Lee Makes an Excuse...

[5fish]

In Lee's report on Gettysburg, he refers to his wagons as for a reason why he choose to stay and engage the union army. He states it would have been to difficult to retire and move due to the wagons. I have read this in other writing on Gettysburg about these wagons.

Well I disagree, he had no problem retreating from Gettysburg with those same wagons. He executed one of the great retreats in history with those wagons over the same roads he would have used if he had choose to retire or move from Gettysburg, instead of engaging the union army.

I think we have caught Lee making an excuse(yes, an excuse) for why he was forced to engage the union army at Gettysburg due to the wagons.

He argues its the wagons that force him to stay and fight at Gettysburg but in the end he had no problem retreating from Gettysburg with those same wagons.

I think these wagons are a half harted try by Lee to excuse why he choose to engage the union army on ground he did not chose.

Lee makes an excuse!

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

In Lee's report on Gettysburg, he refers to his wagons as for a reason why he choose to stay and engage the union army. He states it would have been to difficult to retire and move due to the wagons. I have read this in other writing on Gettysburg about these wagons.

Well I disagree, he had no problem retreating from Gettysburg with those same wagons. He executed one of the great retreats in history with those wagons over the same roads he would have used if he had choose to retire or move from Gettysburg, instead of engaging the union army.

I think we have caught Lee making an excuse(yes, an excuse) for why he was forced to engage the union army at Gettysburg due to the wagons.

He argues its the wagons that force him to stay and fight at Gettysburg but in the end he had no problem retreating from Gettysburg with those same wagons.

I think these wagons are a half harted try by Lee to excuse why he choose to engage the union army on ground he did not chose.

Lee makes an excuse!

I think you are being to hard on old Marse Robert. As I and many others have stated numerous times Lee had no choice but to mount an offensive against the Union. Lee could only get so many troops especially since Davis denied Lee Confederate troops encircling New Berne,North Carolina plus the Confederate Army had many troops tied down in the West.
Donald Rumsfeld said " one goes to war with the army one has" . Lee did the best he could with the resources that were available. War is not about perfection. All a general can do is the best he can with the resources available. A general with the smaller army is going to have to take greater risks then the general with the larger army. Sometimes risks work for the better sometimes not so much. Gettysburg is an example of not so much.
Kirk's Raider's

 

[5fish]

Those wagons returned with wounded and you have to add the wagons Stuart had captured as well. It seems Lee's excuse is poor... After the battle the roads were the same plus muddy by rains, along with thousands of wounded being carried, and with new captured wagons in tow. I think Lee excuse was poor...

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

Those wagons returned with wounded and you have to add the wagons Stuart had captured as well. It seems Lee's excuse is poor... After the battle the roads were the same plus muddy by rains, along with thousands of wounded being carried, and with new captured wagons in tow. I think Lee excuse was poor...

An offensive army deep in enemy territory and cut off from logistical support facing an enemy that just defeated them is going to have to retreat.
In a nutshell Gettysburg was a hail Mary pass that didn't work out. On the other hand Lee had no choice but to make a hail Mary pass.
Kirk's Raider's