Saphroneth
Lt. Colonel
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2017
Where could you have either a single battle or a set of close-together events going plausibly differently, to put one side or the other in a really difficult situation?
My offhand choices are, assuming no foreign intervention involved:
Union Worst Case Scenario
In June, approx. 15,000 troops PFD are moved from Mississippi via rail (and steamboat at Mobile) to Richmond. This additional force is placed to block the bridge on the southern side of White Oak Swamp during the Seven Days, thus preventing the Army of the Potomac from escaping and leading to the surrender of the main Union army in the west.
Lee now has a very large army available. Even if he has to send the 15,000 Western troops back to the West, if he gets his historical reinforcements then he'll be able to move north in mid-July with not far off 90,000 troops PFD (leaving Richmond somewhat covered) and no Union reinforcements are anything like ready to fight; for the Union to fight Lee's army on even numerical terms means calling in practically everything...
Confederate Worst Case Scenario
Rosecrans marches a corps below the Elk River during the Tullahoma movement (instead of merely the Duck), allowing him to cut off and capture Bragg's main army.
In the space of a bit less than a week, all three primary Confederate forces have taken a serious blow or actually been destroyed. Lee's force is bloodied by Gettysburg, and both Bragg and Pemberton have suffered capture; the CSA has Johnston's force and the Eastern Tennessee force as field armies, but apart from that Grant and Rosecrans can pretty much do whatever they want.
My offhand choices are, assuming no foreign intervention involved:
Union Worst Case Scenario
In June, approx. 15,000 troops PFD are moved from Mississippi via rail (and steamboat at Mobile) to Richmond. This additional force is placed to block the bridge on the southern side of White Oak Swamp during the Seven Days, thus preventing the Army of the Potomac from escaping and leading to the surrender of the main Union army in the west.
Lee now has a very large army available. Even if he has to send the 15,000 Western troops back to the West, if he gets his historical reinforcements then he'll be able to move north in mid-July with not far off 90,000 troops PFD (leaving Richmond somewhat covered) and no Union reinforcements are anything like ready to fight; for the Union to fight Lee's army on even numerical terms means calling in practically everything...
Confederate Worst Case Scenario
Rosecrans marches a corps below the Elk River during the Tullahoma movement (instead of merely the Duck), allowing him to cut off and capture Bragg's main army.
In the space of a bit less than a week, all three primary Confederate forces have taken a serious blow or actually been destroyed. Lee's force is bloodied by Gettysburg, and both Bragg and Pemberton have suffered capture; the CSA has Johnston's force and the Eastern Tennessee force as field armies, but apart from that Grant and Rosecrans can pretty much do whatever they want.