@@pittland44 Don't know about the dumbass part, but Stuart could be impulsive. Don't know that Early was incompetent, but he definitely had no problem with lying to trash someone else.
@@manilajohn0182 I can agree with label of impulsive about Stuart. Early had the very bad habit of showing up 45 minutes to an hour after the fight started (that happened a bunch during the Shenandoah and Petersburg campaigns). It got to be so common that the chant by the Union army was "Early was Late" and Sheridan nicknamed him "Late Early."
These were scholarly and intelligent men with combat experience. They could see how far the march would be, and knew how much fire they would be receiving. It makes their dutiful and courteous responses all that much more remarkable.
It was agony for Gen Longstreet. His assessment of the attack was accurate due to his experience in previous battles facing less than incompetent enemy commanders..... he pretty much knew this would end with the same devastation the union forces experienced at places like Fredericksburg.
All the patriots who have died for our country since 1776 were with us on Nov. 3, 2020, & we let them down because we didn't have their guts & patriotism.
@@WG-tt6hk - You let them down because you were stupid enough to fall for a conman. Well done. And still waiting Rudy and Sidney to come up with that evidence! Only been a year!
tbh not sure if Lee wins it makes a difference. Vicksburg was the political military key event. Whooping the Army of the Potomac was not going to change that
@@tobystephens5499 True... but were they right? They WERE treasonous scum. Better if we'd been part of the British Empire until, at least, the 1830s/40s.
Such a crucial moment for the four, just assuming a great cost in their men's blood, was coming very soon, here receiving that plan. Their sincere expressions of respect so appropriate and nicely done.
If you walk the battleground, you find that the land has dips and rills in it as it crosses toward the Union line. This made the Heads of the Confederates rise up as they climbed each rill, giving the Union artillery and soldiers targets to bear on before the Confederates could come up enough to use their muskets, then they would dip down again, the Union would reload, and then repeat the process. The terrain repeats this pattern over the entire distance of the charge.
It's said General Henry Hunt, the Army of the Potomac's excellent artillery chief literally leapt with joy when he observed the Confederates coming out of the trees in a continuous frontal attack line. It was an artillerist's dream target come true but an absolute worst nightmare for the Confederate infantry. Hunt had wisely compromised Hancock's order for Union artillery to fire back at Confederate batteries during the barrage (Hancock felt it helped his troops' morale) and had ordered his gunners to gradually phase back their firing to conserve ammunition. It also gave the Confederates the false impression that they were knocking out batteries and lured them out into the attack. I couldn't imagine the unparalleled scenes of carnage solid shot and canister at close range did to tightly packed groups of men.
@@tomservo5347 The major factor was the fact that smoke from the explosion of Confederate shells blew back toward their line, which obscured observation of any actual effect. The shells did not land on target and fell behind the Union line and not in their artillery, which did not drive anyone off. Once the Confederates ( who were low on shells ) expended all their ammunition, they could no longer respond with artillery.
The Union wouldn't be using muskets until the last 250 meters of the charge. The Union artillery could have targeted the charge accurately because of the openness of the terrain and volume of southern troops. Hunt was a great artillerist.
General Meade was the first Union general to anticipate General Lee's tactics including direction and targeted position. General Meade conducted his army with great tactical skill which resulted in a decisive victory at Gettysburg.
@@karlk9316 No General Meade was slow and cautious vs the superior generals of the C.S.A. All Meade did was "turtle up" defensively. He didn't even go after Lee after Pickett's charge.
BryGuy Says why would he have to? He broke them and gave them massive amounts of casualties all the union had to do was play the waiting game as Ulysses was sieging Vicksburg and they would basically win if they just waited
Well Lee could have concentrated an attack on the Union army's right or left flank. In a way it was like a game of "Paper-Rock-Scissors" (or rather "Right-Center-Left") for both sides guessing where to attack/reinforce for Day 3.
Lee said to be a leader you have to be ready to order the death of the thing you love. He was referring to the Men they lead. Lee thought they were invisible because of the unbelievable Victories they had won with the odds against them. First thing he should have thought of looking at the stone wall and field was how they decimated Burnside on Mayres Heights at Fredericksburg. Lee was trying to make Gettysburg the last battle. He said looking at the carnage on Mayres Heights that it is a good thing war is so terrible or we would begin to like it. With all the great calls Lee made he will always be remembered for his bad choice.
There are times that a man must fight for what his heart and soul says. The South had been treated badly in the years leading up to the Civil War thus the South no longer wanted to be part of the USA. To the South, this war was our second war of Independence. President Lincoln sent 75,000 Union troops to invade the South to force the South to remain in the Union. The South was battling an invading Army. The South just wanted their own country.
@@marine763 Pure nonsense, they should have been treated bad because they enslaved other human beings or is that conveniently forgotten. Please spare that BS about States Rights because EVERY CONFEDERATE STATE mentioned slavery as their cause for secession. Do not revise history, no obscure articles, passages, nuances or passing thoughts. They should have been treated like treasonous people, there is no excuse for slavery. When you address how they thought that kidnapping, torturing, murdering, enslaving other sentient beings was somehow noble, I wish they had lost every battle in every theater.
@@Cuffski That's not entirely true K.A Williams. Four States mentioned nothing at all about slavery. North Carolina soundly defeated pro-secession candidates for years. The tipping point was when Lincoln raised the 75,000 troops, which caused Virginia to secede. North Carolina at that point had very little choice since it was surrounded. That is one reason Sherman is not looked upon as Hitler in North Carolina. He took greater pity on the local population vs South Carolina and Georgia, which both mentioned slavery in detail in their secession articles. Both Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee were very much against secession and fielded several companies that fought for the north. I'm not trying to defend the south. Clearly the south believed in slavery and I for one cannot phantom how my ancestors could even begin to imagine that it was okay to enslave another person and to rip families apart. But Lincoln and the North are not the good guys. I totally believe they fought to preserve the union, not end to slavery. Look at Sheridan's view on slavery, his views were worse then say Stonewall Jackson. And Lincoln was an idiot. Appointing incompetent generals and micro managing them. The better choice instead of invading the south would have been to deploy Anaconda at it full intent, and solicit other countries to embargo. Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee would probably have not seceded and it would have brought the south to its knees and saved 800,000 lives
"George Lazenby. Former model, actor and brief cultural icon" "Yeah I know. They still talk about your reviews with reverence and awe. Your reputation as a flash in the pan has preceded you, sir. I hear you starred in and left an enduring film franchise." "Well, it was only a minor work. If the general would care to view it." " Yeah, sure." "You may have a copy with my compliments. Lieutenant! Fetch me a copy of On Her Majesties Secr..." "General my apologies but I do not believe I will have time to watch that today." Gentlemen. Take a look at that small clump of trees over there..
Lee was only as good as his subordinates. In his first command of the war in West Virginia, he lost to McClellan. Lee is overrated. History gives him all the credit but absolves him of almost all of his failures.
