Anaxagoras
Banned
If Richmond fell in the summer of 63, could the CSA fight on until say April of 64?
Possibly, but I frankly doubt it.
If Richmond fell in the summer of 63, could the CSA fight on until say April of 64?
If Longstreet can't go to Chatanooga than Rosecrans is likely sucessfull in his Tulahooma Campaign in full, possibly pushing the Rebels into a situation where they fight on his turns. If the AT is defeated by the AOC, then it's also likely that Atlanta falls earlier, and that Grant never becomes head of the Union Army.
Therefore, if Meade is not as aggressive, than maybe Hancock becomes commander of the AOP. As far as a Northern Virginia campaign is concerned, it's probably going to be a disaster for the South if they only have 1/3 strength.
Let me be less subtle. You are acting like a jerk.
Meade told his officers he would attack the next day, OTL; without rain, he will launch one, though it needn't be an all out assault -- it may well suit Meade better to make more of an incursion.
That said, even if Meade mainly seeks more to hamper Lee's retreat, the ANV could still see the casualties we've been talking about.
Sorry for jumping in here late in the game, but wasn't Longstreet preparing for a counterattack by the Union after Pickett's Charge?
Just to make this extremely clear, this forum is not for children and there is no rule against swearing, only anything actually insulting.
In fact, now that I think on it, this thread may represent Lt. General (Bvt.) Winfield Scott's original concept of the Anaconda Plan. When we think "Anaconda" today, we think of the naval blockade and port seizures, but it really was far more than that. It involved advances down the western and eastern sides of the Allegheny Mountains. Taking Confederate states east and west in a measured manner and linking up in or around Atlanta. Any Confederate forces inside these attacking armies get smashed into the mountains of a very unfriendly (to the CSA) territory. Anaconda never really went beyond this point in the planning stages since it was assumed the South would surrender before the Union Army advanced any further (i.e., the Transmississippi and the deepest regions of the Deep South.