<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The West is another story and it is a place wide open to maneuver where a General like Lee or Jackson could shine.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I disagree. Lee was always more comfortable with an army command, and he excelled at using the AoNV to that effect. The western theater, in contrast to the east, was much too large. While Lee was in the east, the two main threats he faced were the AoP (and the AoV in summer '62) as well as various Union coastal holdings (Carolina and Hampton). The western theater stretched from the Mississippi to the Appalachians, and also from the Confederate border to the Gulf of Mexico. Furthermore, the east had one main city to defend (Richmond, and to a lesser extent Charleston) while the west had many (Vicksburg, Memphis, New Orleans, Chattanooga, Nashville, Corinth).
We look at the key battles as being where the west was lost, but that also isn't entirely true. Smaller campaigns, such as Ft. Henry/Donelson, Island #10, Pea Ridge, and Mill Springs (all battles where the theater commander could not really get involved) had drastic effect on the outcome of the war. Shiloh represented the best shot the Confederates had at whipping a sizeable portion of the Union Army, since two of the main Union armies and all but Van Dorn and some Confederate garrisons took part. However, its hard to see how Lee could have moved that battle faster, considering the distances required to unite the AoM (Bragg was coming from Florida). At best, Lee could have prepared a better plan, but once Buell arrives on the field the battle is as good as over.
Corinth was even worse, and after that the Confederate high command in the west became increasingly disjointed while the Union high command was coming together. After that, Lee could really only have affected one part of the vast western theater, and that would ultimately result in something like Chattanooga. The Union Army was simply too large, the Confederate army too small, and the theater too vast for Lee to perform at the efficiency he did in the east.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">It would also have brought the confidence of Davis to let the general in charge have the resources to win. Both in terms of manpower, authority and subordinates.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Davis did have confidence in his generals. A. S. Johnston, Bragg, and even Pemberton were all friends of Davis and he gave them what he could. The south was simply too focused on the east to give them enough manpower, authority, and subordinates.
Lt. Col. Dylan McCartney
IV Brigade/ I Division
XIV Corps
Army of the Cumberland
Union Army
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