This Day in Civil War History July 1st, 1863 First Day of the battle of Gettysburg

Gen. John Buford perfectly executed the “Elements of Advanced Guard” taught at West Point, and basically saved the North with his delaying tactics.

Absolutely correct! Because of him the Union got that good high ground Lee spent so much of his army trying to eject them from.

Meade was a decisive thinker and rapid planner, and (people here should like this) saw his reputation suffer after the war because he (figuratively) bitch-slapped some journalists. Heh. Go George!

The matchup was just good enough (and Lee’s reputation for unexpected, often risky, and very often decisive adaptations) that Meade couldn’t bring sufficiently overwhelming force to bear, but he had the high ground. That matchup was just good enough that Lee decided to fight it out right there, before Union reinforcements could be brought up.

On what would have been day four, Meade didn’t want to blow what was obviously a victory by launching an attack, having seen how effective his own strategy had been against Lee’s three main attacks. Lee braced for it, it never came, and he had his entire surviving force slip out under cover of darkness. Meade didn’t pursue. Meade’s apparent timidity showed he wasn’t the quite enough the guy to finish the job, and Lincoln made Grant commander of the whole works. Meade remained at Grant’s side for the duration.

Even with a Lee victory at Gettysburg, would he have been able to exploit the victory there into victory for the Confederacy?

I think the argument that Vicksburg was the more strategically important of the two July 1863 Union victories is pretty compelling.

The problem with Vicksburg is that everyone knew the "real" war was in the East. That's why Grant got so little consideration for the top spot as general of the army. Ultimately, it came down to either seizing Richmond, or allowing D.C. to fall.

Gingrich and Forstchen, in their "Gettysburg" series, where Lee wins a decisive victory at Gettysburg, go on to paint a scenario where he fails (barely) to capture D.C., then Grant, with men from the West and the remainder of the Army of the Potomac, trap Lee between forces from Washington and the Union Army to the north. Quite plausible.

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