American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

I've been reading God's and Generals, and I wondered what if Lee had accepted Scott's offer of command. What a different Civil War it would have been. Who would have commanded the ANV? I know alternate histories have been written,but have any included this what if?

MG Drex Ringbloom,
Cdr, 2nd Div "Corcoran's Legion", VIII Corps
Army of the Shenandoah

Jefferson Davis's first choice of an overall commander was . . . Jefferson Davis. Not unjustly so probably, as he had both experience and success in matters military. Others persuaded him that he had enough on his hands with the presidency, however.

Sincerely,
Lt Gen Dwight McBride
V Corps/AOP/USA

<font face="Book Antiqua"><font size="4"><font color="pink">I am pretty sure that there would never have been an Army of Northern Virginia as Lee would have lead the Union to an early victory and ended the rebellion. Surely he would not have put up with the early field commanders of the Union.

Regards,</font id="pink"></font id="size4"></font id="Book Antiqua">

<font color="limegreen"><font size="4">Gen Nick Kunz

Commanding
3/4/II Corps
Army of Georgia</font id="limegreen"><font color="orange">
Instructor
Vicksburg Military Institute</font id="orange"></font id="size4">

War is fickle! No matter what Momma told you, life is not fair and the cream does not always rise to the top.

Lee learned a lot about command and control and the disbursement of troops (and the effects of weather) in West Virginia. His campaign there was a failure. If Joe Johnston had not been wounded at the start of the Peninsula Campaign, would Lee have ever gotten a second chance because as it was, Lee was about the only choice immediately available to take command of the army when Joe Johnston went down. Lee would have probably spent the rest of the war at a desk job instead if the time had been available to summon A.S. Johnston or Beauregard or ...

If Lee had been on the Union side, I know of only one General in the East that got a second chance - McClellan. If Lee had taken command in the field and also failed with his first shot as a Union commander, would he have gotten a second chance or would he have been relegated to a desk job for the rest of the war on the Union side as well?


Lt Gen Ned Simms
1/1/VIII/AoS/USA
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> know of only one General in the East that got a second chance - McClellan.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Burnside, McDowell, Grant, Hooker, and Banks were all given second chances after early failures in independent command. Burnside commanded the Army of the Ohio and the IX Corps following his removal from command of the Army of the Potomac. McDowell was given the I Corps. Grant was never relieved following Shiloh (although he came close). Hooker commanded the XI and XII Corps following their transfer west. Banks lost all of his engagements in the east before being transferred west to the Louisiana theater. In fact, only one commander of the Army of the Potomac, Pope, was never given a second chance. The only other army commander that the Union relieved following a single defeat, without ever recalling them, was Rosecrans, at least that I can think of right away.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Lee was about the only choice immediately available to take command of the army when Joe Johnston went down.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Lee retained the confidence of Davis. Smith was initially placed in command of the Army of Northern Virginia but relieved after one day. Lee would have received an independent command soon enough, I think, even if Johnston had never been hit.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Lee would have lead the Union to an early victory and ended the rebellion.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Lee's two commands under less-than-able officers and largely green men were West Viriginia, which he unequivocally lost, and the Seven Days, which he won because McClellan changed base. Lee only really won Gaines Mill, and McClellan lost the campaign for him. This shouldn't take away from Lee's ability; he was certainly one of the best military officers ever. But let's not make him a god.

Lt. Dylan McCartney
IV Brigade/ I Division
XIV Corps
Army of the Cumberland
Union Army

Lee certainly had Scott's confidence! McDowell's failure at Manassas wasn't really his fault; Patterson didn't exert any pressure on Johnston, who was able to reinforce Beauregard and thereby win the day. Had Lee failed under similar circumstances, I'm sure he still would have enjoyed the confidence of Scott; but, being a Virginian, how much pressure would have been put on the administration to relieve him by a fickle public and self-serving politicians?

Hard to say who would have succeeded Johnston in the absence of Lee. The Confederates placed a lot of importance on seniority, which is why Smith took command after Johnston was hit. I think Magruder, Longstreet, Jackson, Holmes and Huger were all promoted to major general on Oct 7, 1861, about a week after Smith. Probably Magruder would have taken command, but only until Johnston recovered. Of course, Richmond might have been taken by then. In my humble opinion, only Jackson of the above listed generals might have had the aggressiveness to drive McClellan away from Richmond.

MG Mike Mihalik
1/III/AoMiss/CSA

Once you put in a major change like Lee taking command of the AoP almost anything could happen. But for sure one major thing would occur that would have altered the progress of the war, there would be no Lee commanding the ANV. Lee and the army he inspired were the major reason the war lasted four hears instead of two.

Even if Lee lost Manassas, got blamed for it and removed from command, the lack of Lee on the other side would have been a major alteration of the war. No one but maybe A. Johnson brought the combination of skills to the job as Lee did. It was Lee who enabled the ANV to not be micromanaged by Davis and it was Lee who saw how to use a General like Jackson effectively. A. Johnson had the confidence of Davis but we will never know whether he really had the military abilities of Lee.

LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)

If, I as I expect would have happened, Lee wins early, the Emanciapation Proclamation would have never happened. That changes a big portion of our history

Lt. Elkin
1/3/VIII/AOS

It's just like shooting squirrels, only these squirrels have guns