WI: Longstreet at Vicksburg?

In May 1863 after Chancellorsville, there was discussion over what should be done about Vicksburg. The prevailing opinion was that Longstreet with the divisions of Hood and Pickett, should be despatched to Mississippi, abandon Vicksburg, and attack Grant. Lee objected, citing the likely misuse of his troops.

But let's say Lee decides to send Longstreet to Mississippi. It seems that by May 1863 it's all over but the shouting, and abandoning the city to save the army is the best option left. Lee could send the First Corps west in early April before Grant's landings, rather than to southen Virginia. Depending on when Longstreet is sent, how much impact could he and his troops have on the efforts to defend Vicksburg?
 
If Longstreet takes over and decides Vicksburg is hopeless and surrenders it some troops are saved otherwise more troops , including Longstreet will wind up dead or POW camps. Another problem is Hooker. If Longstreet is in Miss with his troops Hooker has a very good shot at beating Lee unless Lee just stays in his trenches. Lee's best general and troops would be gone.
 
If Longstreet takes over and decides Vicksburg is hopeless and surrenders it some troops are saved otherwise more troops , including Longstreet will wind up dead or POW camps. Another problem is Hooker. If Longstreet is in Miss with his troops Hooker has a very good shot at beating Lee unless Lee just stays in his trenches. Lee's best general and troops would be gone.
If he only sends Longstreet with both divisions Longstreet was absent from Chancellorsville to begin with, it probably doesn't alter how Chancellorsville plays out that much. Might as well be a thousand miles away as a 130. What this definitely alters is a follow up second invasion of the north. Hard to say if the Army of the Potomac presses a follow up offensive in June or July fast enough to take advantage here, not reinforcing Sedgewick was a pretty tragic wasted opportunity.
 
If he only sends Longstreet with both divisions Longstreet was absent from Chancellorsville to begin with, it probably doesn't alter how Chancellorsville plays out that much. Might as well be a thousand miles away as a 130. What this definitely alters is a follow up second invasion of the north. Hard to say if the Army of the Potomac presses a follow up offensive in June or July fast enough to take advantage here, not reinforcing Sedgewick was a pretty tragic wasted opportunity.

The thing is , will Lee even leave the trenches if Longstreet is that far away? That is pretty risky even for Lee.
 
He did during Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns with Longstreet gone and both his remaining corps in much worse shape. It wouldn't be out of character for Lee to try to gamble on an opportunity to catch the AotP doing something poorly.
 
He did during Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns with Longstreet gone and both his remaining corps in much worse shape. It wouldn't be out of character for Lee to try to gamble on an opportunity to catch the AotP doing something poorly.
If he still decides to attack, Hooker's wounding probably won't be butterflied, but the success of the Confederate attacks and Jackson's wounding, or at least his death.
 
Longstreet in Vicksburg with additional troops is still going to be under siege. More troops means that supplies (especially food) will run down sooner, the length of the siege might be shorter or longer but more troops won't solve the problem. I wonder how long it would take for Longstreet to get to Vicksburg, it is questionable if the entire movement could be made by rail and if the troops have to march much of the way it will be slow. To be useful those troops would need to bring supplies with them, especially ammunition for the siege/fight even if they only bring enough rations for the journey and a little beyond. This adds to the transportation issue.

Would this Confederate force, if it meets Grant in the field be victorious - maybe yes and maybe no. Grant could fall back on Vicksburg and be supplied by water, or fall back on his lines of supply. If the CS force goes to Vicksburg, they get bottled up, otherwise they are wandering around Mississippi - they can't pin Grant and destroy him no matter what. If Grant wins a battle, the CS forces can retreat back the way they came, but they will be very short of supply and transport. Vicksburg is a lost cause, if Lee still goes north absent these forces you might very well see Meade decide to chase Lee as he retreats and the ANV could be caught up against the Potomac and crushed.
 
Longstreet in Vicksburg with additional troops is still going to be under siege. More troops means that supplies (especially food) will run down sooner, the length of the siege might be shorter or longer but more troops won't solve the problem. I wonder how long it would take for Longstreet to get to Vicksburg, it is questionable if the entire movement could be made by rail and if the troops have to march much of the way it will be slow. To be useful those troops would need to bring supplies with them, especially ammunition for the siege/fight even if they only bring enough rations for the journey and a little beyond. This adds to the transportation issue.

