If General Thomas Jackson had lived, would the outcome of Gettysburg have been different in your eyes?

Question

Or, for that matter, would the outcome of Gettysburg have been different if J.E.B. Stuart had followed orders?

Answer 1

Would TJ have taken Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill on the first day of the battle, hmmmm, that's a no brainer. Of course he would've. The high ground would've been in confederate hands before the entire Union army was on scene.

Meade would've either attacked the high ground or retreated further south to a position he had picked prior to the battle. If he was smart, he would done the latter, otherwise it was Fredricksburg all over again.

TJ was well know for taking the initiative and not following Lee's commands to the 't'. This made him a brilliant commander,....leading from the front, as it were. Too bad he was killed.

Re: Stuart, chances are the rebs would've known the whereabouts of the union army and would've been better prepared to meet them. Even on the 2nd day of battle, a cavalry screen would've been handy on the rebel right flank to speed up Longstreet's attack on Devils Den and Little Round Top. Instead, they attacked in the blind and wasted time doubling back on themselves before the main attack. They may have also seen that the way was open to the Union artillery park and supply train from the rear.

Answer 2

Yes. But first let's talk about Jeb Stuart. Jeb Stuart was late in arriving because of faulty intelligence about the movement of the various Union Corps. His most trusted scout, no less than John S. Mosby provided the faulty info. It wasn't Mosby's fault per se as the situation was very fluid. Nonetheless Union troops were where they weren't supposed to be and Jeb had to take a route that took him out of the action. He's been a convenient scapegoat ever since.

The real culprits of course are Heth and Ewell. Heth brings on a general engagement against Lee' s orders and once Lee decides to let things go, he lacks the go get'em aggressiveness of Jackson. Ewell can hardly be blamed. His earlier wounds should have retired him from the conflict altogether. And unfortunately Ewell's hesistation would steal opportunity from the Army of Northern Virginia again at a critical moment of the Wilderness, when Gordon found the Union flank and Old Jube and Ewell sat and jacked around until the opportunity was gone.

I don't think that we can ever pretend that Stonewall would have guaranteed victory at Gettysburg, but perhaps we can safely say there would not have been a Gettysburg. Perhaps in the darkness of Chancellorsville, the sun would have risen on a complete Confederate Victory.

So yes I believe things would have been so very different.

Answer 3

Hmm.. that's a good one. I think that on the second day, Jackson would have been able to make a coordinated attack on the right flank of the Union lines while Longstreet's boys attacked at Little Round Top. It may have made the difference, but not by much. With or without Thomas Jackson, at Gettysburg, the Union had the best ground they could have hoped for. I'm still amazed that anyone who had seen the Federals waste themselves against Marye's Heights at Fredricksburg could have continued frontal attacks against Cemetery ridge at Gettysburg. The only way Stonewall Jackson could have changed the outcome of Gettysburg would be if he could have talked Lee out of continuing to attack there. I don't think that sounds like something Jackson would have tried to do, and even if he had, it probably would not have worked. Longstreet tried and failed to convince Lee that that was an unwise choice of battlegrounds.
Stuart's absence in the initial phases of the battle at Gettysburg, while a compelling story, really doesn't have much affect. By the third day, Lee knew he faced far superior numbers, and chose to continue the fight there anyway. I think Lee was going to have his fight there, and effective reconnaissance of the opposing forces would have made little difference.

Answer 4

If Jackson were alive he would have commanded Second Corp in place of Ewell. The controversy is that after successfully driving Union forces back through the town and up Cemetery Hill, Ewell did not press the attack. It is suggested Jackson would have. Ewell was acting on ambiguous orders, and Jackson might have taken the initiative.

I don't buy it. I think Jackson would have been less aggressive in this circumstance. Lee didn't want a general engagement until his full army was in place. If Jackson captured the hill, the Union forces would have assembled on the next hillside. Lee was going for a knock out blow, and one corp going off on its own would take time to reassemble. I think Jackson would have taken a cue from Lee's anxiety about Stuart and not gone far afield.

Answer 5

It's difficult to say that any one man or one event was so pivotal in the battles at Gettysburg that they WOULD have changed the outcome. There were so many independent battles waging at once and so many reactions and counter actions that it's hard to say the outcome would have been significantly different.

By the end of the battle, it was clear that there was as much luck involved in the Union's victory as there was "skill". Jackson was clearly a skillful general, but his men were very capable of adapting to his loss and taking orders from other leaders. Lee was clearly hurt by the loss of Jackson, but I don't think this changed his strategy nor its implementation.

As for Stuart...such a waste of a good horse.

Answer 6

Meade always managed to maintain interior lines and forced the Confederates to attack from lower terrain repeatedly so I'm not convinced that Jackson's presence would have tilted the battle. Stuart's absence only prevented Lee from a more complete picture of the Union disposition which led to punitive assaults which cost him thousands of casualties for no gain.

Answer 7

if he got there first probably, if he commanded at little round top nothing changes, if he led pickets charge nothing changes. Hancock was more than a match for Jackson, I love stonewall his biography by James Robertson Jr. tells a wonderful story but old jack died at the right time for immortality, Sherman, Sheridan Thomas & Grant would have all been too much for Jackson if old jack would have lasted longer into the war.

Answer 8

yes