There has been a great deal of bitter discussion between Longstreet, Fitz Lee, Early, Wilcox, and others as to whether Lee did or did not order an attack to take place at 9 A.M., and as to whether Longstreet was dilatory, and to blame for not making it. When a battle is lost there is always an inquest, and a natural desire on the part of each general to lay the blame on somebody else's shoulders. Longstreet waited until noon for Law's brigade to come up, and afterward there was a good deal of marching and countermarching to avoid being seen by our troops. There was undoubtedly too much delay. The fact is, Longstreet saw we had a strong position and was not well pleased at the duty assigned him, for he thought it more than probable his attempt would fail. He had urged Lee to take up a position where Meade would be forced to attack him, and was not in very good humor to find his advice disregarded. The rebel commander, however, finding the Army of the Potomac in front of him, having unbounded confidence in his troops, and elated by the success of the first day's fight, believed he could gain a great victory then and there, and end the war, and determined to attempt it. He was sick of these endless delays and constant sacrifices, and hoped one strong sword-thrust would slay his opponent, and enable the South to crown herself queen of the North American continent.

By 9 A.M. our skirmish line, in front of the Peach Orchard, was actively engaged with that of the enemy, who were making a reconnoissance toward the Emmetsburg road. No serious affair, however, occurred for some hours. Meade, as stated, was forming his lines on the right of the position he afterward occupied. The Fifth Corps, which came up about 1 P.M., was posted, as a reserve, south of the Twelfth Corps, with a view to the attack which has already been referred to. About 3 P.M. the Sixth Corps began to arrive from its long and toilsome march of thirty-four miles, and its tired troops were placed on the Taneytown road in the rear of Round Top, to reinforce the other corps in case our troops made an attack on the left. Lee, however, did not wait for Meade to advance against him, but boldly directed that each flank of the Union army should be assailed at the same time, while constant demonstrations against our centre were to be kept up, to prevent either wing from being reinforced. It was another attempt to converge columns with an interval of several miles between them upon a central force, and, like almost all such enterprises, failed from want of proper co-operation in the different fractions of his line.

[Map] GETTYSBURG.—Final Attack of the First Day, and Battle of the Second Day.* [* The first day's battle is represented north of the Fairfield and Hanover roads. The second day's battle south of the same roads.]

REFERENCES TO THE FIRST DAY'S BATTLE. Union Troops, [filled rectangle] MAJOR GENERAL O. O. HOWARD commanding the First and Eleventh Corps. FIRST CORPS. MAJOR-GENERAL ABNER DOUBLEDAY commanding. FIRST DIVISION—MAJOR-GENERAL JAMES S. WADSWORTH commanding. a. First Brigade. Colonel Henry A. Morrow, 24th Michigan. b. Second Brigade. Brigadier-General Lysander Cutler. SECOND DIVISION—MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN C. ROBINSON. c. First Brigade. Brigadier-General Gabriel R. Paul. d. Second Brigade. Brigadier-General Henry Baxter. THIRD DIVISION—BRIGADIER-GENERAL THOS. A. ROWLEY. e. First Brigade. Colonel Chapman Biddle, 121st Pennsylvania. f. Second Brigade. Colonel Roy Stone, 149th Pennsylvania. ELEVENTH CORPS. MAJOR-GENERAL CARL SCHURZ commanding. FIRST DIVISION—BRIGADIER-GENERAL F. C. BARLOW commanding. g. First Brigade. Colonel Von Gilsa. h. Second Brigade. Brigadier-General Adelbert Ames. SECOND DIVISION—BRIGADIER-GENERAL ALEXANDER SCHIMMELPFENNIG. k. First Brigade. Colonel Von Arnsberg. l. Second Brigade. Colonel Kryzanowski. m. Coster's Brigade, of Steinwehr's Division.

Confederate Troops, [open rectangle]
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL A. P. HILL commanding Third Corps.
MAJOR-GENERAL HENRY HETH commanding Division.
1. Archer's Brigade. 3. Brockenborough's Brigade.
2. Davis' Brigade. 4. Pettigrew's Brigade.
MAJOR-GENERAL W. D. PENDER commanding Division.
6. McGowan's Brigade. 8. Thomas' Brigade.
7. Scales' Brigade. 9. Lane's Brigade.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL BENJ. EWELL commanding Second Corps.
MAJOR-GENERAL R. E. RODES commanding Division.
10. Daniel's Brigade. 12. Iverson's Brigade.
11. Ramseur's Brigade. 13. O'Neill's Brigade.
14. Doles' Brigade.
MAJOR-GENERAL JUBAL A. EARLY commanding Division.
15. Gordon's Brigade. 17. Hoke's Brigade.
16. Hays' Brigade. 18. Smith's Brigade.

Longstreet's attack was over before Ewell came into action, and although Ewell succeeded in temporarily establishing himself on our extreme right, it was due to an unfortunate order given by General Meade, by which the force in that part of the field was withdrawn just as Ewell advanced against it. But we are anticipating our narrative.

Hood, who commanded the division on the right of Longstreet's corps, complains that he was not allowed to go past Round Top and flank us on the south, as he might have done, but was required by his orders to break in at the Peach Orchard and drive Sickles' line along the Emmetsburg road toward Cemetery Hill; but it seems to me, as he started late in the afternoon, if he had made the detour which would have been necessary in order to attack us on the south, he would have met Sedgwick in front, while Sickles and Sykes might have interposed to cut him off from the main body.

Before describing Longstreet's attack we will give the final disposition made by General Meade when it became necessary to fight a defensive battle. The ridge was nearly in the shape of a horseshoe. The Twelfth Corps was on the extreme right; next came one division of the First Corps on Culp's Hill, then the Eleventh Corps on Cemetery Hill, with two divisions of the First Corps at the base; next the Second Corps; then the Third, and the Fifth Corps on the extreme left, the Sixth Corps being posted in rear of Round Top as a general reserve to the army. Sickles, however, denies that any position was ever marked out for him. He was expected to prolong Hancock's line to the left, but did not do so for the following reasons: First, because the ground was low, and second, on account of the commanding position of the Emmetsburg road, which ran along a cross ridge oblique to the front of the line assigned him, and which afforded the enemy an excellent position for their artillery; third, because the ground between the valley he was expected to occupy, and the Emmetsburg road constituted a minor ridge, very much broken and full of rocks and trees, which afforded excellent cover for an enemy operating in his immediate front. He had previously held an interview with General Meade and asked that an experienced staff officer be sent with him to assist in locating a suitable position for his corps. At his request, General Hunt, the Chief of Artillery, was sent for that purpose. They rode out to the ridge and Sickles directed that his troops should be posted along that road, with his centre at the Peach Orchard, which was about a mile from and nearly opposite to Little Round Top; his right wing, under Humphreys, extending along the road, while his left wing, under Birney, made a right angle at the Peach Orchard with the other part of the line, and bent around, so as to cover the front of Little Round Top at the base. The disadvantages of this position are obvious enough. It is impossible for any force to hold its ground when attacked at once on both sides which constitute the right angle. The diagram shows that the force A will have both its lines a1 and a2 enfiladed by batteries at b1 b2, and must yield. The ground, however, may be such that the enemy cannot plant his guns at b1 or b2; but under any circumstances it is a weak formation and the enemy easily penetrate the angle. When that is the case, and it was so in the present instance—each side constituting the angle is taken in flank, and the position is no longer tenable.

[Diagram]
_________________________
| b2
|
|b1 _________________
| | a1
| |
| | A
| |a2
| |
| |

If one side of the right angle lies behind a ridge where it cannot be enfiladed, a temporary formation of this kind is sometimes permissible.