[OrioleFan]

This essay is an excerpt from James M. McPherson's upcoming book This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War, to be published by Oxford University Press, copyright 2007 by James M. McPherson.

I found this magazine in an out of the way book and magazines store yesterday. The article was a teriffic read. It outlined General Lee's goals for the Pennsylvania campaign. His primary goal was to influence the congressional elections in favor of Democrats who would force an early termination and recognition of Southern independence.

[mainepatsfan]

Northern public plunged to rock bottom in the early months of 1863 ...

Thank you Joe Hooker.

[theDentist]

Antiwar Democrats in the North – self-described as Peace Democrats but branded by Republicans as treasonable Copperheads...

Now we just call 'em Cut 'n Runners.

[BuffaloJack]

If you truly want to experience the history as it happened. There are many archives on line where you can read Civil war vintage news articles. What is especially interesting is reading about a battle or campaign and reading it as printed in a Rebel newpaper and then reading the same thing printed in a Yankee newspaper. It's amazing how different they are. It's also eye opening to read today's revisionist (PC) version. A good source (for those interested) is Civilweek.com. The site has excellent resources but appears not to have been updated in several years. If you want a particular week in the war you have to walk back from the last page to the first.

[dakine]

Yankees Win!!..Theeeeeeee Yankees win!

John Sterling...

[Colonel Kangaroo]

Democrats never seem to change. One of the things I most hold against the Democrats/Confederates of that day was that they were perfectly happy with the prospect of inducing foreign powers (England and France) to act against their fellow Americans for the furtherance of their rebellion.

Likewise, there is an element in today's Democratic party that shows more sympathy for the enemies of America just because those enemies are also enemies of GOP principles just as they were in 1863.

[stainlessbanner]

Dixie Ping

[Jewels1091]

history is repeating itself with different players

[Irontank]

His primary goal was to influence the congressional elections in favor of Democrats who would force an early termination and recognition of Southern independence

Shame it didn't happen...a destroyed South, 600,000 dead Americans and 1 dead Constitution...all to force 11 southern states to submit to rule from Washington...real role model that Lincoln was...for other dictatorial consolidators of power and enemies of federalism...Bismarck...Lenin...and Hitler...that is why the MSM and the leftist public schools celebrate Lincoln

The individual states of the American Union could not have possessed any state sovereignty of their own. For it was not these states that formed the Union, on the contrary it was the Union which formed a great part of such so-called states. Certainly all the states in the world are moving toward a certain unification in their inner organization. And in this Germany will be no exception. Today it is an absurdity to speak of a ‘state sovereignty’ of individual provinces....In particular we cannot grant to any individual state within the nation and the state representing it state sovereignty and sovereignty in point of political power....National Socialism as a matter of principle, must lay claim to the right to force its principles on the whole German nation without consideration of previous federated state boundaries.
--Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf

[PzLdr]

I disagree. To me, Lee's purpose in going to Pennsylvania was to short circuit the operational concept bandied about in Richmond of sending Lee, and two Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, to Tennessee to help Bragg [ a variation of which, after Gettysburg, saw Longstreet's Ist Corps go.]. Why else would a general with a newly reorganized army [three Infantry Corps instead of two, with two Corps commanders who had never commanded units of that size] be in such a hurry to move north?

If Lee was looking for a final battle, his operations in Pennsylvania certainly didn't show it. Lee was conducting a RAID, the purpose of which was to acquire provender and other supplies from Northern farmers and manufacturers, deprive the northern troops of those supplies, and take the pressure off northern Virginia's agricultural areas for the campaigning season. That's why his Army was stretched in an arc from Carlisle back to the Valley.They were not capable of immediate support. He had no idea where the Army of the Potomac was [and that wasn't all Stuart's fault. He left Lee with two brigades of cavalry].

When the battle started, Longstreet's Corps' rear elements were a day's march away. It took Ewell hours to get to the battlefield. Gettysburg was a meeting engagement that grew into something else. But it started with one division of one Corps, and but for Ewell's alacrity, would have ended very badly for Lee on Day 1.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

One of Lee’s purposes in the Maryland invasion was to intensify this Northern demoralization in advance of the congressional elections in the fall of 1862.

About nine months too late. Was going to sue in the Floridah Supreme Court?

[Chode]

Outstanding Post...!!!

for the first time in history the press gave away almost REALTIME military information useful to the opposite side AND helped them decide who to influence and how with sedition.

nothings changed except the battlefield.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Actually, the casualty reports in Northern newspapers were the proximate cause of the New York City draft riots.