@@curtisshaw1370 It's not history that gives Lee all the credit: it's Lost Cause myth-makers who unfortunately captured public consciousness. But real historians know that Lee could only win on home ground against incompetent Union generals and made tactical blunders before Gettysburg already. Worse, Lee is also responsible for strategic mistakes, too. Some apologists posit the false dichotomy that the South's choices were between losing a defensive war of attrition and winning the war with a quick battlefield victory. But this ignores the advantage of the defensive side that can inflict much greater losses on the attacking side, and more importantly, ignores Jefferson Davis's original strategy, which was to fight a defensive war until Northern public opinion sours on the war and stops the superior Union forces from behind. Lee's failed attempts at winning a decisive battle killed off his forces much faster than a defensive war would have (in fact he lost more troops than Grant even numerically, not to mention percentage-wise). Worse, Lee had great influence on Davis but little understanding of multi-theatre operations. It is a little-known fact that the double defeat in the Battle of Chattanooga and the Knoxvile Campaign were actually Lee's fault: he thought Longstreet was done in the west by helping the Chickamauga victory and should get back to Virginia, dealing with Knoxville on the way, a strategy passed down to Braxton Bragg by Davis - thereby splitting one large army into two smaller ones both facing numerically superior opponents.
apparently sir general lee what not at his best because he was having heart problems which led him to make the wrong decisions because his mind was not at its best in those crucial moments.
Ive read many of the comments below and am impressed with the respect, knowledge and thoughtfulness of most. Thank you. As for me, my late grandfather, Willard M. Wallace, PhD, Prof of History at Wesleyan Univ in CT wrote...The Soul of the Lion...a biography of J.L. Chamberlain. So, I grew up visiting battlefields... incl Gettysburg. That noted, I dont recall Gramps ever criticizing Lee or Longstreet. I suspect the following variables formed Lee's decision to attack rather than re-deploy: 1.Until that battle, Lee's Army had never been defeated. 2. Lee knew he had no consistent supply train of weaponry and other necessities 3. Lee knew that if the battle was won Lincoln was likely to sign a peace treaty with Jefferson Davis. 4. Lee could not have known that a 'Tipping Point' had been reached within the Union Army. What had once been a group of poorly trained and resentful soldiers - had evolved into and extremely effective fighting force comparable to his own. Ground troops had become more experienced and Commanders, like Hancock + Chamberlain had risen to positions where they could make a difference. 5. Lee knew General Meade - and based on that understanding - he made a calculated decision: Meade would be cautious (which in fact he was - as demonstrated by Meade's choice not to pursue Lee after Pickets charge). 6. Lee probably should have listened to Longstreet... but it was Lee who was dealing with pressure from Jefferson Davis and ultimately I suspect Lee believed fate was on his side. 7. And of course there were other variables involved... The absence of Jeb Stuart's Calvary, Longstreet's potentially purposeful delay to attack... and so many more... Some we know and others we don't. Ultimately the battle was incredibly tragic and I am always haunted yet amazed by the bravery and commitment of the soldiers on both sides.
The thing that hurts about Franklin two days before I believe they had the Union Army trapped by a river and Forrest was watching not to let them move overnight. Hood stupidly moved Forrest after promising to keep the Union Army trapped. Before he made a order he fell asleep and then the Union Army marched right by Hood when Forrest moved during the night. The two Armys were so close to each other some Union soldiers were taken prisoner because they walked up to Confederate fires lighting their pipe and cigars. The next day Forrest told Hood if you weren't only a half a man I would beat the life out of you or something like that. Hood order them like you said over two miles of open ground against heavily fortified defenses. It was worse than Pickett's Charge.
@Old Corps Marine the irony you morons is in people making the mistake same with waterloo,s charge of the scots greys and balaclavas charge of the light brigade!!!!! 1815 was WAY MORE catastrophic yet balaclava is way more famous!!!! that IS ironic!!!!!
Did the outcome of events at Franklin have a similar level of strategic impact as Gettysburg? My understanding is that the outcome of the war was determined after G-Burg since Grant tore it up in the west, the Europeans decided not to intervene, and everything after that was the South delaying the inevitable.
This is what I call one damn fine movie. More Americans should watch this movie to get some Idea what it took to create our unusual Nation which is made up of so many immigrants from so many different countries. May GOD protect our Nation and keep it safe from those who would destroy it.
Weird that there are no statues of Longstreet. Almost like the statues are less about remembering the war and more about remembering racists who DIDN'T go against white supremacists after the war. No, there's no risk of their names dying. No one forgets the Benedict Arnolds of hisotyr.
I like how Longstreet just throws his cigar and tears off his glove in frustration at the beginning. Like "man I gotta go brief this attack that ain't gonna work...this is some buuulshit."
Note: Lee was in poor health at Gettysburg, and it may have affected his judgment. He had suffered a heart attack earlier, and probably should have stepped aside for awhile.
Additional note: Lee died of heart failure in 1870. He may have had a history of high blood pressure and cholesterol issues that were not understood back then. Anyone who has those problems now will understand how they can affect you.
There is a good amount of speculation that he might have suffered a light stroke immediately before Gettysburg. We do know that he seriously tried to resign his commission in the aftermath of Gettysburg.
In the months before Gettysburg, Lee repeatedly wrote Confederate President Jefferson Davis that, in his opinion, due to the growing disparity between the Confederacy's dwindling ability to re-supply its men and the Union's growing ability to do so,
"military victory" against the North was "no longer possible". The only hope he wrote was a Great Propaganda Victory. "If I can whip the North on its own soil, the Northern Peace Party would demand settlement on terms favorable to the Confederacy." "Under these circumstances, we should neglect no honorable means of dividing and weakening our enemies." wrote Lee to Davis. "We must give all the encouragement we can, consistently with the truth, to the rising peace party of the North." The obvious problem with that was that half of the "Peace Party" wanted the southern states to return the Union. To this, Lee wrote to Davis saying the South should not make "nice distinctions." "When peace is proposed to us it will be time enough to discuss its terms." Lee's plans for that Propaganda victory "on Northern soil" were completed by June 1863 and on the 3rd of June, Lee began to move his Army northward into Union territory. The War, the Confederates though in 1861, would not last more than a year, as such, they did not save up stores for a prolonged conflict and it had been showing since early 1862. Lee was constantly dealing with shortages of supplies and food and men. In March of 1862, less than a year since the war began, Lee wrote James Seddon, the Secretary of War "Let the State authorities take the matter in hand, and see that no man able to bear arms be allowed to evade his duty." "Let every effort be made, every means be employed, to fill and maintain the ranks of our armies, until God, in His mercy, shall bless us with the establishment of our independence." Whatever you may think of Lee, he endured the same sufferings as his men. He refused luxuries and ate nearly as little as his men did. While his tent was an ordinary Offices tent, drafty and wet. As he had to few men to grant furloughs to his Army, he never took one. He even refused a new uniform, even the new sash his wife sent him. "My old blue will serve me yet awhile." he wrote back to his wife Mary. Lee did not believe that he would survive the war, and he did not want the papers saying he was found dead in a high style. He was he said, "just a soldier". He would lead by example, and in response, Mary, like her husband, did as well. By late March 1862, Lee was almost yelling in his letters to Seddon. "My soldier's daily ration is only 18 ounces of flour, 4 ounces of bacon, of indifferent quality, with occasionally supplies of rice, sugar, or molasses." Scurvy had become a problem as well and there was no medicine nor lemons to combat it. Scrounging for food was the Army's #1 activity and there was never enough food when they could find it. The north, on the other hand, suffered a wealth of supplies. The North had fully reordered its great manufacturing sectors to supplying war goods, so the Union's soldiers had an embarrassment of riches. So much so that soldiers literally toss away any weight that they did not think was absolutely essential. Come the Spring, Winter coats littered the roadsides on which they marched. They knew come the fall they would get new ones. Fry pans, tin plates? "Away with you." They used their canteen halves for pan and plate. This while some Confederate soldiers were without boots. In the Western Theatre, which did not get the attention of the treasury that Lee's forces did, it was even worse. Some Southern soldiers in the Army of Tennessee were fighting with old-style Flintlocks rather than modern percussion cap rifles. These were useless when it rained as the pan got wet and soaked their powder. More important to the Army itself was, Lee could see that his army was growing smaller while the North's army was growing larger. As he laid out his plans for his second invasion of the North, Lee knew he would never be able to front an army of this size again, while the North would never have an army this small again. This whipping on Northern soil he knew he needed to inflict, was going to be the last truly large fighting force Lee would ever have. 176 cannon were gathered up by Lee. When they opened up on the center of the Union line on July 3rd (day 3, Pickets charge), it was the largest artillery barrage of the war. But a shortage of powder and cannonball helped to defeat its intended effect. That, and the Devil's own idea that came to General Hunt, head of the Union's Artillery. Generals Meade and Hunt suspected the attack on the center after the failed attacks on the flanks on day 2. Gen. Hunt, clever devil that he was, ordered his cannon to remain silent for the first 15 minutes of the barrage. Then he only ordered a third of his guns to fire back. This lead Lee into thinking that his artillery barrage had knocked out the majority of Hunt's guns. It was a brilliant feint which had the proper effect upon Lee's mind. Thinking that most of the Union's guns were destroyed Lee ordered Picket's men forward. As we know, most of the Confederate's men never got close to the Union’s lines that afternoon. Only at the bend in the Union's line known as "The Angle", did Gen Armistead's Corps engage the Union at close-quarters fighting, but Northern re-enforcements quickly arrived. Seconds after Armistead ordered his men to turn the union cannon, they had just taken, around to use on the Union itself, he was to find that they were all empty. All the canister shot had already been fired into his men.
