Did Robert E. Lee ever go on the offensive?

Very famously, Robert E. Lee launched two clearly offensive campaigns in the Civil War: the first resulting in the Battle of Antietam, + the second resulting in the Battle of Gettysburg. Please excuse the rather brutal oversimplification in the below paragraphs.

In 1862, Lee launched an offensive into Maryland, with the goal taking the fight to the Union, rather than having all of the major battles happening in Confederate territory. Unfortunately for Lee, the battle plans, known as Special Order 191, fell into the hand of a Union Corporal, who passed the orders up the chain of command to Gen. George McClelland, commander of the Army of the Potomac. For once, McClelland was not hesitant, and ordered troops to stop Lee near Sharpsburg, Maryland. However, despite decisively defeating Lee on the battlefield, McClelland’s inherent caution took over in the battle’s aftermath, and he failed to pursue a retreating Lee, thinking him to have much stronger forces in reserve than was actually the case. This hesitance resulted in the war lasting 2–1/2 years more, with the accompanying loss of American lives- on both sides. However, this victory gave Lincoln enough confidence in the Union’s strategic position to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in all Confederate states, thereby officially adding the goal of ending American slavery to that of restoring the Union. This change made European nations very hesitant to help the rebels, as many of them- especially Britain- had abolished slavery in their own empires, and did not want to be seen as aiding an explicitly slave-based power like the rebels.

In 1863, Lee again launched an offensive into the Union. Again, the goal was to take the fight to the Union, as well as to potentially capture either Washington, DC or Philadelphia. The hope was also to allow Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia to capture resources from the rich farmland of central Pennsylvania. Almost by accident, the Army of the Potomac, this time under the command of George Meade- a far more competent commander than was McClelland- encountered Lee’s forces in and around the small town of Gettysburg, PA. Lee had hoped to destroy the Union armies to a point where the Union might be forced to sue for peace. Instead, the Union forces thoroughly defeated the rebels, culminating in the disaster of Pickett’s Charge. After this failure, Lee was again forced to lead the Army of Northern Virginia limping back to the south, and rebel defeat in the war was all but assured.

Again, please pardon my brutal simplification in the above post.

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