GDG- Re: Gettysburg Digest, Vol 26, Issue 2

[Tom Ryan]

<<I tend to share your sense of his attachment to his native state, but
believe
that he was heading for the "[modern] Route 29" corridor to NC and Uncle
Joe in April 1865.

You also seem to dismiss Brown's thesis ("Retreat from Gettysburg") that
essential re-supply of his army figured prominently in his
Maryland-Pennsylvania "raid." Never having considered that factor, I was
and am quite impressed with the argument.

Then, too, his health by '63 could well have been a factor in his
"druthers"--that he'd rather stay close to home, on familiar ground, if
given a choice...and was willing to gamble with Uncle Joe and lesser lights
out West if he could get another crack at what he viewed as the principal
foe, the AoP.>>

Dave,

	I think the decision should not have been left in Lee's hands (as it
appeared to be) regarding whether or not the crisis in the West needed to be
addressed immediately.  Davis was in the best position to know how dire the
overall strategic situation was, and the burden was on him to direct his
generals to deal with it in a way that would insure the best opportunity to
hold Vicksburg.  Certainly Davis' message to Lee, in response to his call
for an army in effigy to threaten Washington (the one that was intercepted
before it reached Lee in Pennsylvania), was an indication that the
Confederate president understood what difficult straights the South was in
at the time.

	Although Davis was not the type to act preemptorily in dealing with his
generals, if ever there was a time to do so this may have been it.
Assignments of Lee to Mississippi, Johnston to Tennessee to replace Bragg
(employing Johnston's defensive skills there), and Bragg to a staff job in
Richmond seems the best formula to salvage the impending disaster in the
West.

	The ANV in a defensive position behind the Rappahannock did not have to be
overly worried that Hooker would soon recover his nerve and pose a serious
threat.  Hooker was having enough trouble keeping his rebellious generals in
line.

	Your points about Lee's health and the need to forage in Pennsylvania
certainly are valid, yet in the above scenario I think they should have been
trumped by sheer necessity.

Regards, Tom