Lee reinforces Vicksburg

Post Battle of Chancellorsville and Joe Hooker's embarrassing withdrawal, the Army of Northern Virginia went on the Gettysburg Campaign and we all know how that turned out (thats not to say the strategic idea wasnt sound though).

Here what if instead Lee doesnt go on the offensive and mostly sits tight while sending a large portion of his army to aid Vicksburg and hit Grant's army from the rear instead?
 
Post Battle of Chancellorsville and Joe Hooker's embarrassing withdrawal, the Army of Northern Virginia went on the Gettysburg Campaign and we all know how that turned out (thats not to say the strategic idea wasnt sound though).

Here what if instead Lee doesnt go on the offensive and mostly sits tight while sending a large portion of his army to aid Vicksburg and hit Grant's army from the rear instead?

Richmond will be taken by the Army of Potomac ???

or surround because Lee and the small Army of North Virginia will be not able to counter-attack any northern envelopment ???
 
Richmond will be taken by the Army of Potomac ???

or surround because Lee and the small Army of North Virginia will be not able to counter-attack any northern envelopment ???
Hm, early end to the war. Thats good.

Post war effects?
 
Hm, early end to the war. Thats good.

Post war effects?

Probably like Snake's timeline, only more so.

Though it has to be noted, Richmond falls =/= Confederate defeat.

Yes its a devastating blow, but the war won't end immediately. It might not even end that year.

How large a detachment of Lee's army are we sending anyway? Lee had - OTL about 65-70,000 men after Chancellorsville. Counting Hood's and Pickett's divisions.

The Army of the Potomac, not counting reinforcements received in the Gettysburg campaign, is about the same size. They lost a lot of men to expiring two years enlistments.

So let's not skip ahead to postwar too quickly.
 
Just sending a corps and a good commander would do the trick. You don't need bigger forces send West, IMHO.

That would be...

Let me put it this way. Lee has two corps in his army. Two. Longstreet's, and (Jackson)'s.

And how in hell are you sending thirty thousand men out like this? The railroad system won't support it.
 
Depends on when we're talking about them doing this. If it's at the point when Johnston and Pemberton outnumber Grant, Grant's campaign turns into a failure and the destruction of his army assuming the Confederate generals can pull off a concerted campaign (which they couldn't IOTL but obviously the situation's a bit different here).

If it's at the point where Grant's got 75,000 troops besieging Vicksburg the CSA gets cut in two even worse than IOTL. They really needed a victory at Pittsburg Landing to re-assert strategic parity in that theater, when they lost that battle it was all over but the shouting along the Mississippi.
 
That would be...

Let me put it this way. Lee has two corps in his army. Two. Longstreet's, and (Jackson)'s.

Sorry, I was thinking in the three corps that Lee had during the second invasion of the North.

And how in hell are you sending thirty thousand men out like this? The railroad system won't support it.

It was the same railroad system that supported sending Longstreet to the West after Gettysburg.
 
Richmond will be taken by the Army of Potomac ???

or surround because Lee and the small Army of North Virginia will be not able to counter-attack any northern envelopment ???

See, the monkey wrench in that is if Lee decides due to absence of troops to try something like the defensive strategy of the Overland Campaign. When he's got more effective subordinate generals than IOTL to execute that, he could really hurt the Army of the Potomac worse on the defensive than he could the offensive. They might take Richmond, but it'd be a high price.

OTOH, if Lee decides "Well, I beat Hooker once and I can do it again" and tries a Second Bull Run he might get crushed and then Richmond *would* fall.

Of course in 1863 this is not going to be quite as bad as it would be by 1864, the CSA's still got enough of a reservoir of willing manpower it could keep going for a while. Too, the Union armies aren't in Chattanooga, much less past it so their overall strategic position is actually better, bar the massive hits from losses of Richmond's industry.
 
Sorry, I was thinking in the three corps that Lee had during the second invasion of the North.

Still a third of his army. That's a huge chunk.

It was the same railroad system that supported sending Longstreet to the West after Gettysburg.

Over a shorter distance, and with two divisions, not four (or three). Much less demanding - and still pushing it to the limits.

Also, if Lee is sending troops out West, what about the troops in North Carolina? They're likely to be sent to Richmond as in 1864.
 
See, the monkey wrench in that is if Lee decides due to absence of troops to try something like the defensive strategy of the Overland Campaign. When he's got more effective subordinate generals than IOTL to execute that, he could really hurt the Army of the Potomac worse on the defensive than he could the offensive. They might take Richmond, but it'd be a high price.

OTOH, if Lee decides "Well, I beat Hooker once and I can do it again" and tries a Second Bull Run he might get crushed and then Richmond *would* fall.

Of course in 1863 this is not going to be quite as bad as it would be by 1864, the CSA's still got enough of a reservoir of willing manpower it could keep going for a while. Too, the Union armies aren't in Chattanooga, much less past it so their overall strategic position is actually better, bar the massive hits from losses of Richmond's industry.
Do you think there would be more significant guerrilla war in Virginia, since the southerners are not as exhausted and still fighting elsewhere? That could get very messy.
 
Do you think there would be more significant guerrilla war in Virginia, since the southerners are not as exhausted and still fighting elsewhere? That could get very messy.

In parts of the South, yes. The elephant in the room is that a lot of the best guerrilla country had more pro-Union forces than pro-Confederate.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Also, if Lee is sending troops out West, what about the troops in North Carolina? They're likely to be sent to Richmond as in 1864.

That won't work in 1863, though. IOTL, it was the Confederate recapture of Plymouth and the town of Washington that relieved the Northern pressure along the North Carolina coast by confining the Federals there to New Berne. If Plymouth is still in Federal hands, the Rebels won't be able to send troops from that theater to Richmond.
 
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That won't work in 1863, though. IOTL, it was the Confederate recapture of Plymouth and the town of Washington that relieved the Northern pressure along the North Carolina coast by confining the Federals there to New Berne. If Plymouth is still in Federal hands, the Rebels won't be able to send troops from that theater to Richmond.

Sure they can. It'll be more threatening to NC to do so, but if its a choice between the NC coast and Richmond, which is more important?

Not to mention that Lee OTL did receive some troops (a couple brigades of infantry and two regiments of cavalry) from the area, though at the expense of sending another (smaller but experienced) brigade.
 
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