That has always been one of the great "What IF's" of any discussion of Gettysburg.

Ewell was certainly no Stonewall and did prove to be a disappointment as far as taking decisive action to Lee. But on the other hand the flesh and bone of men is weak and fail after a while. And guns and artillery break.

Even Jackson reconized the facts of life. The Confederate soldier had the nasty habit of enduring the unendurable and that is what made Generals like Lee, Jackson and Longstreet what they were. To be sure Jackson had a way of pushing his men to limits that they themselves did not know they had in them. But even then those same men had their limits.

So the question comes down to, "Could Jackson have gotten more out of his men than Ewell did?" I really don't think so.

These were the same men and commanders which had fought under Jackson. They marched the same as they did before Jackson died, they fought the same. They had beaten this same Corp of Union troops at Chancellorsville. The difference at Gettysburg was that the 11th Corp were in position and had chosen their ground well.

Could Jackson have influenced the first day outcome? Maybe. But, it comes down to the men on the field. Were they able to do anything more? I don't think so.

Could Jackson have influenced the Grand Plans of the 2nd and 3rd Days fighting? Most likely. But who know? There were several ideas put forward to Lee, most famously Longstreets idea, which he rejected.

After the first day Ewell's/Jackson's Corp was pretty much out of the fight. There were plans for at least some of Ewell's Corp to redraw from their front and redeploy them around to the front at Seminary Ridge.

The idea was to support Longstreets 1st Corp on the 2nd day. Wrights brigade did achieve Lee plan of Battle and broke the Cemetery Ridge federal defences on that 2nd Day but could not hold or advance that advantage because of the lack of support. Had Ewell/Jackson been there to exploit that break as Lee had wanted the battle would have been over.

Jackson would have probably supported this plan more than Ewell who found excuses why he couldn't bring those troops around the town of Gettysburg during the night. And that would have probably been where Jackson's aggressiveness would have changed the outcome of the Battle.

Sorry for this being so long, but it is a big subject.