Anaxagoras
Banned
The Battle of Gettysburg is one of the most often used PODs in alternate history literature. It seems to me that there is an assumption that a Confederate victory at Gettysburg would have almost certainly lead to Confederate independence. While I think there are any number of PODs that could have resulted in a Confederate victory at Gettysburg, I'm more skeptical about whether a victory there would have resulted in the South winning the war.
Suppose that Lee achieves a decisive victory at Gettysburg on the scale of Second Manassas. In other words, the Army of the Potomac is routed and flees southward in some disorder before regrouping along the Pipe Creek defensive line (as Meade had planned to do in the event of defeat). What impact would this have had on the course of the war?
Suppose that Lee achieves a decisive victory at Gettysburg on the scale of Second Manassas. In other words, the Army of the Potomac is routed and flees southward in some disorder before regrouping along the Pipe Creek defensive line (as Meade had planned to do in the event of defeat). What impact would this have had on the course of the war?