If General Thomas is killed and the Union Army is completely routed at Chickamauga...

TFSmith121

Banned
Rosecrans digs in at Chattanooga with the troops that

What happens as a result?

Rosecrans digs in at Chattanooga with the troops that aren't caught on the field with Thomas (historically, about a third of Rosecrans 60,000, so call it 20,000 men) and Grant et al ride to the rescue.

It's worth noting that despite outnumbering Rosecrans by about 5,000 men, the rebels suffered 18,000 casualties (to the US' 16,000) to get the historical results; slugging it out with Thomas' force would, presumably, have cost even more.

Basically, whoever Bragg has left is going to be as battered as whoever Rosecrans has left; this battle would make Pyrrhus look like a piker.

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What about Longstreet moving faster on Bragg's orders allowing Cleburne to attack more effectively or (by other means) cutting off of the Union retreat by any of several means and forcing the surrender of the entire Union Army of the Cumberland?

I was not arguing about how it might be done as I think several options exist, but more wondering how a total defeat of a Union army in the field in early fall of 1863 would resonate and what the consequences would be.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
The problem with the "total defeat" issue is that

The problem with the "total defeat" issue is that it just didn't happen in the 1860s, unless the army defeated was locked up in a fortified position... two armies on foot means those retreating can always move faster than those advancing.

Grant's "total victories," for example, were against Buckner at Donelson and Pemberton at Vicksburg; it is only late in the war that the US had the overwhelming force to destroy rebel armies in the field, whether Lee at Appomattox or Hood at Franklin.

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