I've been re-read Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen's Gettysburg Trilogy, since it's my favorite AH novels.
One of the oddest things in the trilogy is the North's reaction to the Confederate victory in Gettysburg. The Army of the Potomac is pretty much gone after the fight, not to be back for a few months. Aside from the garrisons the East is unprotected and the reaction, aside from a bad riot in New York, is "meh, no big deal".
I'm not arguing whether such a victory could be possible or not. I'm wondering what would be a more realistic reaction to Lee virtually destroying the Army of the Potomac in their own soil.