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New insight on Early's 1864 raid on Washington

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  • New insight on Early's 1864 raid on Washington

    I just attended the Rockville event (mainly civilian) and I think that General Early had a more complex strategy in his 1864 raid. Try this new theory out for comment:

    Early's raid was about a week late. He arrived in the D.C. on July 9-11, 1864. I now suspect he intended to arrive 1 week earlier and attack Washington on July 4, 1864. Independence Day.

    Message to the world: Recognize the Confederate State's Independence.

    The city - Washington - could also be distracted by the evenings events. Think fireworks if they used them. It would have been one hell of a message if Early had succeeded!

    David Lotter
    [FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium]David Evan Lotter[/FONT]

  • #2
    Re: New insight on Early's 1864 raid on Washington

    David
    Sounds interesting. Although i am sure by that point in time any threat to washington, reguardless of the time would have been a large help to Lee around Richmond/Petersburg. Although from the weight Early threw against parts of the sixth corp i can only assume being already "late" he just wanted to arrive on the outskirts of washington and balitmore before the rest of sixth corp. Below is the link for a General Wallace's Monocacy AAR. Its a very interesting read.

    Most Respectfully
    Drew Gruber
    Buster- 14thNJVI (monocacy regiment)
    Drew

    "God knows, as many posts as go up on this site everyday, there's plenty of folks who know how to type. Put those keyboards to work on a real issue that's tied to the history that we love and obsess over so much." F.B.

    "...mow hay, cut wood, prepare great food, drink schwitzel, knit, sew, spin wool, rock out to a good pinch of snuff and somehow still find time to go fly a kite." N.B.

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    • #3
      Re: New insight on Early's 1864 raid on Washington

      Early's mission encompassed much more than just to scare the hell out of Washington. He just happened to have the DC area in his sights at that given point in time. And if taking Washington was the "main" objective of Early and Lee, then there would have been much more emphasis on manpower than the exhausted troops he had at the time.

      *Diversion of troops away from Petersburg.
      *Ridding Yankees from the Shenandoah Valley.
      *Carrying the fighting again into Northern territory.
      *Maligning Lincoln's re-election bid.

      The exact timing of Early's raid on DC was not a concern just like Lee's attack at Gettysburg a year earlier.

      Just my opinion. :sarcastic

      Mark Berrier
      North State Rifles
      combinations@northstate.net
      Last edited by Enfilade; 06-14-2004, 06:27 AM.
      Mark Berrier

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