Plausibility Check: Lee sent West for Chickamauga - means and results?

[River of Death]

In the archives there are many variations on Chickamauga, all involving someone besides Bragg being in charge of the Confederate forces either during or immediately after the battle. But the one person who so far has been overlooked is Robert E. Lee.

I ask for a plausibility check on all of this because I am drafting a detailed timeline of the ACW starting with this as BP (not really a TL, since it's too focused in scope, so more of a turtledove-esque novel) and don't want to be wandering around in fantasy land.

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Bragg was a person very susceptible to disease, as proven in Florida during the Seminole Wars, and during his campaigning it showed. It doesn't even come close to exonerating his performance, but physically he was never at his best. He had a breakdown during July-August of 1863 in OTL, and had to spend several days away from the army to recuperate.

So what if, in this TL, during the last days of August he has another attack of whatever-ails-him (something cyclic would fit) so serious that he is near-death and incapacitated while disturbing reports of Union troops crossing the Tennessee river begin to seep in.

Quite frankly, neither Polk nor D. H. Hill, the two corps commanders, were capable of commanding the AoT, and they even almost knew it themselves. Certainly, as has been pointed out copiously before, Jefferson Davis knew it. Furthermore, Beauregard had fallen out of favor and J. Johnson was unwilling to accept the command. There may be someone in the trans-Mississippi I am forgetting about, but the most obvious choice to head the AoT is Lee.

Lee would protest vehemently, as in OTL, but unlike OTL this time his presence would be more-or-less required (certainly someone's presence would be), and having fallen slightly in favor after Gettysburg, Davis might just use his executive power and order Lee west. If so, Lee would of course leave Longstreet in command in Virginia and instead take Ewell's IInd corps with him (Ewell had performed mediocrely at Gettysburg, and Lee wanted to keep a close eye on him).

The troop movement itself cannot be kept secret, but it is possible to hide Lee's departure for a while. Meanwhile, the cyclic nature of Bragg's disease would keep him in partial and/or intermittent command of the AoT, and prevent things from deviating too far from OTL.

Lee would travel with his troops and arrive with them, more-or-less as in OTL on September 19th, to take command. Being new to the theatre, although knowing many of the commanders, he would lean somewhat on Bragg, Polk, and Hill for background. He would immediately see, as Bragg had seen, that in order to win a decisive battle they would have to turn the Union left and sever their supply and retreat lines to Chattanooga. Unlike Bragg, Lee would be able to implement this and launch a massive attack on the Union left, coincidentally held by his old friend and fellow 2nd Cavalry Officer and Virginian, George Thomas.

(and this is crucial, because one of the scenes already developing in my TL/novel is where Lee, all but leading the Confederate attack, arrives within feet of Thomas, leading the defense all but from the front line, and they meet in the middle of pitched battle)

Anyway, one more stray artillery shot, a stronger attack on Widow Glenn Hill (?) and Rosecrans is wounded/killed, and Thomas assumes command, and leads the semi-organized retreat to Chattanooga. It is not a total rout, the left managed to hold firm, but took even more casualties than in OTL, and Lee has his left divisions relatively fresh and milling amongst captured supplies and ammunition from the Union XXth and XXIst corps. Not needing much persuasion by Forrest, Lee begins the pursuit as soon as possible.

Now What?

 

[Nytram01]

First, your wrong about Joe Johnston. Joe Johnston was more than willing to take command of the Army of Tennessee if ordered to do so but felt that it was in poor taste to promote himself at the expense of another.

In the early months of 1863 when he was Commander of the Department of the West Joe Johnston had been charged by Jeff Davis with dealing with the AoT and its infighting following the failure at Perryville. Specifically Davis told him to survey the situation in the AoT and if he found Bragg to be in an unfavorable position within that Army then he was to remove Bragg and take command himself, this was not an order it was a suggestion.

Johnston felt that it would reflect poorly on him in the public and historic gaze should he act as Bragg's judge, jury, executioner and replacement but despite this he found the Army in good spirits and well provisioned for with the men in the ranks still having confidence in Bragg and so he felt the removal of Bragg unnecessary at the time.

He was ordered to take temporary command of the AoT in April of 1863 while Bragg reported to Richmond for consultation (maybe even to be sacked but unlikely) but upon arriving he allowed Bragg to stay with the Army, and subsequently in command, out of sympathy for the illness of Mrs. Bragg (being a loving husband himself Joe didn't want Bragg to be seperated from his wife when she might be on deaths door) and then when Mrs. Bragg got better Joe himself fell ill and there were fears that he would die and when the order came for him to take command in Mississippi he was still laying on his sickbed.

After the Vicksburg Campaign Jeff Davis made Joe Johnston the scape goat (cause he wouldn't blame himself or Pemberton) and wanted to eventually get Joe out of service altogether. To do this he sent Hardee out to Mississippi so that he would both be out of Bragg's way and get prepared to replace Johnston and then sent D.H. Hill out west to replace Hardee and so that he could get a bit more experience at a higher level so he would be available as a possible replacement for Army Command should this be required.

In summary, Joe Johnston was more than willing to take command of the Army of Tennessee but he wasn't willing to promote himself at the expense of someone else. Davis or Cooper or the Secretary of War (whoever that may be) would have to order him to take command because Johnston felt it in poor taste personally and in bad military etiquette to undermine an Army Commander in their job just so he could replace them himself.

Secondly, Lee it is extremely unlikely for Lee to be removed from Virginia. Even if he has fallen from grace because of Gettysburg the controlling powers in Richmond will remember the great Victories Lee has won for them in the East and believe him irreplaceable.

 

[Kevin in Indy]

What if Lee himself needed a medical leave right after the return march from Pennsylvania? Either Longstreet or Johnston commands the ANV for a spell, and upon his recovery Lee is sent West in a surprise move to catch the Union forces off-balance.

 

[The Sandman]

How well does Lee's preferred command style deal with the fact that his subordinates in the AoT aren't exactly up to Longstreet's level of competence?

Or A.P. Hill's? Or even Ewell's?

Let's be honest here: Lee's greatest victories were at least in part due to the fact that his command staff was excellent and worked quite well together. His biggest disaster, at Gettysburg, came at a point when he'd just completely altered the structure of his army after the death of Jackson. I suspect that Lee would have a rather unpleasant time dealing with the people still in charge out West, and both Sherman and Thomas would have been eminently capable of dealing with him.

Also, given that the Army of the Potomac was in the process of moving towards the Rappahannock at this point, and that in OTL Meade had planned to take advantage of Longstreet's departure to comprehensively defeat the ANV, Lee heading out and taking a corps with him would ensure that that attack gets full support. In OTL, Meade lost two corps to the Chattanooga campaign in late September. Here, he might well be able to keep those corps with the argument that Lee departing for Tennessee opens a golden opportunity in the East, and that ultimately the US will have another chance at Chattanooga if necessary but might not get another chance like this at Richmond.