Robert E. Lee failed twice in efforts to bring the Civil War to the northern states, both times after very successful campaigns in Virginia. The first attempt was blocked by federalUnion troops led by McClellan at the battle of Antietam, and the second attempt was blocked by troops led by Meade at the battle of Gettysburg. In both cases Lincoln and his Secretary of War wanted the Union troops after the battle to follow the retreating Confederates rapidly and engage, and in both cases the commanding general did so more slowly and cautiously than the civilians wanted.
One wonders whether the Union generals were right in their caution. In both cases they had relatively unformed armies that had been bloodied by historically unprecedentedly fierce battles. Moreover, it is one thing to halt the aggression of an army invading your own territory and quite another thing to go into the territory of the other army and fight on its home terrain.
McClellan and Meade get a lot of bad press for their caution, but they may have been right.
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