Would this Confederate force, if it meets Grant in the field be victorious - maybe yes and maybe no. Grant could fall back on Vicksburg and be supplied by water, or fall back on his lines of supply. If the CS force goes to Vicksburg, they get bottled up, otherwise they are wandering around Mississippi - they can't pin Grant and destroy him no matter what. If Grant wins a battle, the CS forces can retreat back the way they came, but they will be very short of supply and transport. Vicksburg is a lost cause, if Lee still goes north absent these forces you might very well see Meade decide to chase Lee as he retreats and the ANV could be caught up against the Potomac and crushed.
Lee won't be sending Longstreet west after Champion Hill. That was why I chose a date in April, before Grant has landed.

While Lee may still decide to attack Hooker, I doubt he would decide to take his army north while he's down two divisions.
 
If Longstreet leaves by early April, he could arrive at about mid-late April at best. Pemberton will now have an immediate numerical superiority over Grant and Confederate victory is very much likely.

The problems with this scenario are plentiful:
  1. The scenario requires hindsight, a lot of hindsight. Though we know from hindsight that the Suffolk Campaign was nothing serious, that’s not how Lee and Richmond saw it. Secondly, sending troops to Vicksburg would have been a bizarre idea. After Grant’s failed experiments, everyone in Richmond and Vicksburg were cautiously optimistic. Intelligence even pointed out to Grant detaching troops to Rosecrans in Tennessee; Pemberton even promised Johnston that 8,000 men could be spared from the Vicksburg defenses.
  2. No contemporary figure actually suggested that Longstreet’s Corps should be sent to Vicksburg. Secretary of War Seddon wanted just Pickett’s Division to go to Vicksburg, Longstreet wanted his Corps to join Bragg and, combined with the Army of Relief, capture Nashville from Rosecrans. Neither Longstreet nor Lee wanted Longstreet’s Corps under Pemberton.
 
If Longstreet leaves by early April, he could arrive at about mid-late April at best. Pemberton will now have an immediate numerical superiority over Grant and Confederate victory is very much likely.

The problems with this scenario are plentiful:
  1. The scenario requires hindsight, a lot of hindsight. Though we know from hindsight that the Suffolk Campaign was nothing serious, that’s not how Lee and Richmond saw it. Secondly, sending troops to Vicksburg would have been a bizarre idea. After Grant’s failed experiments, everyone in Richmond and Vicksburg were cautiously optimistic. Intelligence even pointed out to Grant detaching troops to Rosecrans in Tennessee; Pemberton even promised Johnston that 8,000 men could be spared from the Vicksburg defenses.
  2. No contemporary figure actually suggested that Longstreet’s Corps should be sent to Vicksburg. Secretary of War Seddon wanted just Pickett’s Division to go to Vicksburg, Longstreet wanted his Corps to join Bragg and, combined with the Army of Relief, capture Nashville from Rosecrans. Neither Longstreet nor Lee wanted Longstreet’s Corps under Pemberton.
You raise some good points, but I have just one nitpick: Longstreet probably wouldn't be under Pemberton, as he ranked him.
 
You raise some good points, but I have just one nitpick: Longstreet probably wouldn't be under Pemberton, as he ranked him.
Right, but that doesn’t change much. Longstreet thought Pemberton was not a “fighting man” and that if a division or two was sent, it would not be enough (Longstreet’s opinion to Seddon). This opinion was shared with Lee and is why Longstreet thought it best to unite with Johnston to reclaim Nashville and eventually Kentucky to force Washington to recall Grant.
 
The problem is that Longstreet was in southeast Virginia gathering desperately needed supplies and was besieging Suffolk. Lee needed those supplies which was one of the reasons Longstreet was their.
 
The problem is that Longstreet was in southeast Virginia gathering desperately needed supplies and was besieging Suffolk. Lee needed those supplies which was one of the reasons Longstreet was their.
Yeah, these kinds of concerns are also why Lee is unlikely to fall back to Richmond and adopt a static defense. The farther north he can keep the union army, the more food supplies he's going to be able to draw from later.
 
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