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re: Did the South ever really have a chance (Civil War)?

Posted on 7/18/22 at 3:02 pm to
Posted by LSUinMA
Commerce, Texas
Member since Nov 2008
4777 posts
Posted on 7/18/22 at 3:02 pm to
quote:

So you're alleging that one regiment (the 15th Alabama) could have taken the entire Union army from the rear if they got around the 20th Maine


That's not what I'm alleging. Thanks.

How you proceed from taking LRT depends on if you're going artillery or infantry and if it is Lee or Longstreet giving orders.

If you eave it static and try to roll a few pieces of artillery up overnight and try to impact Cemetery Ridge on Day 3, that's probably inconsequential to the outcome as you suggest.

The other idea, pushing for a roll up behind Union lines is much more high risk given the Union numbers, but a rearguard action is so by definition also higher reward.

Such an action is admittedly hypothetical, but since we are talking about alternate events, it is all hypothetical.

Posted by RollTide1987
Augusta, GA
Member since Nov 2009
65147 posts
Posted on 7/18/22 at 3:39 pm to
quote:

How you proceed from taking LRT depends on if you're going artillery or infantry and if it is Lee or Longstreet giving orders.



Command and control had already broken down on the right end of the Confederate assault. Hood was down, Law was in command, but never effectively took charge of the division since he was also trying to command his brigade in their assault on the Union left. So essentially there was no one in charge on that part of the battlefield who could have let Longstreet or Lee know that they had taken the hill. Even if there was, Little Round Top wasn't an objective in Lee's overall battle plan so he probably wouldn't have cared less if his men held the hill. He would have ordered them to continue moving forward because Cemetery Hill was the key to the battlefield - not Little Round Top.

You also have to factor into the equation that the only units assaulting Little Round Top were the 4th, 15th, 47th, and 48th Alabama as well as the 4th and 5th Texas. That's six Confederate regiments assaulting eight Union regiments once Weed's brigade arrives on the hill. It's not that big of a battle and there aren't enough Confederates to exploit any kind of breakthrough if they somehow manage to take the hill.

This post was edited on 7/18/22 at 3:46 pm
Posted by SoonerK
Member since Nov 2021
948 posts
Posted on 7/18/22 at 3:43 pm to
quote:

How you proceed from taking LRT depends on if you're going artillery or infantry and if it is Lee or Longstreet giving orders.

If you eave it static and try to roll a few pieces of artillery up overnight and try to impact Cemetery Ridge on Day 3, that's probably inconsequential to the outcome as you suggest.

The other idea, pushing for a roll up behind Union lines is much more high risk given the Union numbers, but a rearguard action is so by definition also higher reward.

The Union Sixth Corps started arriving on the field at 3:00pm on July 2nd. That's 16K men that Longstreet would have run into.
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