Something to Ponder and Debate?

[David Lockmiller]

(03-17-2019 12:06 AM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  Battle of Gettysburg - A Short Life of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by John Nicolay, at pages 372-76

The conclusion of President Abraham Lincoln's proposed letter to General Meade follows. Lincoln never signed or sent the letter.

"I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee's escape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, have ended the war. As it is, the war will be prolonged indefinitely.

If you could not safely attack Lee last Monday, how can you possibly do so south of the river, when you can take with you very few more than two thirds of the force you then had in hand? It would be unreasonable to expect, and I do not expect you can now effect much. Your golden opportunity is gone, and I am distressed immeasurably because of it."

What had been the efforts made by President Lincoln to encourage General Meade to attack the retreating forces of General Lee? A concise answer to this question was written by Doris Kearns Goodwin in her book Team of Rivals at page 535:

In the wake of the triumphs at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Lincoln anticipated a quick end to the rebellion. General Meade, he told Halleck, had only to "complete his work, so gloriously prosecuted thus far, by the literal or substantial destruction of Lee's army." In the days that followed, both Halleck and Lincoln urged Meade to go after Lee, to attack him vigorously, to capture his army before he could escape into Virginia. Robert Lincoln later said that his father had sent explicit orders to Meade "directing him to attack Lee's army with all his force immediately, and that if he was successful in the attack, he might destroy the order, but if he was unsuccessful he might preserve it for his vindication." The order has never been found. If Meade did receive it, he nonetheless failed to move against Lee. As the days passed, Lincoln began "to grow anxious and impatient." Lincoln's worst fears were realized on July 14, when he received a dispatch from Meade reporting that Lee's army had escaped his grasp by successfully crossing the Potomac at Williamsport, Maryland, into Virginia.