WI: Robert E. Lee dies, 1863

[PeterEzgo]

Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, suffered what appeared to be a heart attack in March, 1863.
What if he had died?
Who would have replaced him?
How would this have affected the Civil War?

[TheSevenLeggedFallyDowner]

Well, without getting into too many details, he'd be replaced by a general that wasn't nearly as brilliant as he was and the ACW would end a little earlier. Although if his death butterflied away Stonewall Jackson's (which took place two months later in May of 1963), that could make for a more interesting timeline, since Jackson would be Lee's logical successor. I don't know if it would be sufficient to change the outcome of the war though. If I did a little research and knew a little more about military strategy then I could be more specific.

[Wendell]

Will there still be an Arlington National Cemetary after the war?

[Nytram01]

Is this not in the wrong section?

But anyway, to answer Wendell, Montgomery Meiges had started burying Union Soldiers in the garden of Robert E. Lee's wifes home around a month or so before the federal government actually aproved his plan to use it as a cemetery.

The decision to keep Arlington as a national cemetery would then fall to George Washington Curtis Lee, Lee's oldest son (if he wins his case about the illegal seizure of Arlington House and its grounds as he did in OTL with the help of Robert Todd Lincoln) who would likely do the same as he did in OTL and sell the grounds to the government for continual use as a cemetery.

[TheSevenLeggedFallyDowner]

LOL, you're right this is in the wrong section. I didn't notice because I switch between the pre- and post- 1900 forums so often.