GDG- Corp size at GB

[Alan D. Brunelle]

I wonder if Meade recognized the benefits of having larger "multi-corps" 
units - prior to the battle, he had Reynolds and Slocum directing 2 or 3 
corps as "wings". As Chet noted in his message: perhaps while on 
maneuver, larger units make sense.

To some extent, it seemed that the AoP's 7 Corps commanders cooperated 
much better than Lee's 3 Corps commanders. On both day 2 and 3, troops 
were being pulled and pushed from one corps to the next in an almost 
endless stream during the assaults. In contrast, other than day 1 - when 
Hill & Ewell attacked at almost the same time - the ANV had significant 
problems getting inter-corps cooperation.

I think I'm in the camp that states it doesn't matter whether there were 
2, 3, or 7 ANV corps - the number of corps would be less important than 
the makeup of the men leading them. It seems to me that the AoP corps 
commanders (for the most part) seemed to "get along" better, and 
certainly there seems to be more communication between them.

I wonder how much of this Lee fostered - whereas Meade called those 
all-inclusive councils, Lee's management style almost seemed to 
encourage separate actions: talking to one commander, and then the 
next... For example, was Ewell ever included in conversations directly 
with Hill or Longstreet during the 3 days? I recall Lee, Hill and 
Longstreet meeting a couple of times, but these did not include Ewell. 
(Some of this is probably geographically induced - but I can't imagine 
that it would have been taxing for Lee, Longstreet, Ewell and Hill all 
to meet near the seminary for instance.)

Perhaps defensive cooperation is easier than during offensive action - 
as in the latter things are much more fluid?

Regards,
Alan