Thanks. As far as Lincoln was concerned, the game was up on the 14th. From his view, Lee and the ANV had escaped once they crossed the Potomac. So in the 10-day window between Gettysburg, and the NYC draft riots, and Lee’s crossing into Virginia, Meade had not yet detached significant numbers of troops.

David

No problem.

The first troops went on the fifteenth. While it’s true that Lee had crossed the Potomac by then, Meade remained in full pursuit of his army, and, as I said in another post, some folks say that the retreat did not end until the armies returned to the Rappahannock again at the end of the month.

On August 3, 1863, Meade wrote to his wife, “The Government, for some reason best known to itself, has ordered me to cease the pursuit of Lee, though I strongly recommended an advance. This is confidential, though the newspapers for some days have been announcing that I would have to assume for the defensive. Halleck in one despatch said it was because a considerable part of my army would be required to enforce the draft, but afterwards said he would only require sixteen hundred men, which I have sent. I don’t know what this all means, but I suppose in time it will all come right.”

Eric

Sorry to be responding to an old message, but I was just catching up on some blog reading. I’m curious about the timing here. Do you know when exactly Meade detached troops to New York City? I don’t think Lincoln received a request for help from the city until July 13th, the same day that Lee began crossing the river. So didn’t Lee effectively “escape” prior to Meade losing those troops?

David

“What does that have to do with ‘guerrilla warfare’? Simple! One could say that those involved in the draft riots – though they didn’t consider themselves ‘Confederates’, still less Confederate guerrillas – were doing similar types of assaults on the Union. Indeed, the Confederates themselves considered setting fire to New York City as a method of advancing the Confederate cause. I fail to see much difference in the effect simply because those who brought it about had different motives and places of origin.”

Very bizarre indeed. I try to teach my students skills in drawing relevant comparisons, but this is just off the deep end.

The O.R. coverage starts on p. 875 of vol. XXVII, pt 2. A quick glance doesn’t show a return for the Department of the East in July or August in that volume. It might be found in Series 4.

What does that have to do with ‘guerrilla warfare’? Simple! One could say that those involved in the draft riots – though they didn’t consider themselves ‘Confederates’, still less Confederate guerrillas – were doing similar types of assaults on the Union. Indeed, the Confederates themselves considered setting fire to New York City as a method of advancing the Confederate cause. I fail to see much difference in the effect simply because those who brought it about had different motives and places of origin.

Now, when you consider – as you so clearly did – the COST to the Union of the effort to end a riot staged by a group of mere ‘gangs’ (NOT trained soldiers), it doesn’t take much of a ‘stretch’ to see what would have happened had troops such as Forrest’s, Mosby’s and others ‘disappeared into the woodwork’ after Appomattox to continue resistance on such a level. Indeed, Sherman specifically mentions BOTH men in a letter to Grant stating his concern that the defeat of the standing armies in the South would simply mean a change of the type of warfare and a desperate struggle with men who knew no fear and would probably fight to the death under the black flag.

Ergo, although the topic was the ‘retreat from Gettysburg’, I could see that the very premise that you presented could be interpolated into a much more serious matter than a simple ‘missed opportunity’. Yet, even THAT fact kept the war going for another year and a half when it might have ended in July of 1863!

As for the mention of Lee, I thought it was necessary to recognize his nobility, especially in this day of ‘revisionist history’. He could have chosen to ‘fight on’ using this means of warfare. It was Lincoln’s, Grant’s and Sherman’s nightmare. If it was ‘off topic’, I apologize. However, I certainly would have been content to ‘leave it’ at that, save for the comment concerning ‘scorn and derision’ which I at least felt was far more ‘off topic’ than my original point. Perhaps I should not have responded to it, but there is – as I’m sure you will agree – a very different aspect to the ‘guerrilla war’ waged in the border states than that which was waged under Lee in Northern Virginia.

I hope that this explanation makes some sense of at least my original post. However, rest assured, I shall not revisit the matter.