Nothing coming from the centre troops about Cemetery Hill, General Lee ordered the Second Corps, after night, from his left to his right, for work in that direction, but General Ewell rode over and reported that another point—Culp’s Hill—had been found on his left, which had commanding elevation over Cemetery Hill, from which the troops on the latter could be dislodged, by artillery, and was under the impression that his troops were in possession there. That was accredited as reported and approved, and the corps commander returned, and ordered the hill occupied if it had not been done. But the officer in charge had waited for specific orders, and when they were received he had made another reconnoissance. It was then twelve o’clock. By the reconnoissance it was found that the enemy was there, and it was thought that this should be reported, and further orders waited.
General Ewell’s troops and trains passed the junction of the roads at four o’clock. The train was fourteen miles long. It was followed by the troops of the First Corps that had been waiting all day. After night the Washington Artillery and McLaws’s division camped at Marsh Run, four miles from Gettysburg. Here is Hood’s account of his march:
“While lying in camp near Chambersburg information was received that Hill and Ewell were about to come into contact with the enemy near Gettysburg. My troops, together with McLaws’s division, were at once put in motion upon the most direct road to that point, which we reached after a hard march at or before sunrise on July 2. So imperative had been our orders to hasten forward with all possible speed that on the march my troops were allowed to halt and rest only about two hours during the night from the 1st to the 2d of July.”
When I left General Lee, about seven o’clock in the evening, he had formed no plans beyond that of seizing Culp’s Hill as his point from which to engage, nor given any orders for the next day, though his desperate mood was painfully evident, and gave rise to serious apprehensions. He had heard nothing of the movements of the enemy since his crossing the Potomac, except the report of the scout. His own force on the field was the Second Corps, Rodes’s, Early’s, and E. Johnson’s divisions from right to left through the streets of Gettysburg around towards Culp’s Hill; on Rodes’s right, Pender’s division of the Third; on Seminary Ridge, R. H. Anderson’s division of the Third (except Wilcox’s brigade at Black Horse Tavern); behind Seminary Ridge, Heth’s division of the Third; on the march between Cashtown and Greenwood, the First Corps.
CHAPTER XXVII.
GETTYSBURG—SECOND DAY.
The Confederate Commander reviews the Field and decides on Plan of Battle—Positions on the Morning of July 2—Night March of the Federal Sixth Corps—It was excelled by Law’s Brigade of Confederates—The Battle was opened after Mid-day—General Hood appeals for Permission to turn the Federal Left—Failure to make the Flanking Movement by the Confederate Right was a Serious Mistake—Hood, in his usual Gallant Style, led his Troops forward among the Rocks—Desperate Charges against an Earnest Adversary—Hood wounded—General Law succeeds him in command of the Division—“Little Round Top” an Important Point—“The Citadel of the Field”—It was a Fight of Seventeen Thousand Confederates against twice their Number—Quiet along the Lines of other Confederate Commands—“A Man on the Left who didn’t care to make the Battle win”—Evidence against the Alleged Order for “Battle at Sunrise”—The “Order” to Ewell was Discretionary—Lee had lost his Balance.
The stars were shining brightly on the morning of the 2d when I reported at General Lee’s head-quarters and asked for orders. After a time Generals McLaws and Hood, with their staffs, rode up, and at sunrise their commands filed off the road to the right and rested. The Washington Artillery was with them, and about nine o’clock, after an all-night march, Alexander’s batteries were up as far as Willoughby’s Run, where he parked and fed, and rode to head-quarters to report.