Lost Triumph: Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg-and why it FailedA bold new thesis in the study of the Civil War suggests Lee had a heretofore undiscovered strategy at Gettysburg that, if successful, could have changed the outcome of the war. Conventional wisdom has held that on the third day of the battle, Lee made one profoundly wrong decision. But there is much more to the story, which Tom Carhart addresses for the first time. With meticulous detail, Carhart revisits the historic battles Lee taught at West Point--the victories of Napoleon at Austerlitz, Frederick the Great at Leuthen, and Hannibal at Cannae--and reveals what they can tell us about Lee's real strategy. What Carhart finds: Lee's plan for a rear assault that, combined with Pickett's Charge, could have broken the Union forces in half. Only in the final hours of the battle was the attack reversed through the daring of an unproven young general--George Armstrong Custer. |
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Lost Triumph: Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg--and Why It Failed Tom Carhart No preview available - 2006 |
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after-action report Alvintzy arrived artillery attack Austrian Bachelder Baltimore Pike Battle of Gettysburg battlefield blue Bonaughton Road Brinkerhoff Ridge cadets cannon Carolina casualties cavalry force Cemetery Hill Cemetery Ridge Chancellorsville Civil Colonel column corps Cress Ridge Culp's Hill Custer Davidovitch defeat dismounted division East Cavalry Field enemy Ewell fire Fitz Lee's Fitzhugh Lee forward front Gettysburg Campaign Gregg guns Hampton Hanover Road horsemen horses hundred Ibid infantry Jackson Jeb Stuart Jenkins's brigade July Lee's brigade left flank left wing Longstreet McClellan Michigan Cavalry miles military mounted moved Napoleon night Northern Virginia ordered picket Pickett's Charge Pleasonton Potomac Prussian Rebel regiments retreat rifles right flank Seminary Ridge sent Seventh Michigan side slavery southern squadrons stopped Stuart's force told turned Union army Union cavalry Union forces Union line Union rear Union right wing Union soldiers unit victory West Point woods wounded XI Corps Yankees York Pike