GDG- If Sickles had stayed put!

[Alan D. Brunelle]

Tom Ryan wrote:
> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:
>
>
> <<Hi Tom (again) -
>
> Back to the original question, let's think about another scenario. Meade
> expected Sickles to connect with Hancock's left, and proceed towards
> Little Round Top & occupy that if practicable. I believe Sickles did not
> have enough troops to man a line that extended from Hancock's left /and/
> still occupy all of the LRT area strongly. Nonetheless, Sickles
> certainly would have been expected to post /some/ force on top of LRT -
> if for no other reasons due to its commanding view & being on his flank.
>
> In addition, one would have expected a reasonable skirmishing force out
> front - out at least as far as Houck's ridge, and probably out as far as
> the Emmitsburg road. In any event, Longstreet would have been aware of
> the layout of significant Union forces due to sighting the skirmishers &
> perhaps parts of Sickles line as well.
>
> I would hope that at least this far we're all in consensus. :-)>>
>
> Hi Alan, so far so good.  I would not expect skimishers to out beyond
> Houck's Ridge very far, because of the distance.  Certainly not as far as
> the ER, since that was a good mile from Sickle's position on the ridge.
>   

Hi Tom - Calvary would have been nice to have! Certainly, having the 
good post on LRT to view things would be helpful w/ a skirmish line 
starting in Houck's ridge and going northwards. On second thought, I do 
think you're right that skirmishers wouldn't have been out as far as the 
Emmitsburg Road.


> <<snip on parts we agree upon>>

>
> <<I just don't know about this one - it's a long ways from Seminary ridge
> to the jump-off point. Lee /may/ have also been very concerned about the
> perceived strength at Little Round Top as an anchor to the Union left.
>
> If nothing else, Sickles being back along the Cemetery Ridge/LRT line
> would have presented Lee/Longstreet with a very different situation than
> what they ended up with: One could argue that with Sickles main line
> anchored at the Emmitsburg/Millerstown crossroad and heading north -
> with 2 brigades at the Stony Hill & Houck's ridge guarding his flank -
> that the situation the Confederates faced on Day 2 was pretty much what
> Lee expected: The Union line ending at the Peach Orchard, and thence
> northwards along the Emmitsburg Road towards Cemetery Hill.>>
>
> I do not think Lee expected the latter.  I suggested in another post that
> his best option may have been to have Longstreet strile the Second Corps at
> an angle and drive it in.  In order to do that, he would have to try ot
> isolate the Third Corps in some way, perhaps with a combination of artillery
> fire and a blocking force.
>
> Based on your post, I think you might agree that it is not entirely clear
> whether Sickles corps back on the ridge is a better position than his actual
> location in the Peach Orchard area.  It does not appear to be a cut and
> dried situation.

Actually, I do think Sickles back on Meade's line would have been better 
for the AoP - if for no other reason than we know the results of it 
being out on Sickles line! :-)

I just don't see any good options for Lee/Longstreet to attack on July 
2nd given Sickles back on Meade's line. I would think the /best/ thing 
Lee could do then is to take a step back, consolidate forces, and look 
for a better way to make progress. Given that Lee's "blood was up" I 
doubt he would have done that, and it may have been a pretty good chance 
that the results of the Pickett/Pettigrew/Trimble charge would have been 
repeated a day earlier! :-)

Anyways, I just have to agree with the very good list Jim Cameron posted 
early in this thread, and therefore believe Meade's line was better than 
Sickle's.

Alan