What was lees mistake at gettysburg

The next day, a Sunday the same day that Jackson would succumb to his wounds , the two generals began a series of private conferences that continued for four days. Together, they fashioned a plan that would carry the Confederate army northward in a second invasion of Union territory. Longstreet was 42 years old at the time, the senior subordinate officer in the army.

At their initial meeting in early May, in all likelihood, Longstreet proposed a plan he had broached to Secretary of War James Seddon in Richmond a few days earlier. As Longstreet saw it, the Confederates needed to concentrate troops in Tennessee for an offensive thrust into Kentucky that would relieve the threat posed by Union Maj.

Ulysses S. Army, against Vicksburg, Miss. If the Southerners advanced into the Blue Grass State, the administration in Washington would pressure Grant to detach troops to the endangered region. Lee wanted to exploit the initiative earned at Chancellorsville with a strategic offensive across the Potomac River. In time, during the postwar Gettysburg controversy, Longstreet presented versions of these meetings in published writing.

He asserted that he had opposed the offensive movement but accepted it once Lee assented to fight a defensive battle when the two armies collided. Although Lee never promised Longstreet to fight only such an engagement, it was understood within the army by certain officers, besides Longstreet, that the Confederates would maneuver to force their opponent to attack them unless circumstances compelled otherwise.

Longstreet wrote the letter before the controversy about his role in the battle had been reported in the press. The 1st Corps to receive the attack and fight the battle. The other corps to then fall upon and try to destroy the Union Army of the Potomac. In the spring of , Longstreet thought that the Confederacy faced a crisis of manpower.

If offensive assaults continued as they had at Chancellorsville, the blood of the South would be drained away before ultimate victory could be attained. To Longstreet, assaults meant the sacrifice of men. If the Confederates had to assail the enemy, it should be done when success seemed assured, and the resultant victory was worth the cost.

As Longstreet headed north with the army, he expected Lee to fight as he had at Second Manassas, and not with the audacious tactics employed at Chancellorsville. On June 3, , the leading elements of the Rebel army began the march.

During the previous fortnight, Lee had reorganized and refitted his splendid force. Richard S. Ewell and Ambrose P. Hill to corps commanders. Before they departed, all the Rebels knew that a collision with the enemy was inevitable. It came on Wednesday, July 1, as both armies followed the roads to Gettysburg. But Lee neither expected nor wanted a battle on this day, issuing orders against bringing on a general engagement.

For a week, Lee had heard nothing from his cavalry commander, Maj. There were chances to win the day had Lee or any of his commanders exercised proper command and control of their units. Men who had seldom failed Lee over the past year made mistakes and acted in manners contradictory to their previous performance of duty.

Lee conducted the battle in manner that had to be his worst performance of the war. His loose style of command coupled with the extended lines of his army was insufficient, unlike Meade, Hancock and others on the Federal side Lee took little personal role in the events of the day receiving only one report and issuing one order after the battle was joined.

Lee assumed that his subordinates would act as Jackson would and he ignored his own best advice. In the end it set hi up for disaster on July 3rd as he still continued to believe that he could take the Federal position and with that win the war. Sears p. Sears, p. Gettysburg The Second Day.

Filed under civil war , History , leadership , Military. Tagged as a. Jackson was killed in May, I can understand that the loss of Jackson must have had an impact across the ANV. Ian, thank you for your comments and point of view. My view is that Lee needed to change his manner of command, and actually after this battle he did. His senior commanders for the most part were new in their positions. While most had served in the Army of Northern Virginia almost all were new to their positions and with the exception of Longstreet most had not worked directly under Lee.

This was especially true of all who had served under Jackson, who was a much more engaged commander than Lee. Many, especially the newly elevated brigade and division commanders had not served under the command of those that the were now under.

Others had served in units that had missed many of the battles that the army had fought after Lee took command. When a commander has new personnel in key positions he cannot assume that they will automatically understand his intent.

That is his responsibility. Lee realized that too late. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account.

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