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Here's the scenario. The Union army has been swapped for Napoleon's Grande armee as it was before Austerlitz (75,00 men in Dec of 1805). Their weapons have been upgraded to reflect the Union army's loadout as of 1863. The terrain is Northern Virginia, and Robert E Lee is waiting for Napoleon with the Army of Northern Virginia as it was prior to Chancellorsville (55,000 men in May of 1863). The southern army's weapons are unchanged.

So who wins a campaign? Does Napoleon divide and conquer, or does Lee outduel the Corsican Ogre?

irishmick79 wrote: So who wins a campaign? Does Napoleon divide and conquer, or does Lee outduel the Corsican Ogre?

Lee deals the Grande Armee a smashing defeat as they try to charge
Lee's DUG IN POSITIONS (his men mocked him for that at first, but they
thanked him later)

Victory for Lee. Napoleon's tactics won't work very well against the much better weaponry.

Even with Nappy's army equipped like the Union Army as of 1863? That would certainly take away Lee's advantage in arms. And I think Lee would have recognized that he was virtually on even ground, and wouldn't have gone into the trenches. He didn't go into the trenches until vastly superior numbers and Grant's generalship forced him there. Until then, he continued to wage war based on maneuver. And the temptation to outduel the Father of Lee's style of warfare would have been too great to overcome. Lee still wins, but in a fairly even showdown.

I believe I read somewhere that Napoelan regiments would disintergrate after taking 30 percent casualties, whilst American regiments during the Civil War would take 60 percent casualties and still keep fighting...

Napoleon can't resist the idea of capturing Richmond and defeating the Confederacy in one stroke. He invades Virginia and gets routed the first time he tries to use a massed charge against defenders with rifled muskets. Lincoln sends the Corsican Ogre to fight Indians. Even if the South still loses the war, Lee wins.

RedImperator wrote:Napoleon can't resist the idea of capturing Richmond and defeating the Confederacy in one stroke. He invades Virginia and gets routed the first time he tries to use a massed charge against defenders with rifled muskets. Lincoln sends the Corsican Ogre to fight Indians. Even if the South still loses the war, Lee wins.

Marse Robert takes the Little Corporal. Lee is wholly superior on the defensive and if we're talking about the Army of Northern Virginia with Stonewall Jackson still alive to lead his corps, he has superior offensive capability as well. The esprit de corps of the Confederates is also far stronger than among even the most elite of Napoleon's regiments, and they will take heavier casualties and still remain on the field.

Especially with Jackson, you will have a highly mobile and aggressive Confederate army which keeps up the attack on Napoleon's flanks, bringing superior force against isolated units and destroying them piecemeal before facing the main force of the Grande Armée on high ground. Lee will put his army between Napoleon and his supply trains and force the Corsican to attack him. Get a position like they enjoyed at Fredricksburg, and it will be a slaughterhouse for the French.