THE CONFEDERATES LOSE AN OPPORTUNITY. 283 That this position sadly different from what they were. could have been carried, had an attack been promptly made, is asserted by one entirely competent to judge, General Doubleday, who says, "Both Hill and Ewell had received stunning blows during the day, and were disposed to be cautious. They, therefore, did not press forward and take the heights, as they could easily have done at this time."* The failure of the Confederates to attack Cemetery and Culp's hills in the three hours which intervened between the time when the broken and shattered Federals took possession of them and the darkness of evening, was fraught with consequences of such vast importance that the reasons for it deserve special consideration. The following, taken from the highest and most important. sources, is to the point. General 'Doubleday, in the same connection above referred to, says: "General Lee reached the field before Hancock came, and watched the retreat of the First and Eleventh corps, and Hancock's movements and dispositions, through his field glass. He was not deceived by the show of force, and sent a recommendation--not an order—to Ewell to follow us up; but Ewell, in the exercise of his discretion as a corps commander, did not do so. He had lost three thousand men, and both he and Hill were under orders. not to bring on a general engagement. In fact they had had all the fighting they desired for the time being. Colonel Campbell Brown, of Ewell's staff, states that the latter was preparing to move forward against the height, when a false report induced him to send Gordon's brigade to reinforce Smith's brigade on his extreme left, to meet a *General Doubleday's "Chancellorsville and Gettysburg," page 152. supposed Union advance in that direction. The absence of these two brigades decided him to wait for the arrival of Johnson's division before taking further action. When the latter came up, Slocum and Sickles were on the ground, and the opportunity for a successful attack had passed." Colonel W. II. Taylor, Lee's adjutant-general, says: "General Lee witnessed the flight of the Federals through Gettysburg, and up the hills beyond. He then directed me to go to General Ewell, and say to him that, from the position which he occupied, he could see the enemy retreating over those hills, without organization, and in great confusion; that it was only necessary to press 'those people' in order to secure possession of the heights; and that, if possible, he wished him to do this. In obedience to these instructions, I proceeded immediately to General Ewell, and delivered the order of General Lee; and, after receiving from him some message for the commanding general in regard to the prisoners captured, returned to the latter, and reported that his order had been delivered. General Ewell did not express any objection, or indicate the existence of any impediment, to the execution of the order conveyed to him, but left the impression on my mind that it would be executed. In the exercise of that discretion, however, which General Lee was accustomed to accord to his lieutenants, and probably because of an undue regard for his admonition, given early in the day, not to precipitate a general engagement, General Ewell deemed it unwise to make the pursuit. The troops were not moved forward, and the enemy proceeded to occupy and fortify the position which it was designed that General Ewell should seize. Major-General Edward Johnson, whose division FATAL MISTAKE OF CONFEDERATE GENERALS. 285 reached the field after the engagement, and formed on the left of Early, in a conversation had with me, since the war, about this circumstance, in which I sought an explanation of our inaction at that time, assured me that there was no hinderance to his moving forward; but that, after getting his command in line of battle, and before it became seriously engaged, or had advanced any great distance, for some unexplained reason, he had received orders to halt. This was after General Lee's message was delivered to General Ewell."* General Ewell, in his official report, states his reasons for not ordering the attack, which are as follows: "The enemy had fallen back to a commanding position that was known to us as Cemetery Hill, south of Gettysburg, and quickly showed a formidable front there. On entering the town I received a message from the commanding general to attack the hill if I could do so to advantage. I could not bring artillery to bear on it; all the troops with me were jaded by twelve hours' marching and fighting, and I was notified that General Johnson was close to the town with his division, the only one of my corps that had not been engaged, Anderson's division of the Third Corps having been halted to let them pass. Cemetery Hill was not assailable from the town, and I determined, with Johnson's division, to take possession of a wooded hill to my left, on a line with and commanding Cemetery Hill. Before Johnson got up, the Federals were reported moving to our left flank-our extreme leftand I could see what seemed to be his skirmishers in that direction. Before this report could be investigated by *Colonel W. H. Taylor, in Annals of the War, pages 308, 309. Lieutenant T. T. Turner of my staff and Lieutenant Robert Early, sent to investigate it, and Johnson placed in position, the night was far advanced."* Napier Bartlett, Esq., in the "Military Annals of Louisiana," speaking of the subject, says: "General Hays had received orders, through General Early, from General Ewell (though Lee's instructions were subsequently the reverse), to halt at Gettysburg, and advance no further in case he should succeed in capturing that place. But Hays now saw that the enemy were coming around by what is known as the Baltimore road, and were making for the heights - Cemetery Ridge. This ridge meant life or death, and for the possession of it the battles of the second and third were fought. * * Owing to the long detour the enemy was compelled to make, it was obvious that he could not get his artillery in position on the heights for one or two hours. The immediate occupation of the heights by the Confederates, who were in position to get there at the time referred to, was a matter of vital importance. Hays recognized it as such, and presently sent for Early. The latter thought as Hays, but declined to disobey orders. At the urgent request of General Hays, however, he sent for General Ewell. When the latter arrived, many precious moments had been lost. But the enemy, who did not see its value until the arrival of Hancock, had not yet appeared in force.” General Longstreet, who cites the foregoing in proof that the failure to follow up the advantages of the day by attacking Cemetery Hill at once was one of the great mistakes at Gettysburg, further says: *Annals of the War, page 435. |