Why was Longstreet's old division (under R.H. Anderson) transferred away from his corps during the reorganization of the ANV after Chancellorsville?

TheKenoshaKid

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Jan 11, 2010
Wouldn't it have made more sense for McLaws' Division to join the new Third Corps instead? IIRC, Longstreet wasn't a huge fan of McLaws anyway, and surely he'd prefer to keep his old division under his command, right? Did he suggest the transfer himself? That doesn't make much sense to me, seems like he'd be against it...if so, did he fight to keep Anderson's division under his command? If so, why was that request denied?
 
Wouldn't it have made more sense for McLaws' Division to join the new Third Corps instead? IIRC, Longstreet wasn't a huge fan of McLaws anyway, and surely he'd prefer to keep his old division under his command, right? Did he suggest the transfer himself? That doesn't make much sense to me, seems like he'd be against it...if so, did he fight to keep Anderson's division under his command? If so, why was that request denied?
I think it was done to equal out the 3 Corp.
 
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Wouldn't it have made more sense for McLaws' Division to join the new Third Corps instead? IIRC, Longstreet wasn't a huge fan of McLaws anyway, and surely he'd prefer to keep his old division under his command, right? Did he suggest the transfer himself? That doesn't make much sense to me, seems like he'd be against it...if so, did he fight to keep Anderson's division under his command? If so, why was that request denied?

The Third Corps was created by A.P. Hill's Light Division which was augmented by 2 brigades from southern Virginia and North Carolina (Davis and Pettigrew). Anderson was transferred over because he was available, it evened out the corps, and it gave Hill a veteran, reliable division commander that he could lean on if necessary. Remember that neither Harry Heth nor Dorsey Pender had much experience above brigade command so having someone who was both competent and experienced was something that the Third Corps needed.

Ryan
 
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Wouldn't it have made more sense for McLaws' Division to join the new Third Corps instead? IIRC, Longstreet wasn't a huge fan of McLaws anyway, and surely he'd prefer to keep his old division under his command, right? Did he suggest the transfer himself? That doesn't make much sense to me, seems like he'd be against it...if so, did he fight to keep Anderson's division under his command? If so, why was that request denied?
I do not get the impression that Longstreet was much attached to his old division as other generals were to their old commands. Not in his character to obsess over that stuff.
Not to say the sentiment is uncommon, or that he was detached from the men he commanded.
 
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I do not get the impression that Longstreet was much attached to his old division as other generals were to their old commands. Not in his character to obsess over that stuff.
Not to say the sentiment is uncommon, or that he was detached from the men he commanded.

In fairness, Longstreet hadn't commanded the division for about a year.

Ryan
 
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@rpkennedy matches much of what I would say. You're setting a new corps commander in Hill up with 2 brand new division commanders in Heth and Pender. So for the 3rd division you need an experienced division commander that can handle himself without a lot of hand holding from Hill. The options are Anderson, Hood, Pickett and McLaws. Pickett and McLaws were having to be watched a lot by Longstreet personally. Anderson I believe at that point would have also been the senior division commander in the entire army.
 
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@rpkennedy matches much of what I would say. You're setting a new corps commander in Hill up with 2 brand new division commanders in Heth and Pender. So for the 3rd division you need an experienced division commander that can handle himself without a lot of hand holding from Hill. The options are Anderson, Hood, Pickett and McLaws. Pickett and McLaws were having to be watched a lot by Longstreet personally. Anderson I believe at that point would have also been the senior division commander in the entire army.

IIRC, McLaws was actually senior to Anderson by 6 weeks. But Anderson had proven himself to be reliable while McLaws' record was much less shining.

Ryan
 
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As an update since I've had time to look up the relevant commissions.

Lafayette McLaws, promoted to major general to date May 23, 1862.
Richard Anderson, promoted to major general to date July 14, 1862.

Interestingly, A.P. Hill's commission was dated to May 26, 1862 so McLaws was senior to Hill before his promotion to lieutenant general. Of course, there is no comparison between the two as division commanders.

Ryan
 
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