is the 3rd and final day of the battle of Gettysburg. In the West, Vicksburg will surrender to US Grant in the early morning hours of July 4th, although negotiations were basically finished on the 3rd, also. (You could basically say July 3rd 1863 was the most momentous day of the Civil War.)
FWIW American Battlefield Trust has been running short videos on YouTube at the various battle sites at Gettysburg each day explaining the battles at all those sites for each day of the battle.
Either that or Chancellorsville two months prior with the death of Stonewall Jackson.
Wait, what? Nicely done, sir! Do you own a stovepipe hat?
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it was all downhill for them after this date.
Either that or Chancellorsville two months prior with the death of Stonewall Jackson.
Agree, Jackson's death was the downfall. I believe he would have made the difference at Gettysburg.
Things would have been different, if Lee prevailed at Gettysburg, but Grant "winning the Mississippi" was very significant.
In the end Grant would have still won, he did not give a f***.
So much more a strategic victory than Gettysburg.
Even if by some miracle Lee had broken the middle of the Union line on Day 3, it would have been at most a tactical victory, if even that.
As for the Union victory at Gettysburg, it would have been more than just a tactical victory had General Meade screwed up his courage and thrown his entire army en masse against Lee's retreating army.
As for the strategic victory at Vicksburg, it was essentially the culmination of General Winfield Scott's lethal Anaconda Plan.
You are correct, Meade gets short-changed big time on Gettysburg. Much of the history of the Civil War was impacted (for better and worse) by generals who were good at promoting themselves in the press both during and after the war.
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Meade, the "old snapping turtle" was a good commander. (Grant thought Sherman and Meade the best two large army commanders in the Union army). He had been commander of the AoP for a whole 3 days when the battle started having been appointed when the AoNV was already marching into Maryland. The AoP lost 20,000 men at Gettysburg and just as importantly, 3 corp commanders, including his best two: Reynolds who was killed and Hancock who was badly wounded.
You are correct, Meade gets short-changed big time on Gettysburg. Much of the history of the Civil War was impacted (for better and worse) by generals who were good at promoting themselves in the press both during and after the war.
General Meade certainly deserves the victory at Gettysburg, but in the end, was it really his battle?
Wasn't it the cavalryman, John Buford, who took one hard look at the town and was mightily impressed by the intersection of several key roads that radiated outward from Gettysburg like so many spokes of a wheel.
If ever there was a marshalling yard for the General Lee to call in his badly separated Confederate army corps, then Gettysburg was it.
John Buford anticipated the event in a flash, and over the next three sweltering days in early July, the two sides gave birth to quite a few young widows, orphans and grieving parents.
Buford did a fantastic job, delaying the Rebs and allowing Howard to hold the high ground. Reynolds loss was huge, but Hancock was tactically sound when Meade assigned him control of the 3rd after Sickles fell and most of the 5th on July 2nd.
Back to Meade, 3 days after his assignment as Commanding General he was able to seize and hold the high ground, defeat Bobby Lee at his game and Longstreet thoroughly. Grant was smart to leave Meade as Commander of the AoP.
Sorry
seems like yesterday.
Would not make a mistake on his front, which I suppose is a pretty high compliment.
The Army of the Potomac had an amazing chance to bag Robert E. Lee's army after Antietam, but the Union forces were regrettably led by General McClellan.
The second chance was right after Gettysburg when the Army of Northern Virginia was up against the Potomac River, which was nearly impassable due to heavy rains.
True, the opportunity wasn't as good as at Antietam, but the opportunity nevertheless presented itself and as fate would have it General Meade did not grab fortune by the forelock.
Would not make a mistake on his front, which I suppose is a pretty high compliment.
The Army of the Potomac had an amazing chance to bag Robert E. Lee's army after Antietam, but the Union forces were regrettably led by General McClellan.
The second chance was right after Gettysburg when the Army of Northern Virginia was up against the Potomac River, which was nearly impassable due to heavy rains.
True, the opportunity wasn't as good as at Antietam, but the opportunity nevertheless presented itself and as fate would have it General Meade did not grab fortune by the forelock.
Yeah, McClellan was talked out of it by another general, but he was prone to indecisiveness.
Now Meade did have a chance, but remember they were beat up very badly. He lost Reynolds to death and Hancock to being shot in the hip on Picket's charge, his two best generals (and of course Dan Sickles lost a leg!). Yes Lee probably lost more senior Officers to death and injury, but Bobby Lee and Longstreet were masters at the defensive stand. To reorganize and attack Lee without Hancock and Reynolds would have been a tough call. I believe Grant would have attacked immediately, but I also think Grant was a better natural leader than Meade and he was bolder, more willing to proceed hell bent.