Stuart Would Stuart Have Still Got Separated From The ANV?

[whitworth]

I see this incorrect idea about Gettysburg, quite often.

Of course, Stuart's cavalry was separated from the ANV. If one read the OR's instead of concentrating on the battlebook historians, as we were forced to do prior to the internet, one would have learned it was all part of R.E. Lee's plan; not Stuart's.

Of course, Lee didn't anticipate that the short separation of his army would be extended. Unforeseen by Lee, but extended by action of - the Army of the Potomac. Lee had Stuart's cavalry protecting and blocking the gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was Lee's plan that Stuart, by guarding and being a rear guard for the ANV, it was forced, by necessity, to have no contact with Lee's army marching into Pennsylvania.
It was General Lee's plan that Stuart would not follow the route Lee took to Pennsylvania. Approved by Lee was to take a gap in the Bull Run Mountains, a different route entirely. With that approved by Lee, how could Stuart's cavalry not be separated from Lee's infantry. Not only separated, Stuart's trip to Pennsylvania got delayed for days, due to units of the Union army. The Union army blocked several gaps in the Bull Run Mountains, forcing Stuart further south in Virginia and further east. It was part of the Conferate plan, Lee's plan, that didn't go as planned. It certainly wasn't Stuart's fault; at best it was the fog of war. At worst, an incorrect anticipation of Army of the Potomac action.

As for Gettysburg, Lee had given no plan to Stuart in Virginia, that he was even going to Gettysburg. Going to Gettyburg, only came up because of the swift move of the Army of the Potomac, and because the Confederate army was strung out in Pennsylvania. Gettysburg became famous; never famous because it had any part of R.E. Lee's invasion plan.

 

[dvrmte]

Well I think I've finally figured out what you mean by "battle book historians," but D. S. Freeman did use the OR's. That may or may not be considered battle books by you, I don't know. The internet has definitely eased research, though.

I agree that Gettysburg just happened to be the place where the armies met, not a preselected battlefield location. Lee was looking to resupply his army while he was in the North.

 

[rhp6033]

Well, Lee never told Stuart about Gettysburg because, as you mentioned, Lee never intended to go to Gettysburg.

And you are correct, the Union army was moving faster and more westerly than Lee had anticipated. This put an entire corps in Stuart's intended path, so Stuart had to travel a much further distance to go around it than either he or Lee had anticipated.

Stuart has at times been blamed for getting caught up on the raiding of a column of union wagons. It took some time to parole the captured guard and drivers, and then Stuart's column was transformed from hard-riding cavalry to the speed of wagon-train escorts. But I don't blame Stuart for this, either - the chronic shortage of wagons and teams within the ANV was well-known to Stuart, and the ANV was going to need them if they decided to move back south and carry with them the contents of the Union storehouses they hoped to capture. Stuart had no way of knowing that Lee had suddenly decided to move east to Gettysburg.

 

[diane]

Stuart, and Lee for that matter, also had no way of knowing Meade would get the lead out of the AoP and move as swiftly as he did. The AoP had always been a slow army! I'm not sure - wasn't Lee's eastward move an effort to connect with Ewell, not because of Meade? I believe Lee knew there would be a set-to somewhere in that vicinity - not exactly Gettysburg - but somewhere thereabouts. (He was planning to select his battlefield but events unfolded differently.)

 

[Rebel from Finland]

If I recall correctly Stuart did NOT have all ANV´s cavalry with him, so in addition with things mentioned earlier in this thread, its very odd that its commonly stated that Lee was blind in Gettysburg because of Stuarts absence..

 

[diane]

Yes, Stuart left Imboden, Jenkins and some others who were partisans for the most part. Lee didn't consider them reliable - and they often weren't - but indeed it seems he should have used them for what they were worth. Some have suggested Lee had become too dependent on Stuart and there may be some truth to that - nobody brought him better information!