Today In History: The Battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863-

Today In History: The Battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863-

A reprint of a two year old article, with a new epilog. 

Ok all you Civil War Buffs, I know you know what I'm talking about. The last gasp of the Confederacy, their "High Watermark", which was never really that high. Some say the turning point for the Civil War. 

I bring up Picketts Charge for my usual reasons when I am discussing history. In the hope that the people who read my stuff can get some insight on what is happening today, and gain the added perspective that seeing modern events through the lens which past history can give. In other words, "are we going to keep making the same goddamn mistakes over and over and over again"? 

I am not a leading Civil War expert, but I know enough about it, the political/strategic context, and the Battle of Gettysburg to make the point I want to make.  Hopefully I don't make any egregious factual errors. In fact, I'm not looking anything up, I'm relying on my memory to write this, so feel free to "fact check" me into oblivion.

Robert E. Lee was desperate for a victory on northern soil. His army was fraying and undersuppllied. Vicksburg Mississippi, was about to fall to Grant after a months long siege, which meant the Union controlled the Mississippi, the Port of New Orleans, and the rail terminus on the river, which once in Union hands, could cut the Confederacy's supply lines and geographically cut them in half. The only thing really of value to Lee in Pennsylvania was the shoe manufacturing in that area, hardly worth risking his entire Army of Virginia. 

Oh yeah, there's that. Lee at this point had more or less given up on the idea of the Confederacy, if he ever had one. He was fighting for Virginia, as was his Army. Politically, the Confederacy was a disunited dysfunctional collection of indvidual states, fighting for nothing other than to "defend home and hearthstone, and their way of life" The architects of secession of course were defending slavery, but that was not worth dying for to the average Soldier.

Lee had a problem in that he was completely overmatched by the economic power of the manufacturing heavy Union. He was outproduced, outgunned, outsupplied, and had only a small portion of the nation's transportation logistics as compared to the USA. And with the fall of Vicksburg imminient,  they were about to lose a big chunk of that. 

In the beginning of the War, the CSA had armed themselves thanks to the gratis donation of the traitorous pro-slavery failure, President James Buchanan, arguably the worst President in US  history, up until a few years ago. Buchanan, at the point secession was almost inevitable, incredibly opened up the US armories in the south, and allowed the southern militias to empty them out of everything there. US Soldiers were being shot and blown up by US procured weapons, largely in the beginning. With the usual attrition, they had to soon look elsewhere for their rifles, ammo, and uniforms.

As an aside, when is the last time you have been to a Civil War museum? You may have noticed an oddity when browsing the displays. You will notice that the majority of their weapons were made in England. The Enfield Rifle, the Kerrs patent revolver, were made at the London Armoury, which became the main supplier of CSA weapons and ammo. 

Then, if you look a little more, you see that the CSA uniforms were made guess where? Manchester England, in English owned mills that had been the southern states main client for the slave based cotton plantations, which depended on their trade with England. And, how did the CSA get all of that stuff being made for them by their friendly British trading partners? Of course, they brought it over in CSA ocean going cargo and warships that were built in the shipyards of a certain "stiff upper lipped" country.  These are the things you notice if you actually look around at a museum, instead of being harried by your spouses and kids to take selfies and buy souveneirs.

So, at the point which the CSA supply problems came to a head, and their Army increasingly worn down by Grant's continuous engagement, Lee had only one hope remaining for salvaging victory. He, and the Confederate leaders needed England "all in" as military allies. Queen Victoria at the time was strongly considering the deployment of her navy to Canada, and infantry to flank the Union Army from the North. She wrote about this in her posthumously released diaries. Lincoln was so furious with England over the "Trent Affair" and the interference by the British Navy with the Union blockade of CSA shipping, as well as their overall support for the CSA, that he was prepared to declare war with England. Grant persuaded Lincoln to hold off, given that fighting two wars at once was inadvisable. Lincoln resolved to settle affairs with "John Bull" after the Union was back together. 

So, a major part of why Lee was desperate for a victory on Union soil was the hope that this would bolster the CSA chances at a military alliance with England. That is why Lee had British military observers with him at Gettysburg!  

Without rehashing the battle itself, there were two things which are worth noting. One, was the heroic stand of The Maine Regiment of Joshua Chamberlain in holding onto Little Roundtop against the Alabama Regiment, with only fixed bayonets remaining to fight with. This bought time for reinforcements so that the Union forces didn't get outflanked. Second, was the catastrophic failure of Union Commander General George Meade in not going into hot pursuit after Lee to chase him down after he retreated to go back to Maryland. Meade could have defeated Lee's Army for good and ended the war right there. Lincoln was furious, and intended to fire Meade, but instead sent a brutal telegram denouncing him for his failure. He later made amends and took a more charitable view.

Picketts Charge was the last desperation attempt by Lee, before his retreat, using a virtual human wave assault across a mile wide and long open field in the face of full artillery and rifle fire, which reached its "HIgh Water Mark" at the Union line before faltering. Close but no cigar. Grant had the cigar, out on the western front. It was the kind of plan borne of desperation and recklessness that prods one to ask the question, why did anyone think that Lee was a great General? Needless to say, the final result insured that the British stayed out, and the CSA was left to fend for themselves. The victory was strategic, though not conclusive. 

Epilogue--

The relevant point for today as we come to the close of the January 6th public hearings is that we have inflicted massive damage to Trump personally. Now is the time to escalate, not sit back to celebrate our victory, recover, lick our wounds, and hope the enemy surrenders. Let us not repeat the critical error made by General Meade, which not only prolonged the war, but possibly contributed to the ensuing tragedies of Lincoln's assassination, and the failure to carry out his plan for Reconstruction. Lost opportunities translate into enemy victories. Such is the nature of war.