GDG- Stuart and the Historians

[Tom Ryan]

Tim,

	That's it in a nutshell.  One of the difficult choices one has to make on
the spur of the moment with not a lot of room for error.  One other choice
that Stuart made a little later that drew considerable criticism was
bringing along the captured supply wagons he captured at Rockville,
Maryland, rather than destroying them.  The pro argument was that this
forage the wagons contained was needed by his horses as well as the those in
the rest of the army.  The con side was that the wagon train slowed him down
considerably.

	It makes you wonder what choice we would have made under the same
circumstances.  Again not a lot of room for error.

Regards, Tom Ryan

-----Original Message-----
From: gettysburg-bounces at arthes.com
[mailto:gettysburg-bounces at arthes.com]On Behalf Of Tim Gennett
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 6:23 AM
To: GDG
Subject: Re: GDG- Stuart and the Historians


Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:


I wonder if you can boil it down to this: Stuart was to connect with Ewell.
Sooner rather than later.  After running into Hancock he had to choose
between doubling back and moving north on roads he knew would be very
crowded.  Or, he could adjust his route and keep moving around the AOP.  The
first choice would almost certainly delay his connection with Ewell and
cause him to fail to meet one of his primary objectives if not THE primary
objective.  The second choice might be quicker if he did not run into
additional obstacles.  He chose the course that still gave him some chance
of making the quickest connect to Ewell.  As things turned out, it didn't
work.

I can't find a whole lot of fault in that.

Regards, Tim

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Ryan" <pennmardel at mchsi.com>
To: "GDG" <gettysburg at arthes.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2006 10:20
Subject: RE: GDG- Stuart and the Historians


> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:
>
>
> One other thought regarding Stuart's decision to go around the Union army.
> Considering that he had only one other option, that was to return along
> the
> route he had started from and go all the way across the Loudoun Valley
> (that
> was teaming with Union cavalry), cross the Blue Ridge and follow Lee's
> army
> down the Shenandoah Valley toward the Potomac, we can see the dilemma he
> faced.  These roads (actually there was only one good road, I believe)
> west
> of the mountains were crowded with Hill and Longstreet's corps heading
> toward the two crossings at Shepherdstown and Williamsport.
>
> So if we were in Stuart's shoes on that morning of June 25 when Hancock's
> corps suddenly loomed in our front, we might have made the choice he did
> also.  It turned out to be the wrong choice, but from his vantage point
> that
> day it may have looked a heck of a lot better than taking what he believed
> was a much longer and more dangerous route back through the Loudoun Valley
> to rejoin Lee's army and cross the river west of the Blue Ridge.
>
> Tom Ryan
>

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