WI: Sedgwick instead of Meade at Gettysburg

What if John Sedgwick was given command of the Army of the Potomac? and let us say he does fight at Gettysburg, would we see anything different happen, and perhaps even in other later stages of the war.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Sedgwick was a dependable but not remarkable commander. I frankly don't see him doing as well as Meade at Gettysburg. On the second day, Meade (helped a lot by Hancock) were able to hang on by their fingernails by thinking fast and shuffling brigades around like cards being shuffled by a Las Vegas poker dealer. Could Sedgwick pull that off? Maybe, but I doubt it.
 
Sedgwick was a dependable but not remarkable commander. I frankly don't see him doing as well as Meade at Gettysburg. On the second day, Meade (helped a lot by Hancock) were able to hang on by their fingernails by thinking fast and shuffling brigades around like cards being shuffled by a Las Vegas poker dealer. Could Sedgwick pull that off? Maybe, but I doubt it.

When one thinks of Second Fredericksburg he was not very impressive.
 
When one thinks of Second Fredericksburg he was not very impressive.

And his career before that, while not awful, does not inspire confidence in him being able to handle what Meade and Hancock did OTL.

I wouldn't say Sedgewick would make the battle lost - but whereas a general like Meade is precisely the kind of opponent I would not expect Lee to be able to beat under the conditions he was facing at OTL Gettysburg, Sedgewick does not make me think that.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
When one thinks of Second Fredericksburg he was not very impressive.

Right, he was pretty unimaginative and slow to react to things. Against the rebels at Gettysburg, I think he would be beaten, even if the rebels didn't perform better than their below standard performance IOTL.
 
Meade was not Lincoln's first choice. There were at least a few generals who had seniority, and John Reynolds was offered the command before him but refused it. Having said that, I don't see Lincoln asking Sedgwick unless he has no immediately available alternatives. Sedgwick was not a terrible soldier, but he was hardly the best available.

In the end, I'm not sure he would have won or lost. He could have done it, but I'd rate his chances as worse than Meade's.
 
If I remember correctly he was also a strong supporter of McClellan And if I am correct had one McClellan brothers on his staff even when it was t a good idea to.

 
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