I'm summerizing what I'm reading here.

This the Fall of 62.

Johnston, and maybe Bragg, believed that the most important areas in the South to protect was Georgia and Alabama and to protect them the key was Tennessee. He believed that the Confederacy would collapse if these two states fell. Davis believed that the Union's main interest was Richmond and the Mississippi River. Johnston and Bragg wanted the 30,000 troops in Arkansas to be moved over to Pemberton but Davis nexed that idea and instead ordered one of Bragg's Divisions over to reenforce Pemberton.

Now what would Pemberton done with those extra 30,000 troops? More important what would Bragg done with that extra Division? The Battle of Stone's River would have looked a lot different. Pemberton would have less anxiety about leaving the defences of Vicksburg to counter any attempt to surround that city. It's an interesting ponder.

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David Upton