"The truth will be known in time, and I leave that to show how much of the responsibility of Gettysburg rests on my shoulders."
James Longstreet
Strategies
Strategy has been the most important part of war since the beginning of time. Both sides had opposite strategies during the battle of Gettysburg. The north had more of a defensive strategy and used the terrain to their advantage where as to Lee who went for a flanking strategy.
ConfederacyLee's strategy at Gettysburg was to draw the Union a bit away from Gettysburg into Confederate lines and then flank them by both sides. He commanded Ewell and Longstreet to attack as soon as they got into Confederate lines but their attack was slow and it gave the Union a chance to counter attack and prepare. This ultimately was the cause of the loss for the South and Lee. It's though by historians that if Ewell and Longstreet had done what Lee had asked the whole battle would have changed.
"But we cannot help it, and must endure it. You will, however, learn before this reaches you that our success at Gettysburg was not so great as reported--in fact, that we failed to drive the enemy from his position, and that our army withdrew to the Potomac." |
Union The North strategy was to hold their position on small hills spread throughout the battle field. This was very effective as the South were unable to take control. This was a completely defensive strategy. Lee had to come up with a different plan to break the strong Union Defense held together by the hills. This was the strategy for the majority of the battle.
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