DBWI: Lee's 1863 Campaign Without Jackson

Anaxagoras

Banned
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that Stonewall Jackson is killed during the Battle of Chancellorsville. Having lost one of his top two commanders, would Lee have still gone ahead with the invasion of Pennsylvania? And if so, might the Army of the Potomac have actually won? Would the loss of Jackson be enough to prevent the ultimate Confederate victory?
 
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that Stonewall Jackson is killed during the Battle of Chancellorsville. Having lost one of his top two commanders, would Lee have still gone ahead with the invasion of Pennsylvania? And if so, might the Army of the Potomac have actually won? Would the loss of Jackson be enough to prevent the ultimate Confederate victory?


Well, I think Lee would still have decided to take the war into the North. He didn't want to send troops west to support Vicksburg, whether rightly or wrongly, and he felt the best way to relieve Vicksburg would be with a major victory won on Northern soil, which would, or so he hoped, force the Union to withdraw some of the troops besieging Vicksburg and send them east to face Lee's Army.

As to whether the campaign would have been as successful without Jackson, probably not. It was Jackson, through his support of Longstreet during the planning conference with Lee on the evening of July 1, 1863, who persuaded Lee to withdraw from Gettysburg and find more suitable defensive ground, forcing the Army of the Potomac to attack the Army of Northern Virginia in prepared defensive positions. Had he not been there, Harry Heth's ill-advised shoe-finding expedition might have sucked the A.N.V. into a bloody slugging match with the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, which might have lasted 2 or even 3 days, with the Union holding all the advantageous ground. Instead, the decisive battle was fought outside Carlisle, with the Confederates firmly occupying the high ground.

Of course, the Army of the Potomac fought bravely. Hancock's Charge, however ill advised it was, was still a moment of glory for Union arms. But attacking uphill, against entrenched Confederate lines, was suicide. Who knows, if Jackson had not been there, it might have been Confederates making that charge, at Gettysburg, under the command of Heth, Pettrigrew, or even George Pickett.
 
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The crucial point, I think, is who Lee selects to replace Jackson in command of the IInd corps. There were many able choices amongst the divisional command level in 1863. I seriously doubt that, at the July 1st conference, someone like D. H. Hill, Colston, Taliaferro, Ewell, or even, for that matter, most of the rest of the divisional command level would seriously want to fight outside Gettysburg. Even if they don't have Jackson's prestige, for Lee to attack in the face of resistance from both of his corps commanders would be audacious at best.
 

67th Tigers

Banned
The crucial point, I think, is who Lee selects to replace Jackson in command of the IInd corps. There were many able choices amongst the divisional command level in 1863. I seriously doubt that, at the July 1st conference, someone like D. H. Hill, Colston, Taliaferro, Ewell, or even, for that matter, most of the rest of the divisional command level would seriously want to fight outside Gettysburg. Even if they don't have Jackson's prestige, for Lee to attack in the face of resistance from both of his corps commanders would be audacious at best.

Maybe he'd have only divided his army to three corps instead of four in his May reorganisation. I'd imagine Ewell would get 2nd Corps (vice 3rd Corps) and AP Hill could get 3rd Corps (vice Light Corps).

Lets look at the historical organisation:

Longstreet's Corps (First): Hood's, McLaws' and Pickett's Divisions
Jackson's Corps (Second): Stonewall and Rodes' Divisions
Ewell's Corps (Third): Early's and Anderson's Divisions
AP Hill's Light Corps: Heth's and Pender's Divisions

I suppose the easiest thing to do would be for Ewell to take 2nd Corps with his old division (now Early's) and give Anderson to AP Hill.

Certainly without Jackson Lee has no trouble of the sort he had historically. After the debacle of Chancellorsville Jackson was really finished in the Army of Northern Virginia, it just took Lee some time to get him sent west. Of course, he performed terribly there, just look at his attack at Franklin!
 
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