Of the first volley fired by the newly arrived Union re-enforcements to The Angle, three musket balls found the General's chest and Armistead fell dead and with him the dreams of the Confederacy. The War was now effectively over. It was only a matter of the South facing up to the fact. Many, including myself, would say the turning point, the beginning of the end, occurred the previous spring of 1862 at Malvern Hill on July 1st, the last day of the Seven Days Campaign. Lee began the battle with 52,000 men but left more than 22,000 dead on the battlefield when it was over. Southern newspapers shocked at the number of the dead called Lee a "butcher" and "incompetent". So did General Hill, who lost his entire Corps that day, just as Picket will in a years time at Gettysburg lose his Division. Both Generals died hating R.E. Lee. Of the Battle, which Gen. Hill had forcefully urged Lee not to make, Gen. Hill publicly called it not war but "murder". Lee's failure at Gettysburg was in part a well-played feint by Gen. Hunt, but regardless, this battle Lee knew, was the last hope. He had to attack. Too many men had already died, men, he knew he would never replace. Lee's back was against the wall, Lee had to fight, so, he gambled, and lost.
"Longstreet could not sit down. He disliked getting the old man up: Lee had not been well. But you could lose the war up here. Should have gone to Vicksburg. News from there very bad. It will fall, and after that...we must win here if we are to win at all, and we must do it soon."--The Killer Angels
Anyone notice how Pickett just saluted Longstreet as opposed to telling him it was an honor serving under him and shaking his hand as the other too did?
The slow salute in military tradition has the same basic meaning as the hand shake and telling him it's an honor. If this scene is historically correct Pickett was not being disrespectful.
When the Confederates got hit with artillery and a giant musket volley the Union soldiers said that they heard a huge moan come from the Confederates. One Union soldier likened it to a giant animal getting inflicted with grievous wounds and letting out a groan with each hit. I have nothing but admiration and respect for these soldiers, both sides and how they always went forward-sometimes multiple times.
Therein lies the problem. You recognize martial courage. A dog has that. You don't recognize the much harder standard of moral courage. And these men wished to perpetuate the enslavement of Americans -- your countrymen -- so that they might be beaten, have their children sold, and freely raped without recourse. Aside from human decency, consider prioritizing the basic human rights of your fellow citizens. Some call it 'patriotism'.
@@i.m.9918 Oh stop. Do you really think 250,000 died to perpetuate slavery? They felt their homeland was being invaded and went to defend it. The Southern aristocracy (the top 2%) were the ones that started the war and wanted to keep slavery intact. (Along with many Northern Democrats.)
After missing so many opportunities in so many battles, Pickett was probably thinking to himself, "Yahoo! We're finally getting in the fight!" It was probably best that he didn't know then what he knew later that afternoon...
scott goodman he was a division commander. They were to lead from the rear. And even then Pickett came under fire from where he was leading from that day. He was no coward. In a previous battle he was from his horse. Got up and and continued to lead, walking his horse infront of his men
@@scottgoodman4776 as a division commander he was not supposed to be in the front like Hancock or Reynolds (mind, they were defending) but in the real battle he also had to run for cover as the Union artillery managed to reach his position, leading him to walk through columns of smoke. His desperation in the movie scene was made worse in real life by the smoke obscuring his vision and the general disarray of the line after reaching Union musket range and the Emmetsburg fence
@@scottgoodman4776 Pickett gained glory by being the first over the wall at Chipultipec (sp?) during the Mexican War. He was wounded during the Peninsula Campaign (not sure which battle) and missed the 2nd Manassas-Antietam campaign and Fredricksburg. He was in NC on a foraging expedition with Longstreet during Chancellorsville. He was doing what he was supposed to be doing on Day 3. He was no coward.
next scene with Harrison: "You know what's gonna happen ?, I'll tell you whats gonna happen..." Tried to to talk Harrison out of joining the charge. Longstreet could see the end result of the charge, BEFORE the charge, just like Buford could envision the taking of the "Round Tops", if he didn't intervene.
this was a great film,I saw it on the big screen,didn't care much for the sequel Gods & Generals... the most heartrending scene was the battle of Little Round Top,whew... most of the actual generals on both sides were fairly young,l wish they had used some younger actors... loved the Longstreet portrayal,although l kept staring at those false beards... Lee should have listened to his Old War Horse and headed toward DC but being a person of color,I'm obviously glad they lost...
I agree. Gettysburg was much better than Gods and Generals and what got me the most was using Stephan Lang as Gen. Pickett in Gettysburg and then cast him as Gen. Stonewall Jackson’ in G & G. Lol
being whit i agree. grant died in wilton ny 50 miles from my home of watervliet ny, the arsenal. grant rought with the aggressive spirit of donald trump. lee is biden, a loser. btw, i am white
Do plan it well I pray you Sir. Thing is, if Longstreet would of planned it completely, the attack would of never takemln place. He knew it was a huge mistake.
