GDG- war councils

[James Cameron]

<< Hi Rick,

My considered opinion is that Pleasonton was simply lying (surprise!)  About
90% of the B&L article that that quote comes from is, in fact, pure hogwash.
Pleasonton was evidently not asked to attend the council (for whatever
reason, I tend to think Meade didn't feel Alf's presence to be important)
and there's one source who mentions he saw Pleasonton sort of hanging around
HQ while the meeting was taking place, looking quite miffed...

He was certainly not "collecting" assets of any kind, was not ordered to do
so by Meade, and it certainly wouldn't have been to cover any kind of a
decided retreat if it had been so ordered.

Best,

J.D.  >>

Agreed!  And if he'd been ordered to do this, why wasn't he?

It also doesn't seem to me there would have been any cavalry or artillery 
just sitting around loose, waiting to be "collected" and taken to the rear. 
What was he going to do, start pulling batteries out of the line, or from 
the Artillery Reserve?

As far as his not having been at the council, my impression is (and J.D., 
please feel free to comment on this) that although a Corps commander, as 
commander of the cavalry corps his position was more administrative in 
nature than tactical, compared to the infantry commanders.


Jim Cameron