The Battle of Gettysburgh wasn't planned, it started when confederate general Henry Heth went looking for some shoes for his troops, during the campaign where the armies of the South were supposed to be battering places in the North to get them to give up the war. At this point, the war could have gone either way, and despite the built-in advantage that the North had in being more industrialized than the South, the South had overall won more engagements and had better leadership. But this was the first day of the 3-day battle that would destroy such a large part of General Robert. E. Lee's fighting force that it was to spell the beginning of the end of the whole Confederate war effort. And the moment of truth was during Day 2, a charge through Union artillery on three sides known as "Pickett's Charge," which despite all the successes owing the Lee's great strategic skills, this blunder was all his, as he acknowledged as the Confederate forces retreated on the 3rd day of the battle.
But in this first day, things were looking better for the Confederates than the Union army. The Rebels were able to outflank the Union armies in several areas, and by midday the Union was retreating in disarray through the town of Gettysburgh, seeking higher ground beyond the town. They did get there, and that the Confederate Generals did not prevent them or see it through all the way would be something they would pay for the next day. General Heth was one of the casualties that day; he was struck in the head by a bullet -- though his life was saved because his hat, too big for his head, was stuffed with paper and somehow the bullet only knocked him out for 24 hours. But these were crucial hours. On the Union side General John F. Reynolds, one of the most senior and respected Union Generals, was hit by a bullet in the back of the neck, knocked of his horse and died. In this first day, about there were about 9,000 union casualties (killed, wounded and missing) and about 6,000 confederate casualties. By the end of the three day battle the totals were around 23,000 each.
1 comments:
While in hindsight you can consider this a blunder on the part of Lee, you have to look at the whole picture in Lee's approach. The War was dragging on longer than most expected (almost 3 years at that point). The resources within the southern army were dwindling. The only way, in Lee's mind (with the approval of Jefferson Davis) was to bring the fight north of DC. If successful at Gettysburg, the confederate army would have marched towards DC and delivered the letter from Davis with an offer of Peace.
With the failure of Lee's subordinate generals (Longstreet and Heth) to carry out the commands properly to drive thru the Union flanks on Day 1 and Day 2, much oppty and lives were wasted. Lets not forget being blind-sighted by lack of Calvary support. General Stuart, who's job it was to report the Union movements back to Lee, disappeared for 3 days on raids.
I do agree, though, that marching over a mile in open fields, in my mind, didn't make alot of sense. Lee put too much faith in the idea that the Federal position was too weak in the center of the fishhook But then again, I wasn't there.
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