re: 159 years ago today: all hell broke loose along the banks of the Tennessee River...

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Lee had two chances to essentially win the war at Gettysburg. On Day 1, if Ewell uses common sense , let alone follows order and takes Cemetery Hill , then Culp’s Hill, Lee is in the car bird’s seat. Ewell didn’t and Lee lost the high ground.

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Ewell was told to take the hill if he thought it practicable. Ewell deemed it unpracticable and he had a good argument for doing so. Rodes' division was completely shot up in the fighting along Oak Ridge/McPherson's Ridge that afternoon. Early's division was totally disorganized after their victory over the Eleventh Corps and subsequent race through the town to bag prisoners. The only option he had at his disposal to attack Cemetery Hill with was Johnson's division and they weren't even on the field yet.

He turned to A.P. Hill's Corps for help but Hill could afford him none. Heth's division had been virtually destroyed in the fighting that day (plus Heth had almost died to boot). Pender's division had been badly mauled in the final assault against the First Corps on Seminary Ridge. Anderson's division was the only option for Hill to assist Ewell and they weren't on the field yet either.

At the end of the day, Ewell made a prudent decision. Cemetery Hill was a fortress in the early evening of July 1 and there was no way Ewell could have organized an attack force suitable enough to take it. Culp's Hill, however, was unoccupied but there was no way Ewell could know that in the moment. Even if he had and managed to take it, the Union army would have simply fallen back into Maryland rather than choosing to stay and fight the Confederates atop the high ground south of town.

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On Day 2, if Lee allows Hood to move southeast and attack the rear of
flank , it likely breaks given the mmmmmm Sickles movement to low ground.

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If Hood had moved southeast by himself he would have been isolated and destroyed by the Sixth Corps of John Sedgwick, which was moving up toward Gettysburg from that direction. Sedgwick had nearly 15,000 men under his command, by far the largest corps in the Union army, and would have dealt a crushing blow to Hood's flanking column - which would have been caught unawares due to the absence of JEB Stuart's cavalry screen.

Screw grant, Lincoln, and Sherman



All are war criminals

Not really the case at Shiloh and his counter attack in that battle was a brilliant move. Grant’s entire campaign to take Vicksburg is nothing short of military brilliance. Commanding and sustaining massive armies requires as much quartermaster as it does tactics. Grant possessed both.

Lee largely achieved all his success against political hacks masquerading as generals. Once the professional soldiers moved in to command the union in Virginia that success ended. And for all his tactical brilliance, Lee losing the army of northern Virginia on a battlefield in Pennsylvania in a war of attrition is a complete blunder.

Johnston dying in that battle had long term consequences.

Vicksburg would likely have turned out differently.

Yep. When you can land troops en masse into the heart of your enemy . You lose. The war was over in April of 1862 when Grant moves on Shiloh and Farragut took New Orleans.

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Johnston dying in that battle had long term consequences.

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Very underrated comment itt. There’s a lot of people that held him in higher regard than Lee prior to his death.

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Tennessee River


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Well momma got sick and daddy got down
The county got the farm and they moved to town
Papa got a job with the TVA
He bought a washin' machine and then a Chevrolet

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That’s Song of the South, not Tennessee River.

It would have been better to use lyrics from their song “Tennessee River” then if you wanted to be cute.

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But for Lee’s narcissism , the Confederates win that battle and the war.

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Hubris might be a better word for Lee's actions and explain much.

But Stuart's misadventures in the saddle previous to the meeting engagement at Gettysburg, leaving Lee blind to his adversary's dispositions, strength, and movements also contributed to Lee's problems and subsequent decisions.

If Longstreet is to be believed, his advice to Lee to move and redeploy the Army of Northern Virginia positioning it between The Army of the Potomac and Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington on ground favorable to defend and receive attacks was sound. Foolishly Lee declined this advice.

Was it Lee's hubris, his worsening heart problems, or just wanting to try and end it then and there? Who knows?

A problem with the what did Lee do wrong is the implicit slight to The Army of The Potomac. The new CO George Meade performed admirably. John Buford's cavalrymen fighting a superior force dismounted as infantry holding the line until John Reynolds' Iron Brigade could become engaged and slow the Confederate advance. Chamberlain's (Vincent gets too little credit imo) stand at Little Round Top.
These actions by Federal troops and many others did as least as much to win the fight as Lee's actions did to lose it.

Interestingly, Shelby Foote titles his account of Gettysburg Stars In Their Courses.

They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
The Book Of Judges 5:20