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Battle of Gettysburg Day 2
Throughout the evening of July 1 and morning of July 2 during the battle gettysburg day 2, most of the remaining infantry of both armies arrived on the field, including the Union II, III, V, VI, and XII Corps; Longstreet's third division, commanded by George Pickett, had begun the march from Chambersburg early in the morning. It would not arrive until late on July 2.
The Union line ran from Culp's Hill southeast of the town, northwest to Cemetery Hill just south of town, then south for nearly two miles along Cemetery Ridge, terminating just north of Little Round Top. Most of the XII Corps was on Culp's Hill, the remnants of I and XI Corps defended Cemetery Hill, II Corps covered most of the northern half of Cemetery Ridge, and III Corps was ordered to take up a position to its flank during the Battle of Gettysburg day 2. This shape of the Union line is popularly described as a "fishhook" formation. The Confederate line paralleled the Union line about a mile to the west on Seminary Ridge, ran east through the town, then curved southeast to a point opposite Culp's Hill. Thus, the Federal army had interior lines, while the Confederate's exterior line was nearly five miles in length.
Lee's Battle of Gettysburg day 2 battle plan for July 2 called for Longstreet's First Corps to position itself stealthily to attack the Union left flank, facing northeast astraddle the Emmitsburg Road, and rolling up the Federal line. The attack sequence was to begin with John Bell Hood's and Lafayette McLaw's divisions, followed by Richard H. Anderson's division of Hill's Third Corps. The progressive en echelon sequence of this Battle of Gettysburg day 2 attack would prevent Meade from shifting troops from his center to bolster his left. At the same time, Edward "Alleghany" Johnson's and Jubal Early's Second Corps divisions were to make a "demonstration" against Culp's and Cemetery Hills (again, to prevent the shifting of Federal troops), and to turn the demonstration into a full-scale attack if a favorable opportunity presented itself.
Lee's Battle of Gettysburg day 2 plan, however, was based on faulty intelligence, exacerbated by Stuart's continued absence from the battlefield. Instead of moving beyond the Federals' left and attacking their flank, Longstreet's left division, under Major General Lafayette McLaws, would face Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles' III Corps directly in their path. Sickles, dissatisfied with the position assigned him on the southern end of Cemetery Ridge, and seeing higher ground more favorable to artillery positions a half mile to the west, had advanced his corps—without orders—to the slightly higher ground along the Emmitsburg Road. The new line ran from Devil's Den, northwest to the Sherfy farm's Peach Orchard, then northeast along the Emmitsburg Road to south of the Codori farm. This created an untenable salient at the Peach Orchard; Brig. Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys' division (in position along the Emmitsburg Road) and Maj. Gen. David B. Birney's division (to the south) were subject to attacks from two sides and were spread out over a longer front than a corps could defend effectively. Winfield Scott Hancock's II Corps was unable to support, due to the distance between their flanks.
Longstreet's Battle of Gettysburg day 2 attack was to be made as early as practicable; however, Longstreet got permission from Lee to await the arrival of one of his brigades, and, while marching to the assigned position, his men came within sight of a Union signal station on Little Round Top. Countermarching to avoid detection wasted much time, and Hood's and McLaws' divisions did not launch their attacks until just after 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
As Longstreet's divisions slammed into the Union III Corps, Meade had to send reinforcements in the form of the entire V Corps during the Battle of Gettysburg, Caldwell's division of the II Corps, most of the XII Corps (futilely, as it turned out, because Brig. Gen. John W. Geary's division took a wrong turn and did not reach the action in time), and small portions of the newly arrived VI Corps. Hard fighting took place in the Peach Orchard, Devil's Den, Little Round Top, and the Wheat Field. The III Corps was virtually destroyed as a combat unit in this Battle of Gettysburg battle and Sickles leg was amputated after it was shattered by a cannonball. Caldwell's division was devoured piecemeal in the Wheat Field. Anderson's division assault starting around 6 p.m. reached the crest of Cemetery Ridge, but they could not hold the position in the face of counterattacks from the II Corps.
Meanwhile, Colonel Strong Vincent of V Corps was holding, with his small brigade, one of the most important hills in the Union position: Little Round Top. In a Battle of Gettysburg day 2 engagement called the Battle of Little Round Top he was able to hold off repeated assaults by a Confederate brigade of Hood's division with his five relatively small regiments. Meade's chief engineer, Brig. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren, had realized the importance of this position, and dispatched Vincent's brigade to occupy Little Round Top merely minutes before Hood's troops arrived. Warren was also able to convince an artillery battery to take position at the hill's summit, and in a stroke of luck, he met a regiment (the 140th New York) whose commander he knew; this regiment supported Vincent and held his right flank after it collapsed. The left flank, consisting of the 20th Maine, was able to hold and, under Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain, charged with bayonets in an unusual fashion, the left wing wheeling right, causing the line to swing like a hinge. This simultaneous frontal assault and flanking maneuver halted and captured a good portion of the 15th Alabama, the regiment to its front. Thirty years later, Chamberlain received a Medal of Honor for this action.
About 7:30 p.m. during the Battle of Gettysburg day 2, the Second Corps' attack by Johnson's division on Culp's Hill got off to a late start. Most of the hill's defenders, the Union XII Corps, had been sent to the left to defend against Longstreet's attacks, and the only portion of the corps remaining on the hill was a brigade of New Yorkers under Brig. Gen. George S. Greene. Due to Greene's insistence on constructing strong defensive works, and with reinforcements from the I and XI Corps, Greene's men held off the Confederate attackers, although the Southerners did capture a portion of the abandoned Federal works on the lower part of Culp's Hill.
Just at dark, two of Jubal Early's brigades attacked the Union XI Corps positions on East Cemetery Hill where Col. Andrew L. Harris of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, came under a withering attack at the Battle of Gettysburg, losing half his men; however, Early failed to support his brigades in their attack on the Union defenders, and Ewell's remaining division, that of Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes, failed to aid Early's attack by moving against Cemetery Hill from the west. The Union army's interior lines enabled its commanders to shift troops quickly to critical areas, and with reinforcements from II Corps, the Federal troops retained possession of East Cemetery Hill, and Early's brigades were forced to withdraw.
J.E.B. Stuart and his four cavalry brigades arrived in Gettysburg late in the afternoon, but had no role in the Battle of Gettysburg day 2 battle.
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