Actually they had good reason to suspect the Union line of being weak in the center. Previous attacks on the flanks had required the Union to renforce using troops from the center of the line. Lee's assessment that they had to be weak in the center as a result of previous attacks has merit, in fact the center had been filled in with previously engaged units that had been somewhat depleted, but the Union still had artillery in the center- which was not taken out by Confederate shelling as the plan called for- and the center had been firmed up enough to hold. It was a near thing anyhow. The Confederates got to the wall, but not beyond it.
The annals of war may long be searched for a parallel to the desperate valor of the charge of the Army of Tennessee at Franklin, a charge which has been called "the greatest drama in American history." Perhaps its only rival for macabre distinction would be Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. A comparison of the two may be of interest. Pickett's total loss at Gettysburg was 1,354; at Franklin the Army of Tennessee lost over 6,000 dead and wounded. Pickett's charge was made after a volcanic artillery preparation of two hours had battered the defending line. Hood's army charged without any preparation. Pickett's charge was across an open space of perhaps a mile. The advance at Franklin was for two miles in the open, in full view of the enemy's works, and exposed to their fire. The defenders at Gettysburg were protected only by a stone wall. Schofield's men at Franklin had carefully constructed works, with trench and parapet. Pickett's charge was totally repulsed. The charge of Brown and Cleburne penetrated deep into the breastworks, to part of which they clung until the enemy retired. Pickett, once repelled, retired from the field. The Army of Tennessee renewed their charge, time after time. Pickett survived his charge unscathed. Cleburne was killed, and eleven other general officers were killed, wounded or captured. "Pickett's charge at Gettysburg" has come to be a synonym for unflinching courage in the raw. The slaughter-pen at Franklin even more deserves the gory honor. Stanley F. Horn, The Army of Tennessee
jacktheripoff1888 I guess Lee felt like he could not pass up the opportunity to win the war at Gettysburg, but the Confederacy also could really afford to absorb the catastrophic death toll of the battle, since they were already badly outnumbered.
so, when the Union would attack en masse and get their asses handed to them it was crappy leadership, but when the Confederacy did something stupid and were mauled by the (mercenary immigrant) army of Northern Aggression it was incredible valor and self-sacrifice?
And that's why I argue the two toughest armies were IN NO ORDER: The Union's Army of the Potomac, and the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee, for the same reasons: very few victories, hard luck, army leadership not worthy of the men they led, yet neither army ever fought as if they were losing ( and the AoP had some REALLY bad leaders). Those men make me want to live up their level of conduct when life gets me down.
Johnson Pettigrew would be wounded in the stomach as a part of the rear guard at Falling Waters on July 14 and die the next day. He had been wounded in the hand on July 3 but not seriously. Like John Gordon, another non-West Pointer, he likely would've been promoted to a higher command soon after Gettysburg.
It was more or less Lee's idea to invade north. He knew how close he came in '62 to inflicting a humiliating defeat on the North and he wanted badly to do it right. There were many who argued that if he did so, they would be surrendering the Western Confederacy as they would be unable to properly defend Vicksburg or the lower Mississippi River from the Yankee's. Davis essentially sacrificed the West, and Vicksburg, hoping Lee was right and would win a spectacular victory for them. As it fate would have it, this was not to be.
blame it on those blasted fences!! and the csa artillery running out of shells and canon balls!! as well as the csa cavalry delay of the rear attack on the union lines!!
"Gentlemen, you will never make it to that clump of trees. Instead, you will catch your lunch, because this attack, into the open, against a well fortified and concealed enemy will fail simply because of the lunacy contrived from the start."
When you see these historical reenactments and listen to how eloquent and dignified their speech and manner were, the bravery shown by those in charge who led their men into that bullet riddled hell instead of hiding behind rank and privilege.....its truly sad how far we have fallen
Every man featured in this video gave their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to a cause whose "cornerstone rests on the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man" in the words of Vice President Alexander Stevens.
Stuart not being there on day 1 and giving Lee intelligence on the Yankees really hurt them and thanks to Lee's quick thinking they won day 1 which made him Overconfident and without intelligence greatly underestimated the union forces. Longstreet also knew most of the union generals like Hancock and such and knew there tactics and skill. Lee also thought that his troops with such a high motivating could overcome the unions superior forces. Longstreet warned that the union artillery and plenty of it plus all the confederate artillery overshot its mark thereby not helping the charge.
He didn’t win day one Bufords Brigade and Reeds division simply fought a delaying action to deny Lee The high ground. They knew they could not hold off Indefinitely. Buford achieved his objective in forcing Lee to fight on unfavourable conditions as was proved on day 1 and day 2.
Yes Longstreet had his reservations. His experience showed him it would be a tough go and lose a lot of men . I don’t believe that he thought it would fail for sure . How would he know the the artillery would not drive the union troops away . They did not let him down in the past .
Longstreet was Lee's right hand man. 4 months later, detached from Lee and after the battle of Chickamauga,, he failed to "retake" Knoxville for the card. He lost 800 men in only 20 minutes at Fort Sanders. 🇺🇸
Even a lance Corporal would not take his section a mile up hill towards enemy troops "dug in" and vastly out numbering the assaulting force . What was General LEE thinking ?
I think he wanted something to show after two days in Yankee Pennsylvania without accomplishing much. It is the most atypical command decision the cautious commander ever made. Frustration?
But what should they do? Longstreet told his opinion to Lee and as we know the attack failed as Longstreet predicted. I saw the plan of the attack and battlefield many times. I think that if Pickett's division tried to attack on center as Lee wanted but just for a short time and the rest (mainly Pettigrew's and Trimble's brigades) went around to Cemetery ridge to the left flank of the the Union they should break it. Federals should have deploy their reserves from the center on the left flank and Pickett's division could have a chance to split federal forces. This could happen if Stuart didn't f*ck it up in recon.
Trimble was all for an attack on the first day, yelling at Lee for Ewell's failure to take the hill. Now he is trying to take a hill . Pettigrew also felt the attack was going to fail, but also thought they had to do it.
The confederate artillery bombardment was nearly a complete failure . Due to the inability determine it's effectiveness & the faulty fuses of the confederates artillery ammunition . There had been an explosion at the Richmond armory prior to the Gettysburg campaign , so artillery ammunition was shipped in from different armories in the south . After the confederate army returned to Virginia , Lee had the ammo tested . The fused ammunition set to explode at 4 seconds didn't ignite for a full second further than it was supposed to & many shells didn't ignite at all .
Very true. From the problem with the new fuses to the lack of registration of the artillery to the inadequate amount of ammo necessary to support the charge, the handling of the Confederate artillery was a cluster fu-k.
Maybe they should have used the artillery as cover for the advancing troops rather than sending over the troops across open ground after all the cannons were fired
Most certainly I'm not sure how "brave " I'd be walking in a column of men side by side of guys dropping left and right, I think I'd just fall and spare my life!
One reason for the Gettysburg campaign was to get the Union army out of Virginia so the Virginia farmers could work in peace. June and July is when corn was harvested.
The South had to take risks to have any chance at prevailing in this war, they had to gamble. At Chancellorsville 3 months earlier a similar gamble paid off. At Gettysburg a greater gamble did not. It's a shame brave men had to die like that, but you can understand how Lee felt he desperately needed to do something to turn the tide of the war-to force the Union to recognize the cost was going to be greater than they were willing to endure.
