What were the options of Confederate General Robert E Lee when he learned that the Army of the Potomac was moving towards Frederick Maryland in late June 1863?

Answer 1

On June 28, 1863, General Lee learned that the Army of the Potomac, under the command of General Meade was heading towards Frederick, Maryland, about 30 miles south of Gettysburg. At this point in time, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had already crossed the Potomac River and had the intention concentrating at Cashtown, ten miles west of Gettysburg. Based on the typically slow movement of Meade, Lee had a few days to explore his options. Lee's options were the following:

A. Await in a prepared position for a Union attack. Although force ratios would make such a decision favorable, his supply situation reduced its value;

B. Maneuver around the left flank of Meade and place the Army of Northern Virginia between Meade and Washington DC. This would play into Lee's hand almost perfectly and force Meade to attack in order to protect Washington. Lee could then await in a position of his own choosing and place the burden on Meade to assault an entrenched Southern army. There was a problem connected with this choice and Lee understood it better than Meade did. Lee had to abandon the flanking move because he lacked the cavalry requirements to execute such a maneuver. And in addition this would disconnect Lee from the Shenandoah Valley and remove him from his communication lines. This was a risk in that his preconceived plans to return to Virginia after his raid on Harrisburg, depended on a safe route back to Virginia. Whatever damage his raid on Harrisburg did, one way or another, he could not remain long in Pennsylvania;

C. Lee could retreat back to Virginia now, however, the retreat would be under pressure from a strong and undamaged Northern army. This would be risky and make the entire raid a failure before it had even started to bear fruit;

* As an aside, Lee's "invasion" in military terms was a "raid". Unlike the WW 2 invasion of Normandy, where Allied forces intended to not only remain, but march eastward through France to Germany.

D. Lee could have mounted an assault on Meade. This could have every chance of a victory as Lee's forces could attack Meade's strung out marching forces as they were not moving in a concentrated manner. Lee could attack, cause panic on the enemy and destroy, in detail, every Union corps, one at a time. This would be a decisive victory and end the Army of the Potomac, a disaster from which would totally panic Washington. The problem, however, was that in order to do that, he needed a large cavalry force to scout the positions of the strung out pieces of Meade's army. The required cavalry ingredient, however, was not available, therefore Lee's best chance was denied to him.