WI Beauregard Had Been Assigned the Vicksburg Command?

Anaxagoras

Banned
What if P.G.T. Beauregard, rather than John C. Pemberton, had been given command of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana (the department than included Vicksburg and Port Hudson) in October of 1862?
 
Would P.G.T. have surrendered on July 4?

Also, maybe grant does not parole the surrendered army buts sends them to camps up North.

Could Grant gain more prestige and go after Mobile next and then onto Chattanooga or Atlanta.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Beauregard surrenders to Grant instead of Pemberton.

I rather think that Beauregard would have done a better job than Pemberton did. He was a better soldier, a skilled engineer, good at intelligence (as demonstrated in Charleston), didn't lose his head (as demonstrated at Petersburg). Moreover, his men would have had confidence in him in a way that they didn't have in Pemberton.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
All else is the same as historical?

What if P.G.T. Beauregard, rather than John C. Pemberton, had been given command of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana (the department than included Vicksburg and Port Hudson) in October of 1862?


All else is the same as historical? Including the relative correlation of forces?

Best,
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
All else is the same as historical? Including the relative correlation of forces?

For the sake of simplicity, assume that Beauregard is appointed to the command on October 10, 1862 (the date that Pemberton was so appointed IOTL). Do you think his presence would impact the relative correlation of forces on either side?
 
I rather think that Beauregard would have done a better job than Pemberton did. He was a better soldier, a skilled engineer, good at intelligence (as demonstrated in Charleston), didn't lose his head (as demonstrated at Petersburg). Moreover, his men would have had confidence in him in a way that they didn't have in Pemberton.

His biggest advantage would be that he would actually follow Johnston's orders and unite his army with Johnston's .
 
Grant would have still come on against Beauregard, Beauregard would have to maneuver to get out of the way.

Would he have retreated back to Vicksburg, or would he have moved North yielding Vicksburg butt saving his army avoiding Champion Hill and Big Black River.

Also, what was the relationship between Beauregard and Joe Johnston?

A future butterfly might be that Beauregard is out of the war in 1863 if he decides to obey the Davis order to defend Vicksburg like Pemberton and not to save his force and retreat north to link up with Johnston as Johnston would have liked. If Beauregard is out, perhaps Charleston is taken sooner and also perhaps Petersburg is not defended as staunchly before Lee arrives after Grant sidles south after Cold Harbor in the summer of '64,
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Also, what was the relationship between Beauregard and Joe Johnston?

They weren't best friends, but respected one another and got along reasonably well. They worked well together at First Manassas and during the months afterward. Different personalities, obviously. They both despised Jefferson Davis with a white-hot passion.

They had a bit of a falling out after the war, when Beauregard felt that Johnston hadn't given him enough credit in his memoirs for the victory at First Manassas, but that wouldn't be a factor in this scenario.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
It's an interesting question...

For the sake of simplicity, assume that Beauregard is appointed to the command on October 10, 1862 (the date that Pemberton was so appointed IOTL). Do you think his presence would impact the relative correlation of forces on either side?

It's an interesting question...

Beauregard as promoted BG in the PACS on 1 March, 1861; and got full general in the RA (CSA) from 21 July 1861.

Johnston got BG in the CSA (RA) in May, 1861, and got full general July, 1861; he was out-ranked by Cooper, Lee, and AS Johnston.

If JE gets the departmental command in November, and Beauregard has been in command since October, there is the possibility of the same sort of "conflicting" orders (from Richmond to Vicksburg and from Johnston to Beauregard) that occurred, historically.

Of course, both Beauregard and Johnston had terrible relationships with Davis, so maybe they'll get along better than Johnston and Pemberton did?;)

In Johnston's Jefferson Davis and the Mississippi Campaign, he suggests Pemberton had a field force of 23,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry, plus garrison forces of 6,000 each at Vicksburg and Port Hudson in November; he also suggests Holmes had 50,000 in Arkansas, which seems very high.

In any case, I don't think Beauregard necessarily could have organized greater forces than what the rebels had in the theater; but if he and Johnston (who, after all, cooperated reasonably well in the 1861 Virginia campaign) been in command at the same time, the rebels may have used what they had more effectively. I don't see Beauregard allowing his forces to be locked up in Vickisburg or Port Hudson, for example.

Best,
 
So Beauregard links up with Johnston to the Northwest.

Grant gets Vicksburg but there is still a large Confederate force still unaccounted for.

What next?

I assume Grant goes after the two wherever that leads?

Maybe Johnston/Beauregard decide to go to Bragg. If they do then maybe Longstreet stays in the East.

Maybe they decide to head back into Tennessee or into Kentucky again. That would be a mistake as Grant would follow and close the door on them.

Maybe Grant says screw them and goes after Mobile after reinforcing Tennessee.
 
Isn't Beauregard the man who had grand invasion plans for an imaginary 100000 man army or something?

There is a thread here or in Civil War talk regarding Beauregard having grand plans.....



Maybe Grant says screw them and goes after Mobile after reinforcing Tennessee.

I do not see Grant wanting to leave a back door open too much. I mean, it is a Confederate Army left out in the open behind him, would not surprise me if he sent Sherman out to follow the army, whilst he went and captured Mobile.
 
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