Plausability ANV retreat after Gettysberg cut of

Could Lee have been prevented from returning?

Could his army ended up in mass surrender or near destruction?

Does this end the ACW before January 1864?
 
anv

It's possible. If Meade acted a little more aggressive he might have been able to stop Lee from getting back across the Potomac. As to an earlier end to the war, Richmond would have been wide open to attack.
 
It's possible. If Meade acted a little more aggressive he might have been able to stop Lee from getting back across the Potomac. As to an earlier end to the war, Richmond would have been wide open to attack.

They would just have moved the capital to Montgomery and try to get Richmond back from there.
 

Dialga

Banned
They would just have moved the capital to Montgomery and try to get Richmond back from there.

Yeah, but how? They've only got one viable army (the Army of Tennessee) and no truly good full generals left, and their country has been cut in two by the fall of Vicksburg, further complicating things. It's not going to be easy.
 
union armies

While the union ha three armies in the field to the confederates one, and aside from whatever militia their is in each southern state?, they wouldn't be able to stand up to battle hardened veterans. They would probably capture the confederate government before it got to Montgomery.
 
Depends on the exact circumstances.

Does the AotP nail all three southern corps? Does Longstreet escape? Can the Confederates reform south of the Potomoc before Richmond?

Assuming best case for the Union (85%+ of ANV bagged, plus Lee, plus Longstreet plus Stuart) the South is truly screwed. There isn't anything to stop the Union from simply walking into Richmond by early August. Coupled with Vicksburg, this is really bad.

The Confederate Government could flee, but it is difficult to see where it could go. Atlanta is the obvious choice, but so what? They set up shop and simply wait for the Union Army to make it there? They declare FESTUNG GEORGIA and go down swinging? It almost doesn't matter. The particulars are actually kind of irrelevent; the South is done.

Mike Turcotte
 
If indeed a substantial part of the Army of Northern Virginia is neutralized and the Union gains Richmond, that puts one of the few sources of Confederate heavy industry squarely in Union hands. The CSA's railroads will go to hell in short order from a lack of parts and maintenance, while the Union will have the tools and talent to keep moving by rail. That in turn would be a near-insuperable advantage in standard combat. About the only hope the CSA might have would be to turn to guerilla warfare, in which case the remaining Confederate states would become scorched earth.
 
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