Gettysburg

If you watch enough videos, you can get an education. Well, maybe something of one. Here are a few things I didn't know about American history that I'd like to discuss briefly.

The Battle of Gettysburg is considered to be pretty important in the outcome of the Civil War. Indeed, Lee's army was in big trouble just after the disastrous outcome of Picket's Charge. Lee threw a lot of what he had left into that battle, and not much came back to him. There was a fear of a Union counterattack, but none came. If it did, Lee would have had the decisive battle he sought. As it was, the war continued for two more years.

The thoughts I had were these 1) Could Lee have won at Gettysburg at all? , and 2) Was Lee's attack on that fateful day a mistake? As for the second question, the answer seems obvious. But upon further reflection, it would appear that Lee's belief that the center of the Union's lines was the weak point is not an unreasonable guess. He very nearly succeeded in the flanking move the previous day. You might expect that the Union would expect another attack just like it. Lee's decision makes sense if you think of it that way.

As for the first question, it seems that at the very least, the attack on Little Round Top was definitely a winnable fight. Actually, Lee's orders were to attack up the road, which was to the west of the two round top mountains. There were already troops on the bigger Round Top, which if exploited, would have given the Confederates a commanding presence on the high ground. They could have used their cannon to fire down upon the Union Army down below. They could have broken up the "fish hook" appearing Union Line amongst the high ground near Gettysburg.

General Hood wanted to take the bigger Round Top, but Longstreet wouldn't allow it saying that it wasn't what Gen. Lee ordered. So Hood obeyed, but was injured shortly after beginning his move up the road. There was confusion amongst the Confederate ranks as some went one way towards the road, and the others went the other way towards the Little Round Top. If ALL of them went up the Little Round Top, the outcome just might have been different.

It can be chalked up to the fortunes of war. The commander was injured in the midst of the attack and the fog of war took over. Confusion led to a division of forces that wouldn't have happened otherwise. We don't know if Lee's orders would have worked because his orders weren't followed to the letter due to Hood's injury. The North caught a break from the confusion amongst the Confederates. They held the line only after a desperate bayonet charge by the Union Col. Chamberlain.

After losing that opportunity, Lee ordered Picket's charge. The rest was as they say, is history. If either of those Round Tops had been taken, the Union Army would have been flanked on that day. The battle could have been won. They could have been driven off what they had believed was the high ground and would have had to fight uphill from there. The South would have had the advantage from that point.