The Turning Point: Gettysburg As An Earlier End To The Civil War

I know there has been speculation about this before, but I was wondering what the aftermath of a final Union victory at Gettysburg would have been. Would Lincoln have not been assassinated? Would Quantrill and his raiders have become the first major outlaws of an earlier post-Civil War period? Would Reconstruction have different under a surviving Lincoln?
 

Eurofed

Banned
Err, how do we end it at Gettysburg?

Meade pursues Lee immediately after the battle and traps the Confederate army while they had yet to cross the Potomac. There had been abundant rains and pontoon bridges had been destroyed. It took a while for Confederates to rebuild them. If the Union army had attacked then, Lee's army would been trapped with their back against the river. Moreover, the morals of Meade's army was all-high, while Lee's army was demoralized. In all likelihood, an attack in these circumstances would have destroyed Lee's army or forced a surrender. Appomattox two years earlier. This would have left Richmond undefended, and gave the CSA an immense moral blow. Although the Confederates were not yet in such dire straits as in 1865, they had just lost Vicksburg as well. In all likelihood, the destruction of Lee's army would have set up a chain reaction that would have collapsed the CSA in a few months.
 
Personally while I think it could have ended THAT Civil War, it would have left the now "former" Confederate states with thousands of veterans in intact army units just waiting for a cause to rally under. Remember than in our Civil War by the end the confederates had mostly either been killed or given up and gone home.

I see a much strong KKK and opposition to the cause of black liberation. In such a case fewer blacks would have served in the Union army so there would have been less of a reason for the North to protect them.

So I dont see it as a good thing.
 
Personally while I think it could have ended THAT Civil War, it would have left the now "former" Confederate states with thousands of veterans in intact army units just waiting for a cause to rally under. Remember than in our Civil War by the end the confederates had mostly either been killed or given up and gone home.

I see a much strong KKK and opposition to the cause of black liberation. In such a case fewer blacks would have served in the Union army so there would have been less of a reason for the North to protect them.

So I dont see it as a good thing.

Indeed. Reminds me of the German "stab in the back" talk. By the time Lee surrendered OTL, the defeat of the South was obvious, even to the Southerners.

On another note, could we see President Meade?
 
It would also be interesting to see what happens to McClellan in the wake of an earlier Union victory. Also Sherman (Atlanta doesn't burn), and Philip Sheridan.
 
Unlikely, whilst three Generals sought the Presidency during the war (Fremont, Grant and McClellan), Meade showed no ambitions in that direction.

Indeed. Other than the foolish exclamation of one of his staff officers right at the zenith of Gettysburg, there was no serious mention of Meade as a candidate at all. Some said his birth at a US diplomatic mission in Spain disqualified him under the US Constitution. Probably untrue, but that was the public's impression at the time, at least. Of course, the newspapers of the day would have declared jihad on a Meade campaign, anyway.:rolleyes:
 

mowque

Banned
Meade pursues Lee immediately after the battle and traps the Confederate army while they had yet to cross the Potomac. There had been abundant rains and pontoon bridges had been destroyed. It took a while for Confederates to rebuild them. If the Union army had attacked then, Lee's army would been trapped with their back against the river. Moreover, the morals of Meade's army was all-high, while Lee's army was demoralized.

Was it that easy? Is their any example of a Civil War army being annihilated in the field?
 
Unlikely, whilst three Generals sought the Presidency during the war (Fremont, Grant and McClellan), Meade showed no ambitions in that direction.
Need to fix this for you.:D

Unlikely, whilst three Generals sought the Presidency before,during,and after the war (Fremont, McClellan, and Grant), Meade showed no ambitions in that direction.:cool:
 
Was it that easy? Is their any example of a Civil War army being annihilated in the field?
The CSA's Army of Tennesse during the 1864 Tennesse campaign could be said to have been annihilated.
The Union Army at First Manassas and Grant's at Shiloh are the only other major armies that came close.



Edit: Hood's losses at Franklin were fatal to his army Nashville just stopped its suffering
 
The CSA's Army of Tennesse during the 1864 Tennesse campaign could be said to have been annihilated.
The Union Army at First Manassas and Grant's at Shiloh are the only other major armies that came close.



Edit: Hood's losses at Franklin were fatal to his army Nashville just stopped its suffering

Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear weapons.:D
 

67th Tigers

Banned
Was it that easy? Is their any example of a Civil War army being annihilated in the field?

No, because of the lack of good cavalry on either side.

Meade however did pursue vigourously but, when the opportunity to attack against the banks of the Potomac presented itself on the 13th he decided to delay until the next day, during which Lee completed his withdrawal.

However, it is unlikely that if he attacked he would have destroyed Lee, who was well entrenched on good ground. Lee wanted Meade to attack as he was back on his own lines and could resupply now, and if Meade threw himself at Lee's entrenchments it would give Lee the chance to smash Meade. Lee's fear was that he would be besieged against the river and cut off by another army crossing the Potomac elsewhere and advancing on his rear.
 

67th Tigers

Banned
Need to fix this for you.:D

Unlikely, whilst three Generals sought the Presidency before,during,and after the war (Fremont, McClellan, and Grant), Meade showed no ambitions in that direction.:cool:

Nope, all three candidated in the 1864 election:

Fremont split the Republican Party, creating his own Radical Democracy Party, with a promise to stand aside if Lincoln stand aside as well. When it was obvious he'd split the Republican vote in half, he gained concessions from Lincoln and stood aside.

Grant ran against Lincoln for the National Union Party nomination, and was utterly smashed by Lincoln.

McClellan obviously had the Democratic Party nomination.
 

Cook

Banned
Was it that easy? Is their any example of a Civil War army being annihilated in the field?

Hood’s Army of Tennessee is generally seen as having been destroyed as a fighting force by the Battle of Nashville.
 
Hood’s Army of Tennessee is generally seen as having been destroyed as a fighting force by the Battle of Nashville.

Quite. Franklin finished Hood as an effective OFFENSIVE fighting force, but Nashville destroyed Hood as a threat-in-being. It freed up the various Union garrisons in the Deep South to mobilize and close in to the interior of Mississippi and Alabama.
 
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