GDG- RE: Pipe Creek

[jack]

Greetiongsd,

Lee might have run his mouth that way, but he coud not do it. If he "holes 
up" in Harrisburg, he'll be trapped there until winter.

 IIRC, Lee detached divisions all over the place anyway.

I Lee holes up in Harrisburg, he is extinct.

IMHO,  fact, if Hooker had not relieved himself, Lee was trapped anyway.

Regards,

Jack
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gitt, Doug" <dgitt at state.pa.us>
To: <gettysburg at arthes.com>
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 1:09 PM
Subject: GDG- RE: Pipe Creek


Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:


In 1862, Lee stated the primary objective of his first invasion of the
North was Harrisburg, the capital of the second largest state in the
Union and an extremely important rail (and canal) center linking the
eastern and western states of the Union.  Even a short occupation of
Harrisburg would have had strategic consequences, perhaps equal to the
later capture of Atlanta by the Union.

Had Meade and the AoP "holed up" on the Pipe Creek line, Lee might have
held the AoP in place and detached a couple of divisions (similar to
Early's expedition to York) to assault Harrisburg which was defended
only by militia and the shallow Susquehanna River.  The ANV did not need
to cross the Susquehanna for the crucial Susquehanna bridges to be
destroyed (as when Early approached Wrightsville).

PA Governor Curtin's cries for help to Lincoln to protect Harrisburg, I
believe, prevented the AoP from crossing into the Great Valley to cut
off the AoP.  Such a move would have distanced the AoP further from
Harrisburg, as well as Washington and Baltimore. (And Jackson had proved
that an army could do without lines of communication for a short while.)

Certainly, the AoP's unexpectedly rapid march into northern Maryland
threw off Lee's plan (including Stuart's linking up with Early east of
Gettysburg) and made a battle in central Adams County almost a
certainty.  But Harrisburg was, I believe, Lee's objective, one that
would force the AoP to stay east of the mountains and certainly force a
decisive battle that he felt the ANV would win.

Doug



From: "jack" <jlawrence at kc.rr.com>

Greetings.

I agree that it is absolutley correct that Lee was stopped where he was
by
Meade's forward movement. Meades movement effectively placed the AoP
left
wing in the middle of the inside arc of the Cumberland valley from
Maryland
to East past Harrisburg. Everything on the valley side of the mountains
was
Lee's to have. If the AoP had established Meade's Pipe Creek line, Lee
could
have continued unfettered.
I have to disagree on any movement by Lee that carried the ANV deeper
than a
day's March towards to coast. The ANV was an army in mortal peril since
it
had come up from the Shennendoah. There was no refuge for it other than
the
valley, and the farther up the valley it went, the more danger it was in
of
being cot off (which was Hookers strategy, by the way).

The point is, if Lee had come up that valley and Lee had to go back down

that valley. Once the battle was forced at Gettysburg, Lee had to throw
it
all or leave. In any event, there was never any chance of Lee
maneuvering as
is often suggested, not much pastb the mountains and certainly not into
the
Cheaspeake littorals.  He was trapped if he got out of range of the
valley
and he was trapped if the AoP had blocked the valley to his rear.

Any theory of Lee bypassing Gettysburg and heading for a coastal city
is, I
believe, unrealistic.

He was simply suiciding his army to do so.

Regards,


Jack
                   ----------------------------------------------------------------
You may unsubscribe by going to 
http://mailman.arthes.com/mailman/listinfo/gettysburg

You can add yourself to the GDG map at: 
http://www.frappr.com/gettysburgdiscussiongroup

View archived posts from May 2004 -  present at 
http://mailman.arthes.com/pipermail/gettysburg/