I just got back from a vacation where I visited the Battlefield at Gettysburg. BTW, I highly recommend visiting Gettysburg; it brings to life the Civil War and the downtown area was a great time.
Anyway, one of the takeaways I got from visiting is the attack on Little Round Top was a huge mistake by the Confederates. Little Round Top is basically impregnable; a small force could and did hold off a much larger force. The view of the whole battleground was magnificent and the confederate attack was doomed from the start...no trees to hide behind and the Union had high ground. Even attack on the flanks seemed doomed from the start as the elevation difference is a lot higher than movies made it out to be.
Another takeaway, and hardly the first opinion on this, but Pickett's charge along with Pettigrew and Longstreet was a monstrous error as well. The Union center at Cemetery hill had fields of fire for 180 degrees out to a mile. Even if Lee had been right and the Union was weak in the center, the time it would take to get Pickett's, Pettigrew's, and Longstreet's divisions across that field of fire, the Union could have reinforced from the flanks with time to spare.
Lastly, being there makes it seem SO MUCH MORE REAL...to stand where General Longstreet died at the Angle...to stand at the high water mark, which is as far as Pickett's Charge got(within 10 ft of Union Defenses), to look out at a field that once held 20,000 dead soldiers in one attack. It's sobering to say the least.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts.
Anyway, one of the takeaways I got from visiting is the attack on Little Round Top was a huge mistake by the Confederates. Little Round Top is basically impregnable; a small force could and did hold off a much larger force. The view of the whole battleground was magnificent and the confederate attack was doomed from the start...no trees to hide behind and the Union had high ground. Even attack on the flanks seemed doomed from the start as the elevation difference is a lot higher than movies made it out to be.
Another takeaway, and hardly the first opinion on this, but Pickett's charge along with Pettigrew and Longstreet was a monstrous error as well. The Union center at Cemetery hill had fields of fire for 180 degrees out to a mile. Even if Lee had been right and the Union was weak in the center, the time it would take to get Pickett's, Pettigrew's, and Longstreet's divisions across that field of fire, the Union could have reinforced from the flanks with time to spare.
Lastly, being there makes it seem SO MUCH MORE REAL...to stand where General Longstreet died at the Angle...to stand at the high water mark, which is as far as Pickett's Charge got(within 10 ft of Union Defenses), to look out at a field that once held 20,000 dead soldiers in one attack. It's sobering to say the least.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts.
