 |
PM |  | |
Quote | | |
Reply | | |
Full Topic | |
Member
| Joined: | Wed Jun 13th, 2007 |
| Location: | North Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 420 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Mana: |    |
Did the Union army win at Gettysburg, because of Reynolds or in
spite of him?
I think the AofP won without him, actually.
But I think I see where you're getting at. If the premise is that Reynolds selected the ground and therefore was at least in part responsible for the AofP's success at Gettysburg, you certainly can't deny his contribution. But we also know that it's likely he was never aware of the issuance of the Pipe Creek Circular (do you want Reynolds to act on an 'inkling' of Meade's plans, or to take charge in the face of a clear emergency? Meade certainly trusted him), and he knew the ANV was approaching, so in his mind, I believe, there was no real alternative. There was no better ground to be than right where he was. I don't think the proximity of Lancaster had anything to do with it, or visions of being a master strategist or anything else other than here was an opportunity to stop Lee.
He couldn't have been that far out of the zone of operations. He was the closest to Lee. The AofP might have been spread all over the map, but so was the ANV. And Reynold's purpose wasn't to defend anything — it was to stop Lee.
And who's your favorite basketball team anyway?
