If it weren’t for congestive heart failure he likely wouldn’t have called for the charge across the Peach Orchard (Pickett’s).
He probably would have prevailed at Gettysburg and marched on Washington.
History would have been different.
Heart failure affected his decision making?
Or, at the start of the second day, could have moved Longstreet around the Union left and moved Ewell to the southeast and cut the Army of the Potomac off from Washington.
“If it weren’t for congestive heart failure he likely wouldn’t have called for the charge across the Peach Orchard (Pickett’s).”
I’ve heard that too. He did complain to an aide or two about not feeling well - I think his symptoms may have been similar to a heart attack.
But what really ruined Lee at Gettysburg was not having Jeb Stuart’s cavalry doing proper recon of the Union Army. It was always my feeling that Lee wanted a fight - but at a time and place of his choosing. Stuart’s absence cost him that advantage.
Had Lee won at Gettysburg he would still have been hundreds of miles inside Union territory, with tens of thousands of wounded to care for, no supply line to the Confederacy, and most of his ammunition used up. He would not have gone after Washington or Baltimore or Philadelphia. He would have gone home. He had no choice.