[dmz]

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.

[LS]

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.