Section #1 - Three Days At Gettysburg
Chapter 31: Day Two: Midnight–2:30 PM
As Lee ponders his next move, he is bolstered by the arrival of Pickett’s 5,000 man Division along with Jeb Stuart and his Cavalry. When the latter reports, he is met by an icy rebuke from Lee: “Well, General Stuart, you are here at last.” A chagrined Stuart is dismissed to become familiar with the ground in anticipation of his role on Day Three.
Despite the prior set-backs, Lee is encouraged by the results so far.
On the right, McLaws had taken high ground in the Peach Orchard, and “Rans” Wright reached all the way up to Cemetery Ridge before being thrown back by the 1st Minnesota. On the left, Harry Hays was able to scale Culp’s Hill.
Timely reinforcements might have made the difference, but in both cases failures in communication and command coordination stood in the way. In fact, Lee deserves much of the blame here, as he sends and receives only one message during the entire day. This is symbolic of his “hands-off” approach to dealing with subordinates – except, in this case, with Longstreet!
By midnight he has settled on his Day Three strategy without meeting with any of his Corps commanders. He orders Ewell to attack the fishhook area at dawn and detaches two of Rodes’ brigades to boost the odds. But he withholds directives to Longstreet and Hill until he can again explore their ground for himself in daylight.
Meanwhile, Meade convenes a conclave at 11:00 PM with all seven of his Corps commanders present, along with advisors Warren and Dan Butterfield, to decide what to do on Day Three.
Despite having already told General Halleck in D.C. that he intends to stay at Gettysburg on Day Three to either defend or attack, “Old Snapping Turtle” is well aware of just how close he came earlier to being overcome on both his right and left flanks.
He asks his staff two fundamental questions: should we stay in place on the Ridge or depart; and, if stay, remain on the defensive or launch an attack? When the nine men vote, it is unanimous: stay and defend. All depart around midnight, with Meade presciently predicting aloud that Lee is likely to strike the Union center.
