[SAMWolf]

The "What ifs" at Gettysburg are so numerous, to list a few:

What if J.E.B. Stuart had arrived before the second day?

What if Ewell had pressed hard on the heels of the Union rout of the first day?

What if Robert E. Lee had not prevented Longstreet from manoeuvering around the flank?

What if Pickett's Charge had been stronger and better led?

What if the Army of the Potomac had been commanded by a more aggressive counter-attacker than Meade?

[carton253]

If Stuart had arrived early... Gettysburg would not have been the ground Lee fought on.

If Ewell had pressed hard... at the very least the Confederate Army would have been established on the high ground. I think the Union Army would have withdrawn and fought on different ground. (Meade had set up a line at Plum(?) Creek)

If Lee had not prevent Longstreet to manuever... then the Yankees would have been flanked.

I don't know if strength would have helped Pickett's charge. Fredericksburg...

If Meade had swept across the field behind Pickett's retreat...War over. If Meade would have attacked when Lee could not have crossed the Potomac. War over.

Here are two for you -- What if Jackson was at Gettysburg? And what if Hancock hadn't been at Gettysburg?

[Valin]

There is also the question of would this battle even happened if Jackson had not been killed at Chancellorsville just two months earlier.