The northern invasion has failed and the retreat from Gettysburg is on for the defeated Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Before crossing back into the South, he would tangle with Union forces one more time
I visited last year while vacationing in Gettysburg. Unfortunately I was there mid-week so the museum was closed. It was great chasing family history since Capt. George Malcolm Emack was my great-great grandfather. I walked the trails of the battle while there. I hope to get back in the future and see the museum when it's open.
When you consider the retreat from G by Lee you can almost conclude that Lee was the victor overall. The North in it's drive to cut off lee's retreat lost literally thousands of horses and mules by death due to utter exhaustion and lack of food and rest. Lee got almost all of his wagons across the Potomac to safety including thousands of head of cattle and hogs liberated from the farmers in Pennsylvania. Lee was able to carry the war for 2 more years with thousands of casualties on both sides. It was a senseless war started by hotheads and knothead politicians on both sides including Lincoln. The USA held together but at a terrible price with deep scars never to go away and a lingering animosity among it's people groups.
I read that Richmond was given orders from Kilpatrick's headquarters to see if he could assist Custer with the 1st West Virginia Cavalry. And it was Custer that ordered Capehart to charge down on on the wagon train in the rain. A great granduncle was in Company M.
I see your point in that an ultimate objective was not secured and that the war continued. Although I'm sure even Robert e. Lee would disagree with you because he wanted to destroy the Union army but failed. He wanted to do more material damage to the Union and failed and many of his best generals and colonels were killed or disabled. One excellent general is worth tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers. Believe me, I wish that like you , that Lee's army could have been trapped and destroyed or captured against the swollen Banks of the Potomac River. Maybe if 20,000 more men became casualties, that would have ended the war then and saved hundreds of thousands of more lives. But Mead's army was in little condition or spirits for a bloody pursuit against entrenched enemy rear guards
I eat anything related to the retreat from Gettysburg. Of course the Gettysburg battlefield gets all the fame because it's one concise and fascinating place. Meanwhile, the retreat was over all of God's creation. And was a completely different type of battle that would require another 3-hour movie to do justice too.
