Posted on 07/08/2023 7:08:29 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
HARRISBURGH, Penn., Tuesday, July 7.
Gen. COUCH received information to-day, which is considered reliable, that Gen. LEE intends occupying and holding Maryland Heights until his army can recross the Potomac.
There is no news here to-day from the Army of the Potomac.
HARRISBURGH, Tuesday, July 7 -- 6 P.M.
Information received here proves beyond a doubt the continued retreat of the rebels toward Hagerstown and Williamsport, with the intention of crossing the Potomac. Their wagon trains are all in front, and are being ferried across slowly in two flatboats.
The Potomac is very high -- bank-full -- and they cannot cross, their only pontoon bridge having been destroyed.
A large force of infantry prevented the capture of Williamsport by Gen. BUFORD, with his cavalry.
Our army is fast following them up, and a great battle will be fought before they succeed in getting away. This fight, it is hoped, will result in the capture or dispersion of the whole of LEE's army.
SECOND DISPATCH.
Later. -- A dispatch from Loudon says a gentleman who arrived from Williamsport states, that a big fight was then going on, and that there were no rebels in the vicinity of Greencastle.
The whole rebel army appears to be on the bank of the river, and is no doubt making a desperate fight.
HARRISBURGH, Tuesday, July 7 -- Evening.
I have just received later and important intelligence from Williamsport.
The rebels were drawn up along the bank of the Potomac. The river was rolling and surging-brimful. The enemy had no pontoon bridges, and were ferrying their wagons across under great difficulty in two scows. The operation was so slow that it simply amounted to a stand-still.
Our army had already arrived at the scene, and at 4 o'clock this afternoon a furious battle was progressing,
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The Retreat of Lee: The Whole Rebel Army Pushing for the Potomac – 2-3
Doings of the Cavalry: Gen. Kilpatrick’s Attack upon the Enemy’s Right Flank – 3-4
Late News from Richmond: The Rebels in Profound Ignorance of the Whereabout of Lee – 4-5
VICKSBURG: Victory! Gen. Grant’s Celebration of the Fourth of July – 5, 7
The Rebel Works Around Vicksburgh – 6
Department of the Gulf: Progress of the Siege of Port Hudson – 7-9
Trouble Among Irish and Colored Stevedores – 9
News from Washington: Our Special Washington Dispatches – 9
Editorial: The Rebel Retreat – 9-10
Editorial: The Surrender of Vicksburgh – 10
Editorial: Independence Day – 10
Work and Wind – 11
Editorial: The Rebel Embassy – 11
The “Fourth” at Halifax – 11
Reception of the Twenty-seventh Maine Regiment in Boston – 11
I hate to spoil the account, but the rebels got away to continue the fight for another year and a half.
Meade was good but didn’t have the killer instinct.
With the Potomac almost at the point of flooding, it seems God himself wanted the North to win the war at that moment. But Meade let the Rebs get away.
Yes, the Confederates “got away.” But it is not the case that the Union army sat in camp smoking and whittling while it did.
There is a pretty good documentary on YouTube concerning the pursuit after Gettysburg:
It is about 90 minutes and is detailed and specific with excellent graphics/imagery/etc.
There was a Union pursuit organized and executed. There were terrain and weather factors that favored the withdrawing Confederate army. And there were the determined Confederate rear guard actions fought to keep the pursuing forces from significantly interfering with the crossing back into Southern-controlled territory.
Probably the only way to prevent the Confederates from escaping would be for Meade to assume (on 1 July) that the Army of the Potomac was going to decisively win the battle and issue orders diverting the last major units coming up from Washington straight west to the river crossing points (if they were known). Such a decision would also have to assume the Confederates would immediately retreat back to Virginia. The diverted force would also have to be large enough to initially withstand a very, very determined assault by the retreating army. Several corps minimum.
That’s a lot to assume; especially against General Robert E. Lee. What happens if your base assumption is wrong? What are the consequences of a major Union army defeat in Pennsylvania?
We see these events with 20/20 hindsight. They are not so clear when the future is still comprised of a mass of evolving decisions and actions.
Next you're going to say that McClellan was too hasty at Antietam. ;-)
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