And if that had happened, Gettysburg would have been another minor battle of the campaign. The US Army would have found better ground, maybe at Pipe Creek, where they'd already surveyed defensive positions. Lee was going to have to attack at some point--the US Army was between him and Virginia.
Shhhhh! You're only supposed to congratulate her on the book.
I think you are asserting something that is possible, but doubtful. I believe Meade would have been pushed to attack because Lee was in PA, and he would have suffered at least as bad a defeat as Burnside at Fredricksburg. The political fallout for Lincoln would have been very damaging also. In any event, it’s all speculation - albeit, interesting speculation.
And if that had happened, Gettysburg would have been another minor battle of the campaign. The US Army would have found better ground, maybe at Pipe Creek, where they'd already surveyed defensive positions. Lee was going to have to attack at some point--the US Army was between him and Virginia.
How do you figure that?
One of George Meade's strategic objectives was to stay between Lee and D.C. ... and Longstreet's advice to Lee was precisely to use flank marches (like the Japanese used against the British in Malaya so effectively) to force Meade back or, better, to force him to attack.
I don't think any of Meade's divisions managed to get between Lee and the Potomac crossings.