GDG- Stuart and the Historians

[John Baniszewski]

[SNIP]
   
  John, if Stuart abandons his plan once he encounters Hancock, what 
route does he then take to fulfill his mission of joining up with Ewell, how 
long does it take him, and where do he and Ewell meet?  I realize this 
requires some speculation, but would be interested in your point of view.

Regards, Tim
   
  [UNSNIP]
   
  Admittedly, Stuart would have a big problem finding an alternative route.  He could pull back just to the west of the Bull Run Mountains and go north, but that route would take him uncomfartably close to Harper's Ferry, and the federal garrison that Lee decided to leave alone.  He might be forced to cross all the way back over South Mountain, which means he would be competing for northbound roads with Lee's infantry.  In that event, Lee would probably have been forced to delay Ewell's advance, and the entire ANV might have stayed west of South Mountain until the end of June.  In other words, the entire course of the campaign would have changed so drastically, speculation becomes impossible.  The major battle might have been anywhere in the Cumberland Valley - Chambersburg, Hagerstown, Antietam.
   
  By cancelling his raid, Stuart would have greatly disrupted Lee's plan.  Lee, however, would still have been safely west of the mountains, and would have more options available, and could have replanned his strategy any number of ways.  By continuing his raid, Stuart endangered Lee's plan.  With Ewell east of the mountains, and devoid of adequate cavalry, Lee was forced to unite an army divided by a mountain range, once he discovered that the AOP was dangerously close by. 
   
  I think Lee would rather have been inconvenienced than endangered.
   
  John Baniszewski 


 		
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