When I was in the Army I was an MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) Crewmember and later on I was a gunner in one of those vehicles and I could have wiped out every single Confederate soldier on Seminary Ridge, BEFORE the charge even started, with one flick of a switch, and do it from 25 miles away, 12 rockets, thousands of grenade sized bomblets falling all over and exploding, and within a minute it's over, just proves the devastating advances in weaponry over the past 150+ years where a three man crew and one vehicle dozens of miles away could have killed all 15,000 Confederates forming up for that charge.
@@broe6570 Oh we have a "Lost Causer" here...sure the U.S. needed slavery to survive right?....your racist, regressive Confederacy LOST...so get over it.
Edelman enhances that moment with a perfect arrangement. Were I to quote this Longstreet address (2:28) suddenly at Thanksgiving to my four sons, it would probably not impress them.
Big factor for the South that was even if they had taken the line, what would that have really accomplished? Every battle where the losses were similar on both sides only whittled down the South's forces while the North could replenish. Grant understood this.
Love Pickett holding those flowers so tightly. Speaks so much of his character. Than towards the end of his *Charge on day three he's holding "his glasses" next to some blooming Tail Thistle. This movie was done with so much care.
If I was Longstreet I would of resigned from my command on the spot right in front of Lee rather than lead some half baked attack knowing it was doomed since it's inception.
Sending all these soldiers over an open field facing rifled muskets and artillery was hopeless and a huge waste of men. After this Lee lost all chances of southern independence.
The judgement on this attack is based on the outcome....the plan was not a bad one. But the artillery overshot and Stuart's cavalry could not break through and the attacks on the flanks were not pressed hard enough to keep the center from being reinforced...
The South should have stayed in Virginia and just wore out the Union. Going to the North and then charging Union lines seems like the south forgot the massive Union losses at Fredericksburg
Gettysburg was an unfortunate battle and not the battle he had originally plan. If only he had better intelligence and Stonewall. He would have known to push for Harrisburg, Ewell was within a day’s march of Harrisburg and could have burn the city. Stonewall was missed most certainly. If Jackson had been there on the 1st day Cemetery Ridge and Culps Hill would have been taken and Lee would have the high ground. The relationship between Lee and Jackson was pivotal to the success of the Army of Northern Virginia. Having a subordinate who is in tune with you is extremely important. “With Jackson no detailed orders were required. Just the mere suggestion was enough”.- R.E.Lee
Clifton Hall Stonewall also had the advantage of fighting against Union armies with very poor leadership. Hancock, Reynolds, even Meade were much better than who Jackson had faced. Jackson's tactics would have played into Grants hands.
The South was in an unenviable position --- which they did not appreciate at the time, only in retrospect: they had to do everything perfectly in order to win. The North could make horrendous blunders (Fredricksburg and Cold Harbor) and still recover. The biggest blunder was those orders wrapped around the cigars. After Antietam, it was just a matter of time before Lee would have to meet Grant at Appomattox Court House with the words, ""There is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths."
The South's only hope was to win a short and quick war. They lacked the industries and population required to rage war. Lee feared that the longer the war went on, the odds of a northern victory increased, and that's exactly what happened.
The Ken Burns civil war documentary claims that everyone who heard about the attack knew it was a disaster, with the possible exception of Pickett, who was raring to fight. The bit at the end where the others tell Longstreet it's been an honor to serve with him possibly hints at this, with both generals realizing they're probably going to die in this charge.
Shelby Foote noted that Gettysburg was the price the South paid for Lee. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery surveyed the field with Eisenhower and marveled that Lee was not sacked afterward. But Davis knew they had no one else. After Fredericksburg it is pretty boggling to think Lee ordered that charge onto the teeth of entrenched troops and artillery. Maybe he was ill. But more probably he thought his troops could do anything even if it were impossible. He was wrong.
The left obliques fooled no one. The Vermont and Ohio infantry regiments easily flanked the attack. Longstreet should have maintained a line formation but that is not what Lee wanted. You never should break into a column assault in the face of heavy artillery and musket.
Jackson was certainly a great general. Would his presence have assured victory a Gettysbug? I don't think so. His presence at Antietam did not prevent a Confederate loss. In the Peninsular Campaign it was not Jackson or Lee who brought about the Confederate victory but the indecision of McClellan. I don't see what difference his presence would have made little difference in the Wilderness or at Spottsylvania both of which could be regarded as Confederate victories. Certainly Cold Harbor was. Grant knew what he had to do and he had the resources to do it. Once he took command and gave the Western command to Sherman the Confederacy was doomed. But who knows? You may be right.
its just, I'm a southerner, he is like the Caesar of the South, its a moral thing, while he did lose quite a bit he was the Stonewall, I mean just "Caesar, Caesar, Jackson, Jackson" he was Lee right hand, and I just see him as being to next in line to take off, my main reason for think stonewall would have helped with a confederate victory was he would've urged Lee to redeploy south, which I mean I have over 1000 hours on Total War: Empire, Redeploying to more friendly terrain is only a bad idea if Reinforcements are coming, and if you cannot hold those reinforcements in the entrenched area you are retreating to. id like to be a general, sadly I like toilets, and showers
Well, to keep our eye "retroactively" on the ball, let's be happy that the South lost the Civil War, just as we're supposedly pleased that the Nazis lost WWII.
Do you think Lee would have listened to Stonewall and disengaged and redeployed? Lee almost seemed like he just kept hearing Father Time in his ear saying, 'we have to end this quickly.'
Longstreet had a good plan, if the Northern army had just cooperated. (rather than allowing themselves to be drawn out & thinned, they curled into a fish-hook which the Confederates were unable to break)
Lee was a great commander, but in Gettysburg he was achingly subpar. Meade, usually a so-and-so commander, literally slapped Lee silly. Lee cornered himself in a hopeless situation without any viable option other than attacking the center ... exactly what Meade knew was going to happen. Longstreet knew they were going to be massacred because Lee’s tactical blunders.
Pettigrew would survive the assault, only to die days later during a rear guard action as the Confederate Army retreated. Trimble would be wounded, lose a leg and be captured by the Union Army. Pickett would never really recover from the terrible damage that was done to his division and would bitterly blame Lee in later years.
You probably wouldn't see many. There'd be a handful at the wall (remember they're nearly a mile from CSA lines smack in the middle of their own lines) and others would be seeking what shade and rest they could.
I’m not a military scholar by any means nor do I know the accuracy of this scene...but he said when the bombardment is complete then he will give the order for the troops to march in....wouldn’t it have been more practical and effective to actively bombard the union position while the infantry were making their way toward the objective??? I know they can’t fire the entire time they are making the approach, but the march was over a mile of open ground and at a certain point it would have been safe for the reb artillery to fire over pickets division as well as the other brigades involved in the charge.
There was a problem with the supply of ammo to support the attack. Longstreet learned of this only seconds before Pickett started forward and too late to delay the charge. The handling of the artillery the whole day was disastrous.
It is so easy to speculate that after the fact, on what should have been done on behalf of the Confederate Army. The Union Army however, at the time, must have known what to do in winning the war.