Soldiers who had fought at Gettysburg were rushed to New York to quell the riots.

[fso301]

Lee was looking to show potential Europeans backers that the Confederacy could mount a sustained offensive on Union soil and prevail.

[Valin]

Team of Rivals (Hardcover)
by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Doris-Kearns-Goodwin/dp/0684824906

Amazon.com
The life and times of Abraham Lincoln have been analyzed and dissected in countless books. Do we need another Lincoln biography? In Team of Rivals, esteemed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin proves that we do. Though she can't help but cover some familiar territory, her perspective is focused enough to offer fresh insights into Lincoln's leadership style and his deep understanding of human behavior and motivation. Goodwin makes the case for Lincoln's political genius by examining his relationships with three men he selected for his cabinet, all of whom were opponents for the Republican nomination in 1860: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. These men, all accomplished, nationally known, and presidential, originally disdained Lincoln for his backwoods upbringing and lack of experience, and were shocked and humiliated at losing to this relatively obscure Illinois lawyer. Yet Lincoln not only convinced them to join his administration--Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, and Bates as attorney general--he ultimately gained their admiration and respect as well. How he soothed egos, turned rivals into allies, and dealt with many challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good, is largely what Goodwin's fine book is about. Had he not possessed the wisdom and confidence to select and work with the best people, she argues, he could not have led the nation through one of its darkest periods.
Ten years in the making, this engaging work reveals why "Lincoln's road to success was longer, more tortuous, and far less likely" than the other men, and why, when opportunity beckoned, Lincoln was "the best prepared to answer the call." This multiple biography further provides valuable background and insights into the contributions and talents of Seward, Chase, and Bates. Lincoln may have been "the indispensable ingredient of the Civil War," but these three men were invaluable to Lincoln and they played key roles in keeping the nation intact. --Shawn Carkonen

The Team of Rivals Team of Rivals doesn't just tell the story of Abraham Lincoln. It is a multiple biography of the entire team of personal and political competitors that he put together to lead the country through its greatest crisis. Here, Doris Kearns Goodwin profiles five of the key players in her book, four of whom contended for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination and all of whom later worked together in Lincoln's cabinet.
(snip)

[Tribune7]

Admiral Joe Sestak is a Copperhead ping.

[XRdsRev]

One must remember also that Antietam (Sharpsburg) was not a strategic goal unto itself, it was part of a long campaign during which tactical and strategic goals changed according to the military situation.

The action at Antietam came about not by careful long term planning but in many ways by circumstance. Beginning at Cedar Mountain when the armies of Lee and Pope were confronting each other near Culpepper, Virginia, a series of Confederate military victories allowed Southern forces to press Pope's army backwards toward Washington.

The stunning Confederate victory at the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) followed closely by the loss of 2 important Union generals at Chantilly provided Lee with an oppurtunity to undertake a broad offensive flanking movement around the Federal capitol.

One of the prizes of this movement was the capture of Harper's Ferry Va. which would allow the Confederates to cut vital rail and water transportation to points west. Another benefit was to draw Federal forces away from Washington to defend against a Confederate thrust towards Pennsylvania. I believe that this may have been Lee's intention in September 1862 and this is why he placed strong units in the gaps of the Catoctin Mountains to screen his main army's northward route of march.

Unfortunately for Lee, a copy of his army's disposition was captured by Federal troops (note to self...never send secret information written on paper wrapped around a few cigars) and thus the new (again) Federal commander McClellan was apprised of his enemy's tactical situation. McClellan was able to force the gaps in the Catoctins (Battles of Crampton's, Fox's and Turner's Gaps) and strike Lee's Army near Sharpsburg Md (Antietam) before Lee could fully consolidate his forces.

[Torie]

Lee tried at Antietam, and then at Gettysburg, to throw the long pass, and change the political dynamics in the North, and failed both times, in part due to Lincoln's political genius. Lee must have been shocked when those soft cosseted Yankees, were willing to die in mass numbers for their cause at Antietam. On that day, more Americans died in war, than in any day in American history, past of since. Lee at that point, must have realized that his cause was a long shot indeed. And of course it was.

[HereInTheHeartland]

"If Democrats could gain control of the House, it might cripple the Lincoln administration’s ability to carry on the war."

Terrorists are students of history..