Gettysburg overrated?

[ChewyGranola]

Gettysburg has been called the high tide of the Confederacy, the most important battle of the Civil War, etc. It seems to me that many people forget that the Civil War also took place west of the area around Washington DC and Richmond. I am not arguing that the Battle of Gettysburg was unimportant, but I am questioning the level of importance that seems to be given to it. So, if no Gettysburg-like battle had taken place, at least not in July 1863, how would the war have progressed? If there was no second attempt at invasion by Lee, what would the Army of the Potomac have done? Or, hell, if Meade had lost at Gettysburg, then what? I have a hard time believing that Gettysburg was either the death of the Confederacy or the potential loss of the war for the Union. The ANV lost the fight, and still the Confederates fought for two more years. I can't believe that a loss for the Union would have been a complete disaster for the entire North, but who knows? I have been wrong plenty of times before and could be wrong about this.

 

[Snake Featherston]

Gettysburg is overrated in terms of strategic importance, yes. It was a meeting engagement where Lee's army was at its most equal ever in numerical terms relative to its Union opponent. It was a battle where Lee was allowed to be Lee, and after the first day everything he did went wrong. It was less important to the outcome of the war than the fall of Vicksburg, as this meant the preponderance of US power would move from problematically stronger to the irresistible force by virtue of being concentrated on a Confederacy ever shrinking in territory, manpower, and strategic initiative and means to secure it. Lee winning Gettysburg is improbable enough.

 

[T3h_shammy]

I think Gettysburg is overrated because it was a Union Victory. If it had been a crushing Southern victory ala Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville it might have had a whole different level of impact. Although realistically the only thing that a Gettysburg loss might do is bring over Grant even quicker.

 

[Johnrankins]

Gettysburg has been called the high tide of the Confederacy, the most important battle of the Civil War, etc. It seems to me that many people forget that the Civil War also took place west of the area around Washington DC and Richmond. I am not arguing that the Battle of Gettysburg was unimportant, but I am questioning the level of importance that seems to be given to it. So, if no Gettysburg-like battle had taken place, at least not in July 1863, how would the war have progressed? If there was no second attempt at invasion by Lee, what would the Army of the Potomac have done? Or, hell, if Meade had lost at Gettysburg, then what? I have a hard time believing that Gettysburg was either the death of the Confederacy or the potential loss of the war for the Union. The ANV lost the fight, and still the Confederates fought for two more years. I can't believe that a loss for the Union would have been a complete disaster for the entire North, but who knows? I have been wrong plenty of times before and could be wrong about this.

You're probably right. The Confederacy is probably toast no matter what they do. Best case scenario: Lee stays in Virginia. He will probably bleed Grant somewhat more due to him having a larger army and he could well slow him down a bit. There is an off chance that he might bleed him enough to swing the election to Little Mac. But I doubt it. Sherman most likely will still beat Hood in Atlanta and that is what swung the election. Next best scenario for the South: Lee listens to Longstreet and the North attacks him in PN. After a bloody victory Lee is more convinced he is invincible and gets beaten somewhere else anyways. Lee never had the capability of destroying the AOTP no matter what his swollen head thought. Worst case scenario Lee pulls off a miracle at Gettysburg using his own plan winning a Pyrrhic victory. Lee's head is even more swollen and he has less men to win with.

 

[ChewyGranola]

That would be a fun TL to have the South win at Gettysburg, have Grant show up sooner, and still have the Union win. Maybe Virginia is never as wholly conquered as it was in OTL, with most of the fighting taking place in Georgia and the Carolinas as the Union presses their advantages from the West.

 

[Fiver]

Gettysburg has been called the high tide of the Confederacy, the most important battle of the Civil War, etc. It seems to me that many people forget that the Civil War also took place west of the area around Washington DC and Richmond.

It's certainly over-rated, but it was very important. It proved to the Army of the Potomac that they could beat Lee. It proved to Lee that some things were impossible for the Army of Northern Virginia.

 

[kaijunate]

Alternate Books

You mentioned a TL where Lee wins at Gettyburg but the North still wins the war? I think that has already been done. Its three novels, Gettysburg, Grant Comes East and Never Call Retreat. In the first book Lee wins a stunning victory over Meade at Union Mills (just south of Gettysburg), Grant's Army of the Tennesee comes East and a showdown is fought in Maryland. They are really fun books with plausible (and some ASB) ideas.