It simply makes no sense to me. Longstreet plans this attack such that it is sure to fail. Napoleon would have deployed a narrow column behind the grand battery (the massive amounts of smoke would help hide the column). It seems like Longstreet basically spreads all three divisions into a mile long row , perform a series of obliques to converge on a single point - this an insane idea. Its the exact opposite of how a column de attaque' should be deployed behind the grand battery; the column should spread out at the last minute to prevent flanking maneuvers, repositioning of artillery , etc. , then should transition into a suitable formation that will weaken and eventually break the enemy line. Perhaps this is why Longstreet was at the bottom of his west point class. He either put zero effort into planning this attack or intentionally deployed his men such that they would be annihilated as a passive aggressive form of insubordination (I hope it is not the latter) ; Either way this suicidal attack .... it is unforgivable.
Weird!..Longstreet was so disenchanted with the plan that he could not bring himself to give the order, but put his artillery commander Porter Alexander in charge to give the order,
"All the men who have died in the past are with you... and... you'll probably be joining with them soon."
Very difficult situation for Longstreet having to plan an attack he knew would fail. And ultimately the South would blame him rather than Lee.
A lot of that was Jeb Stuart and Bill Pendleton, bunch of douche bags.
@@pittland44 Stuart tried to follow Lee's orders. Lee's orders were contradictory.
@@manilajohn0182 Ah my mistake, I was thinking of Jubal Early rather than Jeb Stuart. Stuart was a dumbass but Early was clearly incompetent.
@@pittland44 Don't know about the dumbass part, but Stuart could be impulsive. Don't know that Early was incompetent, but he definitely had no problem with lying to trash someone else.
@@manilajohn0182 I can agree with label of impulsive about Stuart. Early had the very bad habit of showing up 45 minutes to an hour after the fight started (that happened a bunch during the Shenandoah and Petersburg campaigns). It got to be so common that the chant by the Union army was "Early was Late" and Sheridan nicknamed him "Late Early."
"Alrighty, gather around and listen, while I lay out certain doom with low possibility of survival"
@ny_kia31 - Accurate.
These were scholarly and intelligent men with combat experience. They could see how far the march would be, and knew how much fire they would be receiving. It makes their dutiful and courteous responses all that much more remarkable.
"What are we waiting for?" -Gimli
It was agony for Gen Longstreet. His assessment of the attack was accurate due to his experience in previous battles facing less than incompetent enemy commanders..... he pretty much knew this would end with the same devastation the union forces experienced at places like Fredericksburg.
Longstreet had already debated again and again for a change of action. But it was Lee's orders to push forward.
"All the men who have died in the past are with you here today" powerful stuff.
All the patriots who have died for our country since 1776 were with us on Nov. 3, 2020, & we let them down because we didn't have their guts & patriotism.
@@WG-tt6hk have faith, Rudy and Sidney are gathering evidence right now that when released will be BIBLICAL.
"And, very soon, you will be with them!'
@@WG-tt6hk - You let them down because you were stupid enough to fall for a conman. Well done. And still waiting Rudy and Sidney to come up with that evidence! Only been a year!
@@stevent9179 How’s that going???
Longstreet knew it was never gonna work. He tried desperately to tell Lee to call it off.
most important battle and barely 5 hours of planning
tbh not sure if Lee wins it makes a difference. Vicksburg was the political military key event. Whooping the Army of the Potomac was not going to change that
@@kevinbrown4073 yes Vicksburg was thr nail in the coffin
@@kevinbrown4073 yep jeb Stuart screwed it all up
@@kevinpiacente3456 Someone has to catch all the blame. Try Lee
And as Longstreet said. the fate of the country was decided, in favor of the union.
And the right decision was definitely made there
@@DialgaMarine3 depends of course what side you were on and how u look at the results of the Civil War
Martin Sheen as Lee says they will continue to get more of everything and Richmond has nothing more to send us.
He was correct.
Alright boys gather around so I can explain why you won’t have any men after this charge smh
The U.S.A. didn't kill enough of the treasonous scum.
Our founding fathers were treasonous, dumbass.
@@tobystephens5499 True... but were they right? They WERE treasonous scum. Better if we'd been part of the British Empire until, at least, the 1830s/40s.
Such a crucial moment for the four, just assuming a great cost in their men's blood, was coming very soon, here receiving that plan. Their sincere expressions of respect so appropriate and nicely done.
If you walk the battleground, you find that the land has dips and rills in it as it crosses toward the Union line. This made the Heads of the Confederates rise up as they climbed each rill, giving the Union artillery and soldiers targets to bear on before the Confederates could come up enough to use their muskets, then they would dip down again, the Union would reload, and then repeat the process. The terrain repeats this pattern over the entire distance of the charge.
It's said General Henry Hunt, the Army of the Potomac's excellent artillery chief literally leapt with joy when he observed the Confederates coming out of the trees in a continuous frontal attack line. It was an artillerist's dream target come true but an absolute worst nightmare for the Confederate infantry. Hunt had wisely compromised Hancock's order for Union artillery to fire back at Confederate batteries during the barrage (Hancock felt it helped his troops' morale) and had ordered his gunners to gradually phase back their firing to conserve ammunition. It also gave the Confederates the false impression that they were knocking out batteries and lured them out into the attack. I couldn't imagine the unparalleled scenes of carnage solid shot and canister at close range did to tightly packed groups of men.
@@tomservo5347 The major factor was the fact that smoke from the explosion of Confederate shells blew back toward their line, which obscured observation of any actual effect. The shells did not land on target and fell behind the Union line and not in their artillery, which did not drive anyone off. Once the Confederates ( who were low on shells ) expended all their ammunition, they could no longer respond with artillery.
The Union wouldn't be using muskets until the last 250 meters of the charge. The Union artillery could have targeted the charge accurately because of the openness of the terrain and volume of southern troops. Hunt was a great artillerist.
The fence didn't help the Southerners either.
This must have been the most difficult order Longstreet ever gave. A brave officer.
Pettigrew was played by George Lazenby.......he was James Bond in "Her Majesty's Secret Service."
And Longstreet was played by Tom Berenger who was Jack Landsford in "Sliver"
Lazenby was an excellent Bond and OHMSS is my favorite 007 flick.
I love the way they talk. That whole "southern gentleman" thing lol.
Yeah .... Phonies!
I have a cunning plan: They will never expect a frontal assault through the minefield!
General Meade was the first Union general to anticipate General Lee's tactics including direction and targeted position. General Meade conducted his army with great tactical skill which resulted in a decisive victory at Gettysburg.
@@karlk9316 No General Meade was slow and cautious vs the superior generals of the C.S.A. All Meade did was "turtle up" defensively. He didn't even go after Lee after Pickett's charge.
BryGuy Says why would he have to? He broke them and gave them massive amounts of casualties all the union had to do was play the waiting game as Ulysses was sieging Vicksburg and they would basically win if they just waited
Well Lee could have concentrated an attack on the Union army's right or left flank. In a way it was like a game of "Paper-Rock-Scissors" (or rather "Right-Center-Left") for both sides guessing where to attack/reinforce for Day 3.
I'm glad the South lost, but my heart breaks for people like Longstreet who knew they were sending thousands of men to their death, needlessly...
Lee said to be a leader you have to be ready to order the death of the thing you love. He was referring to the Men they lead. Lee thought they were invisible because of the unbelievable Victories they had won with the odds against them. First thing he should have thought of looking at the stone wall and field was how they decimated Burnside on Mayres Heights at Fredericksburg. Lee was trying to make Gettysburg the last battle. He said looking at the carnage on Mayres Heights that it is a good thing war is so terrible or we would begin to like it. With all the great calls Lee made he will always be remembered for his bad choice.
