redlightning
Banned
What if instead of encountering each other in the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Union and Confederate forces meet in a more open area where the Union doesn't have the advantage to fight at a higher elevation?
Sounds as if it might have paid Meade to pursue Lee a tad more slowly. Had "Gettysburg" been fought around Carlisle, the ANV might well have been cut off and forced to surrender.
Might we get President Meade in 1864?
It'll really depend on just when Lincoln sacks Hooker I think. Had Meade been given command earlier he might have shadowed Lee longer, but at the same time he would have been under enormous pressure from Washington to do something about the AoNV.
I guess it depends on the location. If Buford's calvary decides to not make a stand North of Gettysburg, the town would have been pillaged and the Confederate forces would have kept moving north meaning you'd probably have a battle near Carlisle or on the west shore of Harrisburg (bridges for the Susquehanna I believe we're or would have been destroyed to prevent Lee from reaching the city).
If this occurs, the outcome ends up the same in my opinion. If Lee moves as far north as Carlisle, he has cornered himself. To the east is the Susquehanna River, to the South is the army of the Potomac. To the north and west is a serious of counties that are nothing but mountains and forests that lead into a region of Pennsylvania known as the Allegheny Plateau. This region at the time is poorly developed and lacks the roads for a large army to travel on effectively.
Anyways, if Meade can win in this location, Lee is geographically cornered and his army would either be forced to brake out southward (Meade could take up defensive positions and prevent the breakout) or Lee is forced to move northwest into a remote region lacking both logistics, civilization and supplies (I live in this region today, it's still fairly uncivilized). If Lee can win, it really doesn't do much. He can't reach Harrisburg because of the Susquehanna River, and the Army of the Potomac is still between him and Washington D.C. If he moves south to pursue Meade, they'd probably end up fighting somewhere around Gettysburg anyways. If he retreats Southwest towards chambersberg, Lee's campaign becomes pointless.
Now if you can somehow get both armies to fight south of Gettysburg, that be interesting, yet I still think the outcome would be the same. Meade is cautious and won't let Lee get in between him and Washington while Lee is forced to either attack Meade's defensive position or abandon his campaign because geography in the area realistically prevents him from moving further north, west, or east.
If your interested in seeing why Lee was geographically screwed, Google map Carlisle, Pennsylvania (large town immediately north of Gettysburg). You will see a wide river east of the town and a shit ton of mountains and woods both north and west of the town.
Any variation of Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania is working within some hard limits; consider my apologies read if bringing these up are considered "thread-crapping" in some quarters.
1) Lee's Logistical Situation Is Very Bad. It's easy to lose sight of this, because Lee is so often operating within the states that seceded, but the ANV's supplies did not simply spring fully formed from Lee's noble brow. The Confederacy had a very hard time supplying Lee on home ground; their logistical arrangements trying to operate outside of it is miserable. The simple fact of this is that Lee has to either head back South or head towards a depot. Meade knows this.
If Lee goes further North, he's on an even thinner read than OTL. If he heads back South, he's been rebuffed like OTL. He's also on unfamiliar terrain with no scouts. Pennsylvania has many lovely mountains and rivers to trap oneself upon, especially if you're roaring around blind.
2) Meade Has A Large Advantage In Numbers. Basics, but needs to be mentioned. Each side of the war has similar equipment, which gives a similar advantage to the defender. It's very hard to produce a wunderwaffe for the men in dashing grey in this context as well as some others. More to the point, Lee's skill as a commander is more complex than a die roll modifier. The man was a great commander; but he preferred the attack, the offensive, in an age when the offensive was difficult. He could make it work; see Chancellorsville. He also tended to lead the ANV to higher casualties, proportionally, than his US opponents.
Lee is blind. Lee is outnumbered. Lee's gifts as a commander tended to make his own army bleed. Lee has to do something big for this invasion of the North not to be a total waste of time. Throw these all together, and OTL Gettysburg might be the best the ANV could hope for - they weren't trapped and destroyed, after all.
Depends whether he kept Lincoln informed as to his reason for going slow.
Lincoln badly wanted Lee's army to be cut off and destroyed, rather than merely "driven from our soil" (an expression he hated). Had Meade given him that there's have been no complaints about "slowness".
Possible. Though I think the perceived threat to Washington would make Lincoln impatient, that was always a sensitive point with the entire cabinet. Lincoln was well aware the Confederate Army had to be defeated, but it seems like all the commanders assigned until Grant had "the slows" when it came to pursuit. Not that I fault Meade for the slow pursuit at OTL Gettysburg since he took a beating, and not wanting to attack into the teeth of Lee's defenses on the Potomac was probably the right move.
After McClellan Lincoln was always worried he had another one on his hands.
Well someone as insubordinate and indecisive as McClellan would put anyone on edge!