1863

1863: Year of Lost Opportunities is a provocative look at that years campaign and the battle at Gettysburg. The author raises many questions about the principle protagonists and the methods they employed during that fateful year. The handling of their armies by both the Union and the Confederate leaders is given close scrutiny, and the numerous shortcomings of each are noted. This supposedly decisive campaign was far less than that. Lee's army was beaten, but not defeated. Meade's army was victorious, but only in the sense that it prevented Lee from achieving his aims. The Union victory was far from decisive. The normally brilliant Lee was unable to achieve the full coordination of his forces that was so desperately needed at that time. General Meade, newly appointed to command the Union Army of The Potomac only days before the battle, suffered from the malaise that infected most Union generals. They were afraid of Lee and his ability to turn an impending defeat into a resounding victory.