There are times that a man must fight for what his heart and soul says. The South had been treated badly in the years leading up to the Civil War thus the South no longer wanted to be part of the USA. To the South, this war was our second war of Independence. President Lincoln sent 75,000 Union troops to invade the South to force the South to remain in the Union. The South was battling an invading Army. The South just wanted their own country.
@tribefan9112003 - I'm right there with you.
@@marine763 Pure nonsense, they should have been treated bad because they enslaved other human beings or is that conveniently forgotten. Please spare that BS about States Rights because EVERY CONFEDERATE STATE mentioned slavery as their cause for secession. Do not revise history, no obscure articles, passages, nuances or passing thoughts. They should have been treated like treasonous people, there is no excuse for slavery. When you address how they thought that kidnapping, torturing, murdering, enslaving other sentient beings was somehow noble, I wish they had lost every battle in every theater.
@@Cuffski That's not entirely true K.A Williams. Four States mentioned nothing at all about slavery. North Carolina soundly defeated pro-secession candidates for years. The tipping point was when Lincoln raised the 75,000 troops, which caused Virginia to secede. North Carolina at that point had very little choice since it was surrounded. That is one reason Sherman is not looked upon as Hitler in North Carolina. He took greater pity on the local population vs South Carolina and Georgia, which both mentioned slavery in detail in their secession articles. Both Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee were very much against secession and fielded several companies that fought for the north.
I'm not trying to defend the south. Clearly the south believed in slavery and I for one cannot phantom how my ancestors could even begin to imagine that it was okay to enslave another person and to rip families apart. But Lincoln and the North are not the good guys. I totally believe they fought to preserve the union, not end to slavery. Look at Sheridan's view on slavery, his views were worse then say Stonewall Jackson. And Lincoln was an idiot. Appointing incompetent generals and micro managing them. The better choice instead of invading the south would have been to deploy Anaconda at it full intent, and solicit other countries to embargo. Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee would probably have not seceded and it would have brought the south to its knees and saved 800,000 lives
“This is the Yankee Center.”
“What’s that?”
“That’s a rock.”
😂
"George Lazenby. Former model, actor and brief cultural icon"
"Yeah I know. They still talk about your reviews with reverence and awe. Your reputation as a flash in the pan has preceded you, sir. I hear you starred in and left an enduring film franchise."
"Well, it was only a minor work. If the general would care to view it."
" Yeah, sure."
"You may have a copy with my compliments. Lieutenant! Fetch me a copy of On Her Majesties Secr..."
"General my apologies but I do not believe I will have time to watch that today."
Gentlemen. Take a look at that small clump of trees over there..
Speaking as a fan of On Her Majesty's Secret Service I would have to agree.
General Pettigrew's last words: "Odd. This never happened to the other fellow."
@@Setebos I cried when Mrs. Peel got shot. Of course, I was 13 years old.
@@michaeltalley51 I was the same age and, frankly, I didn't feel too good about it myself.
Setebos OHMSS was supposed to be the first Bond film. I forget why they changed their minds.
Lee was an awesome general, right up until that 3rd day at Gettysburg.
His fortunes changed with the death of Gen. Jackson!
Lee was only as good as his subordinates. In his first command of the war in West Virginia, he lost to McClellan. Lee is overrated. History gives him all the credit but absolves him of almost all of his failures.
@@curtisshaw1370 It's not history that gives Lee all the credit: it's Lost Cause myth-makers who unfortunately captured public consciousness. But real historians know that Lee could only win on home ground against incompetent Union generals and made tactical blunders before Gettysburg already.
Worse, Lee is also responsible for strategic mistakes, too. Some apologists posit the false dichotomy that the South's choices were between losing a defensive war of attrition and winning the war with a quick battlefield victory. But this ignores the advantage of the defensive side that can inflict much greater losses on the attacking side, and more importantly, ignores Jefferson Davis's original strategy, which was to fight a defensive war until Northern public opinion sours on the war and stops the superior Union forces from behind. Lee's failed attempts at winning a decisive battle killed off his forces much faster than a defensive war would have (in fact he lost more troops than Grant even numerically, not to mention percentage-wise). Worse, Lee had great influence on Davis but little understanding of multi-theatre operations. It is a little-known fact that the double defeat in the Battle of Chattanooga and the Knoxvile Campaign were actually Lee's fault: he thought Longstreet was done in the west by helping the Chickamauga victory and should get back to Virginia, dealing with Knoxville on the way, a strategy passed down to Braxton Bragg by Davis - thereby splitting one large army into two smaller ones both facing numerically superior opponents.
He is overrated.
apparently sir general lee what not at his best because he was having heart problems which led him to make the wrong decisions because his mind was not at its best in those crucial moments.
Ive read many of the comments below and am impressed with the respect, knowledge and thoughtfulness of most. Thank you.
As for me, my late grandfather, Willard M. Wallace, PhD, Prof of History at Wesleyan Univ in CT wrote...The Soul of the Lion...a biography of J.L. Chamberlain. So, I grew up visiting battlefields... incl Gettysburg. That noted, I dont recall Gramps ever criticizing Lee or Longstreet. I suspect the following variables formed Lee's decision to attack rather than re-deploy:
1.Until that battle, Lee's Army had never been defeated.
2. Lee knew he had no consistent supply train of weaponry and other necessities
3. Lee knew that if the battle was won Lincoln was likely to sign a peace treaty with Jefferson Davis.
4. Lee could not have known that a 'Tipping Point' had been reached within the Union Army. What had once been a group of poorly trained and resentful soldiers - had evolved into and extremely effective fighting force comparable to his own. Ground troops had become more experienced and Commanders, like Hancock + Chamberlain had risen to positions where they could make a difference.
5. Lee knew General Meade - and based on that understanding - he made a calculated decision: Meade would be cautious (which in fact he was - as demonstrated by Meade's choice not to pursue Lee after Pickets charge).
6. Lee probably should have listened to Longstreet... but it was Lee who was dealing with pressure from Jefferson Davis and ultimately I suspect Lee believed fate was on his side.
7. And of course there were other variables involved... The absence of Jeb Stuart's Calvary, Longstreet's potentially purposeful delay to attack... and so many more... Some we know and others we don't. Ultimately the battle was incredibly tragic and I am always haunted yet amazed by the bravery and commitment of the soldiers on both sides.
Well said
Longstreet and Chamberlain. Both sides knew the Battle of Gettysburg was a critical battle in the Civil War.
Parallels of each other in a way
It's painful to see Longstreet's face when he knew it was bound to fail yet having to give the orders which he so whole heartedley did not.
Irony alert: Hood’s attack at Franklin was over longer ground, involved more men, and was even more catastrophic than Gettysburg.
Not to mention completely irrational. Hood was a fool to attack the Union positions.
Hood was at the battle of Gettysburg too lost the use of his arm. Wasn't ready for command.
