On the night of July 2, Longstreet's largest division commanded by General George Pickett arrived and was placed in the center of the Confederate line. Lee's plan for the next day was to attack on both the Union right and left, just as he had done the day before. Lee was still certain he could break the Union line and win the battle. That day Stuart's cavalry had caught up with Lee's army and Lee ordered Stuart to ride around the East side of Gettysburg and attack the Union rear. Ewell had also been reinforced and was ordered to take Culp's Hill the next morning.
Meade ordered the Union XII Corps to drive Ewell's forces off the captured trenches on Culp's Hill. They were to move at daylight the next morning. He was determined the remainder of the Union Army would hold its position and wait for Lee to attack.
Ewell began fighting on Culp's Hill at first light. Lee rode to Longstreet's headquarters only to find Longstreet had misunderstood his orders. He was planning a turning movement against the Union left. Now, with no hope of a coordinated attack, Lee changed the plan. Longstreet was to attack the Union center on Cemetery Ridge. Ewell's forces failed in their counterattacks and were forced to withdraw from Culp's Hill by about 11:00 a.m. Lee pinned all his hopes on Longstreet's attack on the center. Longstreet had the last fresh division in Lee's army. It was made up of three brigades, commanded by generals James L. Kemper, Richard B. Garnett, and Lewis A. Armistead, led by Pickett.
First, a bombardment by about 140 Confederate cannons on the Union lines was ordered. The bombardment started about 1 p.m. About 80 Union cannons returned fire. The cannons duel lasted for between one and two hours, depending on the source (most say about an hour). The Confederate artillery chief, General Edward Porter Alexander, had only intended it to last for about 25 minutes. But he then realized it had done little damage to the Union line so he continued. But he also had to worry about running out of ammunition and not have enough to support the charge that was Pickett was about to make. When the Union guns fell silent, Porter thought he had knocked them out. But it was a trick by the Union artillery chief. His guns were waiting for the charge the Union forces knew was coming. Alexander sent word to Pickett he could start his attack.
The cannonade could be heard as far away as Philadelphia. The noise was so loud the gunner's ears bled. It was probably the loudest noise that had ever been heard on the North American continent up to that time. In the end the Confederate cannons may have killed as many as 200 Union soldiers in the area that would later become known as the "bloody angle". But the Union guns may have killed more Confederate troops.
Calling the Confederate attack on the Union center "Pickett's Charge" is misleading for two reasons. First, Pickett commanded only one of the three units in the assault. Second, it was not a charge, which is a rapid advance towards the enemy, it was an attack which moved forward more slowly and over a longer distance. These Virginia units were joined by several smaller units of Confederates (some from North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama) whose numbers had been reduced by the fighting over the first two days. When the cannons stopped, Pickett went to Longstreet to ask permission to begin the attack. Longstreet, sure the attack would fail, silently nodded his head and gave a wave of his hand. Longstreet had tried to get Lee to call off the attack, but Lee would not listen.
Over 12,000 Confederates stepped out from the trees and formed up for the long march forward. Waiting for them behind a low stone fence on Cemetery Ridge were about 5,000 Union troops, most of whom belonged to General Winfield Scott Hancock's II Corps. Depending on the source, this was between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. As they marched forward across the distance, Union artillery killed large numbers of troops. Rifle fire from the Union line was intense. The Union troops used four lines of soldiers. As the line in front fired, they moved back to reload while the next line moved up to fire. Only a few hundred of the Virginians reached the Union line. Within minutes they were dead or dying. Some were captured. The attack lasted about an hour with over 7,000 Confederate soldiers killed. As the remaining Confederate troops retreated, Lee was seen riding his horse saying "this was all my fault". He then told Pickett to rally his division. Pickett famously replied, "General, I have no division."
At about the same time as the main attack, Stuart's cavalry attacked the Union rear but the attack also failed.
Lee brought an army into Pennsylvania that numbered 75,054 men and lost 22,638 casualties or about 30% of his army. Meade lost so many field grade officers that the Army of the Potomac would not recover for the rest of the war. Both the Union I Corps and III Corps lost so many men they had to be combined with II Corps. The battle took more American lives than any other battle in United States history. Gettysburg is still the largest battle to ever be fought on American soil. The Union victory over the Confederacy ended Lee's invasion of the north. Lee would never try to invade the Union again. The Army of Northern Virginia would never get their strength back. However the supplies taken during their time in Pennsylvania would keep the Confederate army going. The wagon train of supply wagons and ambulances for the wounded was over long. Lee never had more than 51,000 men the rest of the war. Numbers from the Union forces wore down Lee and his army. This is why Gettysburg is said to be the turning point of the American Civil War. After the battle the confederates figured out that there was a slave spy.
Meade was severely criticized for not counterattacking Lee after the third day of battle. The next day Meade sent out skirmishers, but did not attack. Lee had his army hold its position on Seminary Ridge all day on July 4. The more than 10,000 wounded men would be moved by wagon train to Williamsport and cross the Potomac to Virginia. The rest of Lee's army followed on the night of July 4–5, screened by Jeb Stuart's cavalry. The next day, on discovering the Confederates had left the battlefield, the Union army cautiously followed. At the Battle of Falling Waters, Lee's army was waiting for the flooded Potomac River to go down so his army could cross. Meade's forces caught up with them there but the battle had no clear victor. The Battle of Falling Waters was the last battle in the Gettysburg Campaign.
New International Version
The New International Version or NIV is an English translation of the Christian Bible. It is made by the Zondervan Company. It became one of the most popular modern translations made in the twentieth century. The NIV was last updated in 2011.
New American Bible
The New American Bible is a Roman Catholic translation of the Bible into English. It was translated from the Bible's original languages and first made in 1970.
TED (conference)
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Plutoid
A plutoid or ice dwarf is a dwarf planet that orbits the sun farther than Neptune. Four objects are now classified as plutoids:
Others might be included in the same class someday:
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