GDG- RE: Pipe Creek

[jack]

Hi Andy.

I think Lee's plan, such as it was, was to withdraw with his Army intact at 
sme point. Everything else was ad hoc. Geography forced him to stay close to 
the valley. It was a natural haven and offered him the only protection he 
could find.
Certainly, Reynolds detachment with his right wing caused an inevitable 
collision of the armies. It was not, however, the drawing out of the AoP Lee 
needed to defeat the AoP in detail. Even then any defeat Lee inflicted on 
the AoP would have been in Cannae proportion, that would have allowed him to 
maneuver away from the valley, especially since he had so badly divided his 
force. He never intended to do anything other than what he did, and he still 
did that badly.

Regards,

Jack

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "The Mills" <kkamills at embarqmail.com>
To: "GDG" <gettysburg at arthes.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 3:03 PM
Subject: Re: GDG- RE: Pipe Creek


> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:
>
>
> Jack:
>
> While I agree with you in that he couldn't stray far, I have to play 
> devil's advocate in that:  was it really his plan to stay near the valley, 
> or was it that the AOP moved much faster than Lee planned for and thus 
> prevented him from straying from the valley.  In other words, was his 
> plans thus thwarted by the rapid movement of the AOP and thereby he would 
> have moved from the valley?  We know that this caused Stuart to go missing 
> for a week and had Lee known the AOP was on such a rapid march, most 
> likely would not have allowed Stuart to leave and had his army so spread 
> out.  So we really don't know for certain what would have happened if the 
> AOP would have been slower and allowed Lee a couple more weeks to "roam."
>
> Thanks
> Andy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> I do not think that lee had a target for thr invasion any smaller than
> Pennsylvania. Lee was a soldier, and he knew the geograpy was against him.
> He just could not stray far from the valley, and he did not.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jack
>
>
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