn't cross the river had rejoined". They had been redirected all during September to Winchester.
Well, because in order for this to be credible they'd have had to make the thirty air miles from Winchester to the south bank opposite Sharpsburg pretty much instantly, and you don't do that with what is (supposedly) a force larger than Lee had at Antietam if you believe Confederate strength estimates. If they'd all rejoined by the 22nd, who rejoined between the 22nd and 30th? (Itself a boost of about 2,000.)

If you'd be so kind as to furnish the direct evidence of "here is when the troops rejoined", it'd be most helpful.
 
They had rejoined. Baffles me on why you would say "None of the troops who didn't cross the river had rejoined". They had been redirected all during September to Winchester.

The troops at Winchester were mainly convalescents from the Richmond hospitals and those who were left behind, and those who fell sick in North Virginia but weren't worth sending back to Richmond. Lee detached 7 batteries which were so run down they couldn't accompany the army. Their men were mostly told to report to other batteries. The 10th Virginia Cavalry was detached to guard the depot.

If I my quote Harsh:

M. LEE’S DEPOT AT WINCHESTER

There is much yet to be learned about Winchester as the depot and stragglers camp for the Army of Northern Virginia during the Maryland campaign. Any study should start with the letter Joaab Goodson of the 44th Alabama wrote to his niece on September 14 from Winchester, in which he observes that “three or four thousand men already here, and numbers coming in daily.” 54 Other suggestive information is provided by Berry Benson (1st S.C.), Henry Berkeley (Hanover [Va.] Artillery), and Drury Gibson (15th La.). 55 Many of the soldiers at Winchester were not stragglers in the true sense. They were convalescents returning to their units from Richmond who had followed Lee’s orders not to enter Maryland. It is not clear why Lee did not bring this force to his support at an earlier date. Mary Mitchell graphically recorded her childhood memories of the Confederate stragglers who engulfed Shepherdstown from September 13 on. But these men seemed to have been traveling on the fringes of the army on the march, and likely they were constantly in and out of the ranks. 56

Harsh, Joseph L. Sounding the Shallows: A Confederate Compendium for the Maryland Campaign of 1862 (Kindle Locations 6062-6073). Kent State Univ Pr. Kindle Edition.
 
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