Absolutely. If those Confederates had simply not invaded Maryland, we never would have needed to slap them down.
If the North had not called up troops in Virginia for use in South Carolina, there was hope of working something out. Of course, before that, South Carolina fired on Fort Sumter when the Union would not leave. And before that, an Abolitionist fired on Virginians and Virginia militia.
Lincoln’s gamble worked; Lee’s foolish gamble on the third day of the battle did not. Victors write the history books.
True indeed sir.