inreinforcements with artillery. By the time Lee realized Ewell had not attacked, it was too late to attempt the attack.Meade arrived at the area and thought it was an ideal place to do battle with the Rebel army. He expected a massivenumber of Union soldiers totaling up to 100,000to arrive and strengthen his defensive position.Confederate General James Lonstreet saw the Union position as nearly impenetrable and told Lee it should be leftalone. He argued that the Confederate Army should instead move east between the Union Army and Washington andbuild a defensive position thus forcing the Federals to attack them instead. But Lee believed his army was invincibleand he also didn’t have his cavalry which served as his eyes and ears. With his cavalry he could track the Unionstroop movements. Cavalry leader Jev Stuart had gone off with his troops to harass the Federals leaving Lee with adisadvantage.Lee decided to attack the Union Army’s defensive position at the southern end of Cemetery Ridge which he thoughtwas less defended.Around 10 a.m. the next morning, Thursday, July 2, Gen. Lonstreet was ordered by Lee to attack. but Lonstreet wasquite slow in getting his troops into position and didn’t even attack them until 4 p.m. that afternoon. This gave theUnion Army more time to strengthen their position.When Longstreet attacked, some of the most bitter fighting of the Civil War erupted at places now part of Americanmilitary folklore such as Little Round Top, Devil’s Den, the Wheat Field and the Peach Orchard (which can all beseen on my model). Longstreet took the Peach Orchard but was driven back at Little Round Top.About 6:30 p.m. Gen. Ewell attacked the Union Line from the north and east at Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill (whichcan be seen on my model also). The attack lasted into darkness but was finally decided unsuccessful at CemeteryHill, although Rebels seized some trenches on Culp’s Hill.By a...
