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Posted on 03/16/2005 9:40:41 PM PST by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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After disobeying Robert E. Lee's orders to avoid a general engagement at Gettysburg, Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell received an order to 'press those people.' His failure to do so created a controversy that survives to this day.  Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell Late in the afternoon of July 1, 1863, after a full day of fierce fighting, Confederate troops finally drove the Union defenders from the fields west of Gettysburg. As the Union troops fled east toward the haven of Cemetery Hill, General Robert E. Lee sent the following order to Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell, commander of the II Corps, whose men had gained victory that day: "The enemy [is] retreating over those hills ... in great confusion. You only need press those people to secure possession of the heights ... .Do this, if possible." Legend tells us that, at that crucial moment, "Old Bald Head" lost his nerve. Instead of pursuing the fleeing Union soldiers, who were so panicked they could not defend themselves, Ewell held back, allowing the Federals to entrench atop Cemetery Hill. The advantage of holding the heights led to the Union victory at Gettysburg. Ewell's indecision supposedly cost the South the battle. While this is an interesting story -- and one that has been repeated again and again in many books about the Civil War -- it is also a lie that libels Ewell. The story was concocted by Lee's apologists in a postwar attempt to shift the blame for losing the battle from their hero onto Ewell. In truth, Lee sent no definitive orders directing Ewell to pursue the enemy when the Union lines broke at Gettysburg, and Ewell was not benumbed by indecision when he should have been chasing the Federals to prevent them from establishing an impregnable position on top of Cemetery Hill. The proof of this lies in a close study of the battle, including the location and strength of the opposing forces once the first day's fighting had ended, and in how the key participants reacted to the changing events of the day.  It all began because too many Rebels were barefoot. "A large supply of shoes were stored in Gettysburg, but there was evidently a [Union] cavalry force occupying the town," Confederate Maj. Gen. Henry Heth stated, "and [my] men reported the beat of drums, indicating infantry." There was always the risk of battle, but Heth went to his superior, Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill, chief of the III Corps in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. "If there is no objection, I will march my division ... to Gettysburg, and secure those shoes," Heth requested. "Do so!" Hill replied. Heth started his column of 7,500 troops, including the infantry brigades led by Brig. Gens. James J. Archer, Joseph R. Davis, John M. Brockenbrough and James J. Pettigrew, down Chambersburg Pike toward Gettysburg at 5 a.m. on July 1. About three miles west of the small crossroads village, Heth's advance was met by Federal skirmishers from Colonel William Gamble's brigade of Maj. Gen. John Buford's cavalry division. This confrontation started about 5:30 a.m. Gamble's objective was to delay the Rebels until Union infantry reached the field. The Union Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George C. Meade, was hurrying through Maryland to intercept the Confederates, who were concentrating just north of the border.  McPherson Ridge and Woods, the Federal position on July 1. In the woods at the right, General Reynolds was killed. The cupola of the Theological Seminary appears in the background. When the Union pickets opened fire, Heth halted, formed into battle line and began to slowly probe his front to test the strength of the force that was blocking his way into Gettysburg. Two hours passed. When the Confederates finally climbed Herr Ridge, they saw ahead a meandering creek, Willoughby Run. On the opposite bank, the ground sloped upward to McPherson's Ridge, where Gamble's 1,600 men were posted. Heth sent Archer's and Davis' brigades, totaling 3,800 troops, ahead to face the Union line. They exchanged fire from a distance with the Federal cavalry for two more hours. At about 10 a.m., Union Maj. Gen. John Reynolds' infantry corps came marching into Gettysburg. Brigadier General James A. Wadsworth's division, including the brigades led by Brig. Gens. Lysander Cutler and Solomon Meredith, arrived first and pressed forward to relieve Gamble's exhausted troops, who were still aligned along McPherson's Ridge. The cavalry withdrew to the left, below the slope, as a reserve force. Just as Wadsworth's men took their post, the Confederates under Archer and Davis charged. Both sides absorbed terrible losses in the one-hour melee. At first the Southerners prevailed, but a Northern counterattack pushed them back.  Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds. The two sides then resumed their original positions, content to continue the battle by exchanging artillery fire. During the clash, Archer was captured and taken to the rear, where he was warmly greeted by Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday, an old friend from prewar days, who had just taken command of I Corps after Reynolds had been killed by a sniper. "Archer!" Doubleday exclaimed on seeing him. "I am glad to see you." "Well, I am not glad to see you," Archer snarled, "not by a damned sight, Doubleday!" When the I Corps' remaining divisions, led by Brig. Gens. John C. Robinson and Thomas Rowley, arrived at Gettysburg at 11 a.m., the latter's two brigades pushed ahead to reinforce Wadsworth; Robinson's brigades were held in reserve in Gettysburg to face the enemy's II Corps, reported to be approaching from the north. Ewell, with only Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes' division in hand, arrived at Gettysburg at about noon. As he came out of the woods that crowned Oak Hill, Ewell saw the exposed Union flank below him and knew he had an unparalleled opportunity to rout the enemy.  Scene north of Gettysburg from Oak Ridge. The Federal position may he seen near the edge of the open fields in the middle distance. After giving Rodes orders to deploy his 8,125 soldiers for battle, Ewell sent Major Campbell Brown, his stepson and principal aide, to find Lee and tell him that Ewell meant to join the fray. Brown found Lee on Herr Ridge, where both he and Hill had come after hearing the bark of muskets and bellow of cannons. Lee sent Campbell back to Ewell with an astounding order: "Do not charge; I want to avoid a general engagement."  Had Stonewall Jackson sent Ewell those instructions, he would have meekly complied without question. Jackson, who had died in May, never granted his subordinates any discretion. Lee, however, was a different type of commander, one who expected his leaders to use their own judgment. He had, for example, told Ewell to bypass Winchester while heading through the Shenandoah Valley to Pennsylvania. When Ewell saw that he could rout the Yankees occupying the small village, he decided to disobey Lee's orders, attacked the enemy and won a decisive victory over the Northern defenders. Lee did not reprove Ewell for disregarding his instructions at Winchester. Now Ewell saw a similar chance for glory at Gettysburg, and he again elected to flout Lee's directive. Brown advised that now was not the time to disobey Lee. He described Lee as seething with anger, "showing a querulous impatience ... I never saw before." Lee's ire was the result of cavalry head Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's disregarding his instructions. "He's gone off around the Federal Army," Lee groused, "failing to keep in constant communication with me." Despite Brown's warning that Lee was in no mood to see his orders ignored, Ewell could not pass up the opportunity to assault the open Union flank. The enemy troops were so vulnerable that they could be quickly routed, which would not be a "general engagement," Ewell reasoned. He decided to gamble his rank and career by proceeding with a charge. In giving the written order to his division commanders, Rodes and Maj. Gen. Jubal Early, Ewell stressed that, after driving the enemy from the ground, they must break off their engagement. This point was also verbally emphasized by the messengers dispatched to both Rodes and Early.  Earthworks at Culp's Hill constructed by soldiers of the Iron Brigade. Before he could launch his attack, Rodes had to switch from column into battle formation. He moved Brig. Gen. Junius Daniel's brigade west to flank the Federals along McPherson's Ridge; Brig. Gen. Alfred Iverson's men would slip behind the Union forces on the hill to take the enemy from the rear. Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Edward A. O'Neal's troops would come down Oak Ridge, where they would be in a position to block a Union retreat. Brigadier General George Doles would guard Rodes' left flank; Brig. Gen. Stephen Ramseur's brigade would be his reserve. As the Confederates filed into position, the Federals hastened to meet the enemy threat. Brigadier Generals Gabriel Paul and Henry Baxter rushed their troops, 2,600 men in all, out of Gettysburg and into a line facing northwest along Oak Ridge.
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Morning DD.
What a difference Stonewall Jackson might have made.
The whole war was tragic.
IMHO, the loss of power by the States and the expansion of Federal power made both sides losers in the long run.
Morning Aeronaut.
Morning E.G.C.
We had high winds and rain yesterday. Cuold be more of the same today but so far the sun is out.
Hi GailA.
Morning Mayor.
Morning PzLdr.
Great synopsis and analysis, I have to agree, Lee failed to defeat the Army of The Potomac in detail on the first day and his last chance for a victory was on day 2. His attacks on day 3 were a waste of good men.
One of my all time favorite singers.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day.
Snippy is gonna be participating in the Haggen Irish Stew Cookoff today.
Haggen is the local grocery store, they provided the ingredients and money raised will go to a local Charity.
LOL Sam wrong!!
Oh good for snippy, hope she makes tons of stew and money.
Singing at the NBA All-Star game DENVER -- The U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Chorale and David Robinson, a retired San Antonio Spur and a 1987 Naval Academy graduate, sing the national anthem at the 2005 NBA All-Star Game here Feb. 20. The cadet chorale's visit was part of the NBA's salute to the men and women of the armed forces. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Steve Grever)
Than after that it's off to the TV for OU vs. Niagra in the first round of the NCAA Tournament today at 11:45 AM.
I could be wrong BUT I don't believe that qualifies as a burka. Not that's a bad thing mind you.
LOL
I got on the wrong channel!! ROTFLOL!!
Morning PE.
:-) I've done that before.
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