Are you out of your mind?

Battle of Gettsyburg, day two, July 1863. What if Longstreet when ordered by Lee, to attack the centre of the Union line, went with his initial belief & simply refused to conduct the now famous Pickett's Charge.

What would this immediate refusal mean for the Battle of Gettysburg?

What would it mean for the Civil War in general?

Anything else?

Discuss
 
For starters Lee would relieve Longstreet of command. The question is who Lee picks to order the attack and who he picks to replace Longstreet in charge of the first Corps.

Two of the three divisions selected to lead the attack are from AP Hill's 3rd Corps, but Hill is incapacitated and Pettigrew and Trimble have just recently taken over their divisions, replacing a wounded and a dead officer.

Meanwhile, the division commanders for the 1st Corps are Law (temprarily replacing the wounded Hood), McLaws (previously passed over for Corps command by Lee in spite of Longstreet's recommnedation), and the largely untested Pickett.

So my best guess is Pickett becomes commander of the 1st Corps, with Garnett replacing him as division commander, which may just save him life.

Pickett's charge would still be a disaster as it was on OTL. And Pickett's Corps probably wouldn't be sent west to reinforce Bragg. Even if it was, I doubt Pickett would manage the breakthrough that Longstreet did at Chicamauga. And with Pickett instead of Longstreet, the Battle of the Wilderness could easily be a crushing defeat for the Confederates.
 
Battle of Gettsyburg, day two, July 1863. What if Longstreet when ordered by Lee, to attack the centre of the Union line, went with his initial belief & simply refused to conduct the now famous Pickett's Charge.

What would this immediate refusal mean for the Battle of Gettysburg?

What would it mean for the Civil War in general?

Anything else?

Discuss

If Lee replaces Longstreet (doubtful), the attack doesn't still go forward. Lee tries to figure out what to do now that he's lost valuable time relieving Longstreet.

So the question you ought to be asking is what Lee will try to do instead of Pickett's Charge.
 

Blackwood

Banned
Perhaps the Confederate army tries to attack the Union flanks again? The Union forces has already prepared for a full-on frontal assault, so a flank attempt might be more successful. Not sure if it could break their lines, though.
 
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