What circumstances led the union to victory on the 3rd day in the battle of Gettysburg?

Answer 1

Federal Forces were solidly entrenched in easily defensible positons on the high ground with good interior lines of communication, able to readily reinforce threatened points. They were well supplied, and had good morale, with the added incentive of defending their home territory. Confederate commander Robert E. Lee ordered Pickett to mount what was, in essence, a suicidal assault against the center of the Union line, uphill, against superior numbers of well-motivated defenders.

Answer 2

In the early morning of the third day Gen. Ewell's last attack against Culp's Hill had been repulsed.

At the same time Stuart's attack on the Union communication line was repulsed as well.

In the early afternoon, after about an hour of of artillery duel led by 159 Confederate guns against Union artillery standing on the Cemetery Ridge, three Confederate divisions (Gen. George Pickett, James Pettigrew and Isaac Trimble), about 15 000 men, assaulted the Federal Line held by the II Corps of Gen. John Gibbon marching eastward in one of the most famous charges in military history, ascending the Ridge.

After having made a small penetration in the position called "The Angle" they were beaten back with awful losses.

Answer 3

The North had superior numbers in superior position (high ground).

IMPROVEMENT

The causes of the Confederate defeat were many:

1 - Gen. Stuart's Cavalry Corp failed to join Lee's Army on the battlefield, thus depriving Lee of vital information about the movements of the enemy units.

2 - The battle broke out before Lee's could deploy all his units as planned.

3 - The Confederate failed to capture the Little Round Top on July 2nd

4 - Despite the adverse and well grounded advice of Gen. Longstreet, Lee was inflexible in planning the great charge against the Union center carried on July 3rd.

5 - During the artillery preparation for this decisive attack and the resulting duel of artillery (150 Confederate guns were concentrate against the objective and 103 Union guns were ready to carry the counter-battery fire), the Union artillery commander of the menaced sector, Gen. Hunt managed to deceive the Confederates about the outcome of their bombardment ordering a reaction by an intermittent fire carried on by only some 80 guns, giving the impression that the Union artillery were being gradually overwhelmed and put out of combat. The trick worked well and the great charge started, being the Confederate convinced that it would met but only a weak standing barrage fire.

6 - During the last stage of the battle Stuart's Cavalry Corp attempted to attack from the rear the Army of Potomac, but was repulsed by the Union cavalry units.

If any two of the above results could have been reversed, the Union victory may not have happened.

Answer 4

Lee decided to order the great charge of July 3rd in spite of the contrary opinion expressed by James Longstreet. It was a great mistake committed by Lee, who overestimated the striking power of the mass ( the 15 000 men appointed to the assault), against the stopping power of the, grazing, standing barrage fire of the defenders' rifled guns and artillery.

During the artillery duel that preceded the assault, the chief of Union artillery, Gen. Hunt, managed to held silent some 40 cannons and to react to the Confederate fire in an intermittent way, giving to the enemy the impression that a large part of the Federal batteries had been destroyed by their fire. Thus the commander of Confederate artillery Colonel Alexander, gave to Longstreet the green light for the assault to be carried, with the consequent well known consequences.

Answer 5

Meade ordered a spoiling attack against Ewell, that prevented Ewell's troops from supporting Pickett during the crucial attack.