Hey Dale and Ironsite,
Sorry for not following up with your posts. We were skiing this weekend. I think my legs fell off somewhere in NY. I'll have to go back and get them when I get a chance.
I regards to the problems with the continual fighting in Virginia, why did they pick Richmond in the first place? Virginia was late to the secession movement. It's proximity to Washington would clearly place Virginia as the most frequent place of battles. Why not have the capitol in lets say Atlanta or better yet Columbia, South Carolina. That would have given the generals much more room to maneuver and still provided a strong rail infrastructure to move troops between different theaters.
Greg B)
Union Retreat
Re:Union Retreat
I always thought the same thing. Richmond isn't all that far from Washington. The original CSA capitol was Montgomery Alabama then quickly changed to Richmond once Virginia entered the Confederacy.
Could be Virginia had the highest population, industry, persuasive politicians, etc.
Interestingly enough, i seem to remember after Lee's retreat from Petersburg, Jeff Davis set up a temporary capitol somewhere in southern Virginia. Davis intended the war to go on using guerilla tactics rather than large formal battles. Never happened as both Lee and Johnston surrendered their armies.
On the other hand, because Richmond was the CSA capitol, it had to be highly defended at all costs as it was the number one target of the Union. If say Atlanta was the capitol and a less defended Richmond fell earlier in the War who knows what would of happened.
Could be Virginia had the highest population, industry, persuasive politicians, etc.
Interestingly enough, i seem to remember after Lee's retreat from Petersburg, Jeff Davis set up a temporary capitol somewhere in southern Virginia. Davis intended the war to go on using guerilla tactics rather than large formal battles. Never happened as both Lee and Johnston surrendered their armies.
On the other hand, because Richmond was the CSA capitol, it had to be highly defended at all costs as it was the number one target of the Union. If say Atlanta was the capitol and a less defended Richmond fell earlier in the War who knows what would of happened.
Re:Union Retreat
How about the Battle of Big Pipe Creek/Taneytown, MD. Did some research on Meade's Council of War at the end of day 2 and found out the following information. See link to interesting article on Meade's proposed Pipe Creek line.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/pcl.htm
Had the Council of War decided to abandon Gettysburg, the AOP would have fallen back to this position.
Greg
http://www.civilwarhome.com/pcl.htm
Had the Council of War decided to abandon Gettysburg, the AOP would have fallen back to this position.
Greg
Re:Union Retreat
Greg, thanks for the link!
Interesting read which sort of backs up my theory that Lee would of never made it to Washington assuming a Union retreat from Gburg on the 3rd day. The Federals would of regrouped, reenforced and formed a strong defensive line between Lee's Army and Washington. Even if Lee broke Meade's fallback line, Lee's Army would be too reduced and battered to pose a serious threat to Washington as his Army would be seriously harassed and resisted the whole way. If by some miracle he actually made it to Washington then he'd have to contend with its strong outlying fortifications.
Just would never could of happened IMO unless the ANV was maybe double its size.
Interesting read which sort of backs up my theory that Lee would of never made it to Washington assuming a Union retreat from Gburg on the 3rd day. The Federals would of regrouped, reenforced and formed a strong defensive line between Lee's Army and Washington. Even if Lee broke Meade's fallback line, Lee's Army would be too reduced and battered to pose a serious threat to Washington as his Army would be seriously harassed and resisted the whole way. If by some miracle he actually made it to Washington then he'd have to contend with its strong outlying fortifications.
Just would never could of happened IMO unless the ANV was maybe double its size.
Re:Union Retreat
Why Richmond?
Virginia was the prize of the South. Virginia was a late arrival in the host of seceeding states--in fact its governor, Wise, was against seceeding but could not stem the tide. The sentiment was not for seceeding in many areas of Virginia (Rockbridge County, which was Stonewall Jackson's home, was 90% for staying Union). What tipped the balance was Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to "invade" the rebellious states. Virginia would not abide the raising of troops from its own soil to attack other states. That infuriated Virginians and led them to seceede. Note also that West Virginia was a part of Virginia at this time. So point number 1 is that by planting the capitol of the Confederacy in Richmond you politically secure an important state.
Richmond prior to 1860 was the South's most vibrant city. It ranked culturally with the great Northern cities. It was the South's most industrialized city. It had the Tradegar Iron Works which became the major arsenal for the eastern armies. It was near sources of iron and coal and was a nexus of rail and water traffic. Nearby Petersburg had huge mills. The port of Richmond was capable of building ironclads.
Point number 3 is that Richmond was defensible. It was far enough inland that a sea based invasion had to navigate through a series of river forts to get to it. Drewry's Bluff was the "Gibraltar of the South". It guarded a horshoe bend in the river on bluffs that was so high that most cannons in the Union fleet could not be elevated high enough to reach it. (That was why the Monitor was ineffective in it's 1862 assault against Drewry's Bluff.) An overland assault from Washington to Richmond would have to traverse land with natural defensive positions of rivers, forests and to the east of Richmond--swamps.
By late 1864 Richmond became a trap for Lee in that he found himself in a siege. How much would it have cost the Confederacy to lose Richmond then? Certainly not as much as it would have in 1861-1863. Grant's objective was not Richmond but the destruction of Lee's army. That changed the value of Richmond in itself.
Virginia was the prize of the South. Virginia was a late arrival in the host of seceeding states--in fact its governor, Wise, was against seceeding but could not stem the tide. The sentiment was not for seceeding in many areas of Virginia (Rockbridge County, which was Stonewall Jackson's home, was 90% for staying Union). What tipped the balance was Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to "invade" the rebellious states. Virginia would not abide the raising of troops from its own soil to attack other states. That infuriated Virginians and led them to seceede. Note also that West Virginia was a part of Virginia at this time. So point number 1 is that by planting the capitol of the Confederacy in Richmond you politically secure an important state.
Richmond prior to 1860 was the South's most vibrant city. It ranked culturally with the great Northern cities. It was the South's most industrialized city. It had the Tradegar Iron Works which became the major arsenal for the eastern armies. It was near sources of iron and coal and was a nexus of rail and water traffic. Nearby Petersburg had huge mills. The port of Richmond was capable of building ironclads.
Point number 3 is that Richmond was defensible. It was far enough inland that a sea based invasion had to navigate through a series of river forts to get to it. Drewry's Bluff was the "Gibraltar of the South". It guarded a horshoe bend in the river on bluffs that was so high that most cannons in the Union fleet could not be elevated high enough to reach it. (That was why the Monitor was ineffective in it's 1862 assault against Drewry's Bluff.) An overland assault from Washington to Richmond would have to traverse land with natural defensive positions of rivers, forests and to the east of Richmond--swamps.
By late 1864 Richmond became a trap for Lee in that he found himself in a siege. How much would it have cost the Confederacy to lose Richmond then? Certainly not as much as it would have in 1861-1863. Grant's objective was not Richmond but the destruction of Lee's army. That changed the value of Richmond in itself.