Question of the Week for April 7, 2014

Following his poor performances at Gettysburg and Bristoe Station, do you believe that Lee should have replaced A.P. Hill as Third Corps commander? If yes, who would you replace Hill with?

Lieutenant General A.P. Hill
Lieutenant General A.P. Hill


8 Responses to Question of the Week for April 7, 2014

  1. He should have replaced him. Who the replacement would have been is harder to come by, provided I disregarded seniority: Jubal Anderson Early, Robert Rodes, John Brown Gordon, and Cadmus Marcellus Willcox were all competent generals, up to the corps level at least. Of course, this speculation is done with hindsight. Lee, after Gettysburg and Bristoe Station, probably thought that Hill was still adapting to handling a corps instead of a division and consequently needed more time to adapt. At the time, I might have drawn the same conclusion.

  2. Meg
    I kinda like the Hood choice. Perhaps his aggressiveness would have worked better under close scrutiny by Lee. Cleburne might have been the best choice but his politics may have hampered his standing with Lee.

  3. If the decision was to be made to replace A.P.Hill, I think Gen.Richard Taylor would have been a good selection. He had successfully served in Va, commanding the Louisiana brigade under Richard Ewell in the Shenandoah Valley and the Seven Days. When he was promoted to Brigadier he was strongly recommended by Stonewall Jackson. He was promoted to Major General in July of 1862 and was transferred to the trans-Mississippi where he served successfully until late in the war. He was again transferred East of the Mississippi to head the Department of Alabama and Mississippi and later the command of the Army of Tennessee.

  4. Lee should have cashiered Hill…I was going to say Early or Gordon would have been good replacements, but the comments of Hood being a good candidate is very intriguing. Lee would have been able to keep Hood under control and he could have been a good Corps commander

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