Civil War underdog campaigns

Hyperion

Banned
For all the attention focused on Grant taking Vicksburg, Sherman burning Atlanta and marching to the sea, and Lee fighting tooth and nail with the revolving door of Army of the Potomac generals and their forces, a lot of smaller battles or campaigns seem to go by the wayside.

What secondary campaign or battle do you think could have been done differently, or that could have had a different outcome for one side or the other, that might have made a larger difference compared to OTL.

Perhaps the Union advancing on Memphis before the Confederates could get all of their men and supplies out of the city and down to Mississippi.

Or maybe Burnside's North Carolina expedition could have been done differently.
 
IMO, top vote has to go to the Central theatre campaigns of 1862-3. Namely, Perryville, Stone's River, and Tullahoma. By size these do not count as secondary, but in public consciousness they absolutely do.

If Bragg and Smith could coordinate and Buell is as obstinately slow as in OTL, the Confederates can at least maintain a strong-ish presence in Kentucky for a few more months than OTL. While they likely cannot hold this, possible butterflies include re-taking Nashville and using it as a forward base, or forces being diverted from Grant to shore up the line. Alternatively Buell could have actually made a semblance of a pursuit, favoring the North.

Stone's River: if Sheridan, Thomas, Menendhall, or any of a number of other people performed significantly worse than OTL, or were killed, the Union defense falls apart, Bragg achieves his flanking attack, smashes the AotC against Stone's River. On the other hand, if he fails to press the attack as hard, or doesn't get as much luck (if McCook refuses his flank to any degree), or Rosecrans goes on the offensive, can be AoT that is crushed. Seeing as how iOTL this was a tactical draw and a bloody one at that, I see great potential for a POD...
 
If the Army of the James had taken Petersburg in spring 1864, it would have greatly helped Grant win the war in 1864.

Rosecrans should have won the Battle of Chickamagua in September 1863. If not for a poorly written order, he might have. That might allow Atlanta to be captured before 1864.

A competent general in charge of the Union invasion of Galveston, TX in September 1863 might have interesting consequences, but it would not have decisively impacted the war as the entire trans-Mississippi theatre was a backwater.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
A competent general in charge of the Union invasion of Galveston, TX in September 1863 might have interesting consequences, but it would not have decisively impacted the war as the entire trans-Mississippi theatre was a backwater.

I think you're thinking about Sabine Pass rather than Galveston.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Early's Washington Raid is full of potential butterflies. The capture of Washington was within the realm of possibility, and even the rescue of the Confederate prisoners at Point Lookout could conceivably have taken place.

I've always thought the Mine Run campaign could make for an interesting POD. If Lee had ended 1863 having inflicted a heavy defeat upon the AotP rather than still reeling from the defeat at Gettysburg, it would make for a very different 1864, especially from a political point of view.

The New Mexico campaign could make for some interesting changes. If the Confederate supply train hadn't been destroyed at Gloretta Pass, the whole history of the west would have been different.

Sterling Price's invasion of Missouri in late 1864 could be an interesting source of potential PODs.
 
Chattanooga in the right circumstances could lead to the Confederacy capturing the Army of the Cumberland intact and thus at one of the worst possible times for the Union engulfing 30,000 veteran troops when the Northern masses were extremely resistant to the draft.
 
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