GDG- war councils

[Tom Ryan]

<<Very interesting.  This provides more grist for the "Meade deferred to his
commanders" mill.  It also changes the context of Meade's position on the
questions posed at the July 2 meeting from desiring to stay and fight it out
to prefering to retreat.  That is a whole different subject for discussion,
and should elicit additional commentary, I suspect.

Regards, Tom>>


It should, Tom :-)  In a review of Styple's book that I did for Civil War
Times last year, I pointed out that Hancock passage, stating that it should
open up a whole new can of worms regarding the stay/retreat issue.

I have yet to see that can open, though.

J.D.>>

J.D.,

	In reviewing Hancock and Sedgwick's testimony to the Joint Committee on the
Battle of Gettysburg, when asked about the July 2 council, Hancock makes no
mention of Meade wanting to retreat.  When one of the congressional panel
members asked Sedgwick whether Meade had plans to retreat from Gettysburg,
his answer was "I do not think he ever contemplated a retreat."

	It may be that, since Hancock's comments and Sedgwick's staff chief
McMahon's comments to Kelly came long after the war (around 1880) about
Meade, too much water had gone over the dam by then, and not much
credibility is being given to what was being said at that late date about
Meade's preferences at the time of the July 2 meeting.

	Sedgwick did tell the committee that Meade was apprehensive about his
flanks, and that essentially is what Hancock said to Kelly with a little
extra embellishment about "Gettysburg is no place to fight a battle in."

	Since the statements both men made to the JCCCW were contemporaneous while
those made to Kelly came much later, it may well be that the former would be
seen as trumping the latter.

Regards, Tom