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Thanks Mr. Crafurd for this one - in the winter of 1861, RE "Granny" Lee had been in command in Western Virginia when the rebels were defeated there (by troops under the command of GB McClellan and WS Rosecrans, no less); he was kicked upstairs to the southeastern coast command (essentially, facing TW Sherman at Port Royal.)

In 1862, when the Peninsula Campaign got underway, he was back in Virginia, and was Davis' pick to relieve GW Smith after JE Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines.

But what if Johnston only gets his hair mussed by that shell, and remains in command?

My guess is Johnston would actually prove far more Fabian than Lee during the Peninsula Campiagn, which would probably benefit the CSA in terms of sticking to a defensive strategy. Lee, meanwhile, might actually have been a positive force while suffering in silence as Davis' alleged chief of staff.

Or he drops dead from yellow fever in South Carolina in 1861.

Anyway, could make for a very different Eastern Theater.

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