The Battle of Gettysburg
...ce of the group of high ground west of the city. Three miles west of town on the Chambersburg Pike at about 7:30 a.m. Major General Heth’s two brigades met light resistance from Union Calvary; causing Heth’s brigades to deploy into lines, this was to stall the confederate advance while Major General John F. Reynolds, and his infantry to arrive (Green). When Reynolds’s 1st Corps finally arrived a little over two and a half hours later, the union cavalrymen had been pushed back over a series of ridges. The confederates had felt a slight advantage at this point. South of the road Pettigrew’s brigade along with James Archer, and Joseph R. Davis’ brigades deployed into McPherson's Woods. The federal Iron Brigade had much success against these two brigades, capturing several hundred men of Archer’s brigade including Archer. But Pettigrew, who had the largest brigade in the army, drove the iron brigade back out of the woods, and toward General Reynolds’s 1st Corps (“Battle of Gettysburg”). Two divisions of General Richard S. Ewell’s 2nd Corps turned south on the Carlisle and Harrisburg roads, while the Union’s 11th Corps marched north on the Baltimore Pike and Taneytown Road. By the early afternoon the Federal line ran in a semi-circle west, north, and northeast of Gettysburg, but did not have enough troops; So Abner Doubleday, who replaced Reynolds’s when he was killed, had to bring in reserve brigades to hold the line. General Francis Barlow, who commanded a division in the 11th Corps, advanced his division to Blocher's Knoll (directly north of town and now known as Barlow's Knoll) which caused a large gap in the right flank of the Union’s Army. Ewell took full advantage of the blunder and overran Barlow’s division. Barlow was wounded and captured in the attack. Ewell's attack, and more attacks on McPherson’s Ridge caused Major General Oliver O. Howard, 11th Corps commander and acting commander of the field, at 4:10 p.m. to order a Federal retreat to high ground south of town, to Cemetery Hill (“Battle of Gettysburg”). General Lee sent orders to Ewell to attack Cemetery Hill “if practicable”. Ewell chose not to attack; probably because of the battle fatigue of his men had suffered throughout the day. The decision to not attack is scrutinized today because of how differently the second day may have gone with confederate artillery on Cemetery Hill. July 1st had pitted 25,000 confederates against 18,000 federalists, which ranks as the 23rd largest battle of the war. The second day of battle began with the Union line ran from Culp's Hill southeast of the town, northwest to Cemetery Hill just south of town, then south for nearly two miles along Cemetery Ridge, ending just north of Little Round Top. The Confederate line ran in parallel with the Union line, but was at a considerable disadvantage because the line was nearly five miles long. Lee's battle plan for July 2nd called for an attack starting with Longstreet's 1st Corps to attack the Union left flank, face north, and roll up the Federal line. The attack sequence was to begin with John Bell Hood's and Lafayette McLaw's divisions, followed by Richard H. Anderson's division of Hill's 3rd Corps, attacking around the Union center. The progressive sequence of this attack would prevent Meade from shifting troops from his center to reinforce the left flank. At the same time, Edward Johnson's and Jubal A. Early's 2nd Corps divisions were to make an “occupying attack” against Culp's and Cemetery Hills to prevent the shifting of Federal troops, and to turn the “occupying attack” into a full-scale attack if a favorable opportunity presented itself. Lee’s battle plan was based entirely on timing; the timely attack of all of his commanders would determine the success or failure of this day. Longstreet’s attack was based on faulty intelligence, instead of moving beyond the Federalists left flank, he would face Gen. Daniel Sickles's Third Corps. Longstreet’s attack was to be made as soon as he was in position, but he received permission to wait for one of his brigades which delayed him considerably. Hood’s and McLaw’s divisions didn’t launch their attack until just after 4 p.m. Also, Sickles had moved his Corps to higher more favorable artillery positions about a half mile to the west. This created a break in the Union line at Peach Orchard. Longstreet advanced into Sickles’ 3rd Corps, crippling them, Sickles’ 3rd corps had dead and wounded strewed about the rocky area at the base of little round top, now called “Devils Den” (Green). Meade had to send reinforcements in the form of the entire 5th Corps, Caldwell’s division of the 2nd Corps, most of the 12th Corps, and small portions of the 6th Corps. The fighting in this area was tremendous, and it devoured Caldwell’s division. Meanwhile Brigade General Gouverneur K. Warren noticed that a key position at Little Round top was left undefended and dispatched Colonel Strong Vincent of the 5th Corps to occupy and hold the position (Wikipedia). Vincent met a regiment to protect his right flank, and on the left flank was the 20th Maine regiment led by Joshua L. Chamberlain. Chamberlain charged at the advancing 15th Alabama, halting, and capturing a good portion of them. For his actions Chamberlain received a Medal of Honor (“Battle of Gettysburg”). At about 7:30 p.m., the 2nd Confederate Corps attacked Culp’s Hill, where most of the hill’s defenders the 12th Corps had been moved to reinforce Longstreet’s attacks. General George S. Greene and his brigade of New Yorkers with reinforcements from the 1st and 11th Corps held off the confederate advance. However, they eventually had to retreat, and suffered 2,900 casualties on this day of fighting. In holding off the confederate advance for so long, the Union was able to save the position on Cemetery Ridge. As Dark fell, two of Jubal Early’s four brigades attacked the Union 12th Corps on East Cemetery Hill, where Colonel Andrew Harris of the 1st division, 2nd Brigade came under brutal attack losing half of his men. However, Early failed to support his attack, and Ewell also failed to reinforce Early’s attack by moving on Cemetery Hill from the West. The Union’s interior lines were able to shift and reinforce troops quickly, and Early’s forces were forced to retreat. On the third day of battle, General Lee used the same basic tactics for the attack. Longstreet would attack the Union left flank, and Ewell would attack Culp’s Hill. However, the Federal 12th Corps decided to attack the conf...