"‘We Must Strike Them a Blow’ – Lee’s Nearly Perfect Plan" Topic

""If I can get one more pull at him," said General Lee of General Grant, "I will defeat him." Through the night, the Army of Northern Virginia had slid into place, Lee hoping that Grant would attack into his trap. The Rebel lines formed a wedge, with the apex of that wedge planted firmly upon the North Anna River. The legs, each extending away from the river, were held with the strongest of breastworks.

To even begin to assail Lee's lines, Grant would necessarily have to divide his army into three parts. The troops moving against the apex would have to be kept on the north side of the river. And to attack both the right and left flanks, the men would have to cross, each column miles apart from the other. The advantage to Lee, apart from dividing his enemy's forces into three parts, was that he could quickly usher reinforcements from one part of the line to the other. Lee's center was held by Longstreet's Corps, now helmed by Richard Anderson. The right was Richard Ewell's, and the left, A.P. Hill's.

Another hoped-for aspect of Lee's plan was that Grant would, upon seeing many less Rebels along the river banks, believe Lee to be once more in retreat. This worked perfectly. Upon the dawn, Grant saw for himself and wanted to hit Lee while he was on the road. His army would use three separate crossings. The center, the Ninth Corps, under Ambrose Burnside, would hit Ox Ford, while the left, at the Chesterfield Bridge and the railroad bridge, would be spanned by Winfield Scott Hancock's Second Corps. The Army of the Potomac's right, which had already crossed the day previous, would advance from Jericho Mills. Gouverneur K. Warren's Fifth Corps would be followed by Horatio Wright's Sixth. The Virginia Central Railroad was the objective…"

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Amicalement
Armand

It may be a romanticized opportunity, but this one always seemed like a real chance for Lee to maul the Army of the Potomac. Knocking a couple of corps out of the game would likely have put an end to the Overland Campaign.

End results would have been the same, but it would have stretched out the agony a few more months.

"End results would have been the same, but it would have stretched out the agony a few more months."

I'm ignorant of almost all civil war history. So please forgive my naive question. From the film Lincoln (please stop laughing) it seems like Abe had trouble keeping the war going because a substantial minority wanted an armistice leading to a negotiated settlement – rather than a surrender. In this case, a blow at this stage of the war could have caused it to end in a draw. Is the film accurate on this point?

I support your question Chortle!.
Interesting one.

Amicalement
Armand

I doubt this would have derailed the war effort. There was still Sherman operating in Georgia. Even with Sherman stalled before Atlanta in May of 1864, Lincoln would not be compelled to negotiate. That could be postponed until after (in Lincoln's mind) his electoral defeat in November.

As it turned out, however, Sherman was able to take Atlanta before the election and, I think, even if Grant was totally stalled in northern Virginia (instead of stalled in southern Virginia), Lincoln would still have been reelected and the war continued to its conclusion.

The ANV was no longer the weapon it was in 1862-63, and I don't think even a substantial check to Grant would have been enough to allow a third invasion of the North.

Similarly, I don't see Lee letting more of his command go West to fight Sherman.

So, maybe it would have bought more time, but I don't see it changing the real outcome.

In anyway Lincoln went to a negotiation table?

Amicalement
Armand

Not really, he wanted a surrender to try and head off the "we never really lost" lobby that still managed to gain some traction even after things happened the way they did.

I was important that the South was allowed back (not going get into if they actually left or not) on the Governments terms not theirs.