The Sunday herald., 1886-12-05

Reserve, carrying twenty rounds per gun, over nnd
above the authorized amount, for every gun IN me
N rder @ to rs. "e Ms,s
be enough ammunition for the battle, but none for
idle cannonadcs, the bese,tng sin OF some OF our
commanders. lie was much relieved, and ex-
pressed his satisfaction. Now, bad he had at this
time any Intention OF Withdrawing the army, tue
iirst thing TO get rld OF would have been tnls Arm
lefy Reserve and its large trains, which were Inen
blocking the roads In our rear; and he would nave
told me OF IL.
Gen. Hunt does not concur In the eharp CEN
sures which many writer's have visited upon the
advanced line taken up by Slchles, and says;
on my return 10 h eadquartcrs from this Inspec-
ton Gen. Meade told me that Gen. sckles, then
with him, wished ME to examine new line, as ne
thought that assigned TO him was not good one, cs
mad been M far "a RoiindTop that morning, noticed
the unfavorabe character OF the ground, and, there
fore, accompanied Sickles direct to the Peach Or
chard, where he pointed out the ridges already dc.
scribed, as his proposed linc. They commanded all
the ground behind, as well as In front OF them, ana
together constituted q favorable position Tor ne
enenRto hold. This was one good reasol for our
taking possession Of It, 1t would, It is true In our
poses both iis sides to enflade tcs; hut here the
ridges were so nigh that each would serve as "ra-
verse for the other, and reduce that evil TO mini
mum. on the other hand II would so greatly
lengthcn our line-which In any case must rest on
Round Top, and connect with the. left OF the sec.
9nd G9rpsmas to require Larger force ihsn an, ne
cult to occupy and strengthen the angle the enemy
already held the wood In its front. At my instance
Gen. Sickles ordered couple OF companies to as
certain IL the wood was occupied.
About this time cannonade was opened at Gene.
terry Ilill, which indicated an attack there and az
| had examined the Emmettsburg Ridge, said !
would not walt the result OF the Reconnaissance hut
| return to headquarters by way OF Round Top. and
leaving, Gen slckles asked me IL he should move
| forwardhls corps answered, "Not on my author.
ity; will report TO Gen: Meade for hislnstructlons'
hal not reached the wheat-neid when asharp rat rat
| Ito OF muskctry showed that the enemy held the
wood in front Of the Peach orchard angle.
how much r"rthcr pcech a,pchsrd was 10 the Srot OF
the "drect line' than II appeared from the orchard
| Itself. In fact there was third line between them
which appears, as seen from the orchard, to be con
tlnuous with Cemetery Ridge, but Ia nearly six hun
dred yards In fronto OF II. This Ia the open ground east
OF Plum Run already described, and which may be
called the Plum Run line. Its left where 1t crosses
| the run abu,s rather on DEVILS Den than Round
Top; Il was commanded by the much higher Peach
occupy, although 1t became OF Importance during
| the battle.
As TO the other two lines, the choice between them
would depend on circumstances. The direct sh0rl
| line through the woods, and Including the Round
Tops, could be occupied, intrenched, and made i'm
I'M. il would be purely defensive one, from which
owing 10 the nature Of the ground and the enemy
commanding position on the ridges at the angle, at
advance In force would he mpraciicabe. The salient
line proposed by Gen. Sickles. although much
longer Afforded excellent positions for our artillery
Its occupation would cramp the movements OF the
enemy, bring us nearer his lines, aud afford
| MS facilities for taking the Offensive II was
In my judgment the better line of the two
provided It were strongly occupied, for 1t was the
| only one on the field from which we could have
passed from tho defensive to the offensive with q
| prospect OF decisive results. But Gen. Meade had
not, until the arrival OF the Sixth Corps, su1lcien
number of troops at his disposal to risk such an ex
tension OF his lines; 1t would have required both the
Third and ifth Corps, and left him without any re-
serve. Had lie known that Lees attack would he
postponed until r. NJ, he might have occupiedthis
line in the morning; but he did not know this,
| pected an attack at any moment, and In view OF the
vast interests involved, adopted defensive policy
AMI ordered the occupation of the sdTe line. 1ntnk
ing risks. 1t would not he for his army alone, hui
| also for Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington
with the political consequence of their capture
| Gettysburg was not good straiegical position fol
| us, and the circumstances under which our army
was assembled limited us tacticay TO strictly de
| fensive battle.