Comments on: Would you like to become Robert E. Lee, if only for a moment? http://jscafenette.com/2007/11/27/would-you-like-to-become-robert-e-lee-if-only-for-a-moment/ Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:32:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Sue http://jscafenette.com/2007/11/27/would-you-like-to-become-robert-e-lee-if-only-for-a-moment/#comment-6120 Sue Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:03:03 +0000 http://jscafenette.com/2007/11/27/would-you-like-to-become-robert-e-lee-if-only-for-a-moment/#comment-6120 I actually thought of you Big Mo when I saw this. There is nothing "nerdy" about being a history buff...I live with one too! I showed this to the better half last night and he agrees with you that no matter the winner at Gettysburg, the eventual victory would not have been altered. I will check out that book you have posted. Wonder if it would make a good Christmas gift for a huge Civil War fan?? We have so many already but another would never hurt. I actually thought of you Big Mo when I saw this.

There is nothing “nerdy” about being a history buff…I live with one too!

I showed this to the better half last night and he agrees with you that no matter the winner at Gettysburg, the eventual victory would not have been altered.

I will check out that book you have posted. Wonder if it would make a good Christmas gift for a huge Civil War fan?? We have so many already but another would never hurt.

]]> By: Big Mo http://jscafenette.com/2007/11/27/would-you-like-to-become-robert-e-lee-if-only-for-a-moment/#comment-6119 Big Mo Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:39:45 +0000 http://jscafenette.com/2007/11/27/would-you-like-to-become-robert-e-lee-if-only-for-a-moment/#comment-6119 Sue - I saw that at Evangelical Outpost. It was fun and I played with it until I got a Confederate victory. Didn't care for it too much because there were other options Lee could have made. Besides, it also assumes that the Union command would have done nothing in return. Ultimately, a Confederate victory at Gettysburg would not have won the war for the South. I wrote at EP that: Vicksburg still would have fallen, as would have middle Tennessee (to Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland). The Army of the Potomac would have fallen back to prepared positions and Lee's exhausted army could not have defeated it again--to say nothing of taking Washington. Re-inforced and resupplied, the Army of the Potomac would have come out to fight again and Lee would eventually have had to retreat. Meanwhile, by the summer of 1863, foreign recognition was no longer an option. That hope had been dashed the previous fall following the twin repulses in Maryland and Kentucky. England had decided to stay its hand, and so did France (following England's lead). Gettysburg may have been a psychological turning point, but militarily, it wasn't THE turning point. (See Archer and Hattaway's How the North Won for a great explaination.) (Yes, I AM a history nerd :) Sue - I saw that at Evangelical Outpost. It was fun and I played with it until I got a Confederate victory. Didn’t care for it too much because there were other options Lee could have made. Besides, it also assumes that the Union command would have done nothing in return.

Ultimately, a Confederate victory at Gettysburg would not have won the war for the South. I wrote at EP that: Vicksburg still would have fallen, as would have middle Tennessee (to Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland). The Army of the Potomac would have fallen back to prepared positions and Lee’s exhausted army could not have defeated it again–to say nothing of taking Washington. Re-inforced and resupplied, the Army of the Potomac would have come out to fight again and Lee would eventually have had to retreat.

Meanwhile, by the summer of 1863, foreign recognition was no longer an option. That hope had been dashed the previous fall following the twin repulses in Maryland and Kentucky. England had decided to stay its hand, and so did France (following England’s lead).

Gettysburg may have been a psychological turning point, but militarily, it wasn’t THE turning point. (See Archer and Hattaway’s How the North Won for a great explaination.)

(Yes, I AM a history nerd :)

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