GDG- RE: Pipe Creek

[Tom Ryan]

<<Harrisburg was a major railroad junction and the most secure rail line
immediately north of the embattled B & O line. Furthermore, it was the
capital not only of a loyal state of great importance in the 1864
presidential campaign but  also one headed by one of the leading pro-Lincoln
war governors, Andrew Gregg Curtin, and it was almost defenseless.  The ANV
wouldn't have had to hold Harrisburg very long, simply taking it would have
enormous political and psychological signi
ficance on Union morale and even internationally.  If successful, it would
have sent the message to the states loyal to the Union that Sherman's 1864
campaign in Georgia sent to the people of the rebel states in the Deep
South-your government is incapable of performing one of the most fundamental
acts of a functioning government-protecting its citizens.>>

Margaret,

You make an important point, and one that reflects Lee's message to
President Davis on June 10, 1863, at the outset of the invasion of the North
in which he proposed that the best way to offset the great advantages the
North had in manpower and resources was to encourage the peace party in the
North that was growing in strength.  Certainly one way to do that was to
gain a victory on Northern soil which would undermine the Lincoln
administration, and perhaps lead to a political victory in the 1864
presidential elections for, as Lee called them, the "friends of peace."

Lee, however, also wanted to use deception, and proposed to Davis that the
South pretend they were interested in peace for the purposes of restoration
of the Union, when if fact the South had no such intention of reuniting with
the Northern states.  This, he believed, would mislead the Northern faction
that was demanding peace together with reunification, causing them to
support an end to the war.

In other words, Lee was plotting to play both ends against the middle.  This
message is a good example how Lee strategized in both military and political
terms.  The message is at OR, vol. 27, part III, pp. 880-882.

Regards, Tom