The thing that hurts about Franklin two days before I believe they had the Union Army trapped by a river and Forrest was watching not to let them move overnight. Hood stupidly moved Forrest after promising to keep the Union Army trapped. Before he made a order he fell asleep and then the Union Army marched right by Hood when Forrest moved during the night. The two Armys were so close to each other some Union soldiers were taken prisoner because they walked up to Confederate fires lighting their pipe and cigars. The next day Forrest told Hood if you weren't only a half a man I would beat the life out of you or something like that. Hood order them like you said over two miles of open ground against heavily fortified defenses. It was worse than Pickett's Charge.
@Old Corps Marine the irony you morons is in people making the mistake same with waterloo,s charge of the scots greys and balaclavas charge of the light brigade!!!!! 1815 was WAY MORE catastrophic yet balaclava is way more famous!!!! that IS ironic!!!!!
Did the outcome of events at Franklin have a similar level of strategic impact as Gettysburg? My understanding is that the outcome of the war was determined after G-Burg since Grant tore it up in the west, the Europeans decided not to intervene, and everything after that was the South delaying the inevitable.
The language used in this is spot on accurate. Very well done.
I love this scene. All 6 pixels of it.
This is what I call one damn fine movie. More Americans should watch this movie to get some Idea what it took to create our unusual Nation which is made up of so many immigrants from so many different countries. May GOD protect our Nation and keep it safe from those who would destroy it.
General Pettigrew: "Would you like to know more about Spaniards in the summer of 1859?"
General Longstreet: "No."
You can tear down all of there statutes that you want. But you can't kill there names. God bless the Confederate generals
Douglas Arrington The Confederal veteran would cry if they knew what was going on today.
Weird that there are no statues of Longstreet. Almost like the statues are less about remembering the war and more about remembering racists who DIDN'T go against white supremacists after the war.
No, there's no risk of their names dying. No one forgets the Benedict Arnolds of hisotyr.
@@johnkloosterman6277 Yes there is a Longstreet statue at Gettysburg. It's kinda hidden and impossible to see from the road.
Johnson wants to hand out his book right before commanding a major battle lol
Sounds like something a slightly absent-minded intellectual might do.
I like how Longstreet just throws his cigar and tears off his glove in frustration at the beginning. Like "man I gotta go brief this attack that ain't gonna work...this is some buuulshit."
I’m happy the white supremacist morons all decided to die at once instead of spreading it around. It made that day a great day for humanity.
@@Melthornal That's horribly racist comment..
Joona Mikkonen No, white supremacists dying is not racist. I wish more of them would die at increasing frequency.
@@Melthornal You are the only supremacist here wishing certain people die, sir.
And your manners are utterly disgusting.
@@Melthornal F you.
Note: Lee was in poor health at Gettysburg, and it may have affected his judgment. He had suffered a heart attack earlier, and probably should have stepped aside for awhile.
Additional note: Lee died of heart failure in 1870. He may have had a history of high blood pressure and cholesterol issues that were not understood back then. Anyone who has those problems now will understand how they can affect you.
There is a good amount of speculation that he might have suffered a light stroke immediately before Gettysburg. We do know that he seriously tried to resign his commission in the aftermath of Gettysburg.
you know your stuff sir ! i read about his heart condition also. it was not good! few people know about this story!!
Also losing Jackson definitely took its toll. Ewell and Hill while they tried their best simply were not prepared for that kind of responsibility.
@@amadeusamwater And I'm sure stress caused by the war didn't help his blood pressure.
In the months before Gettysburg, Lee repeatedly wrote Confederate President Jefferson Davis that, in his opinion, due to the growing disparity between the Confederacy's dwindling ability to re-supply its men and the Union's growing ability to do so,
"military victory" against the North was
"no longer possible".
The only hope he wrote was a Great Propaganda Victory.
"If I can whip the North on its own soil, the Northern Peace Party would demand settlement on terms favorable to the Confederacy."
"Under these circumstances, we should neglect no honorable means of dividing and weakening our enemies." wrote Lee to Davis.
"We must give all the encouragement we can, consistently with the truth, to the rising peace party of the North."
The obvious problem with that was that half of the "Peace Party" wanted the southern states to return the Union. To this, Lee wrote to Davis saying the South should not make
"nice distinctions."
"When peace is proposed to us it will be time enough to discuss its terms."
Lee's plans for that Propaganda victory "on Northern soil" were completed by June 1863 and on the 3rd of June, Lee began to move his Army northward into Union territory.
The War, the Confederates though in 1861, would not last more than a year, as such, they did not save up stores for a prolonged conflict and it had been showing since early 1862.
Lee was constantly dealing with shortages of supplies and food and men. In March of 1862, less than a year since the war began, Lee wrote James Seddon, the Secretary of War
"Let the State authorities take the matter in hand, and see that no man able to bear arms be allowed to evade his duty."
"Let every effort be made, every means be employed, to fill and maintain the ranks of our armies, until God, in His mercy, shall bless us with the establishment of our independence."
Whatever you may think of Lee, he endured the same sufferings as his men. He refused luxuries and ate nearly as little as his men did. While his tent was an ordinary Offices tent, drafty and wet. As he had to few men to grant furloughs to his Army, he never took one. He even refused a new uniform, even the new sash his wife sent him.
"My old blue will serve me yet awhile." he wrote back to his wife Mary.
Lee did not believe that he would survive the war, and he did not want the papers saying he was found dead in a high style. He was he said, "just a soldier". He would lead by example, and in response, Mary, like her husband, did as well.
By late March 1862, Lee was almost yelling in his letters to Seddon.
"My soldier's daily ration is only 18 ounces of flour, 4 ounces of bacon, of indifferent quality, with occasionally supplies of rice, sugar, or molasses."
Scurvy had become a problem as well and there was no medicine nor lemons to combat it. Scrounging for food was the Army's #1 activity and there was never enough food when they could find it. The north, on the other hand, suffered a wealth of supplies.
The North had fully reordered its great manufacturing sectors to supplying war goods, so the Union's soldiers had an embarrassment of riches. So much so that soldiers literally toss away any weight that they did not think was absolutely essential.
Come the Spring, Winter coats littered the roadsides on which they marched. They knew come the fall they would get new ones.
Fry pans, tin plates? "Away with you." They used their canteen halves for pan and plate.
This while some Confederate soldiers were without boots.
In the Western Theatre, which did not get the attention of the treasury that Lee's forces did, it was even worse. Some Southern soldiers in the Army of Tennessee were fighting with old-style Flintlocks rather than modern percussion cap rifles. These were useless when it rained as the pan got wet and soaked their powder.
More important to the Army itself was, Lee could see that his army was growing smaller while the North's army was growing larger. As he laid out his plans for his second invasion of the North, Lee knew he would never be able to front an army of this size again, while the North would never have an army this small again.
This whipping on Northern soil he knew he needed to inflict, was going to be the last truly large fighting force Lee would ever have.
176 cannon were gathered up by Lee. When they opened up on the center of the Union line on July 3rd (day 3, Pickets charge), it was the largest artillery barrage of the war. But a shortage of powder and cannonball helped to defeat its intended effect.
That, and the Devil's own idea that came to General Hunt, head of the Union's Artillery.
Generals Meade and Hunt suspected the attack on the center after the failed attacks on the flanks on day 2. Gen. Hunt, clever devil that he was, ordered his cannon to remain silent for the first 15 minutes of the barrage. Then he only ordered a third of his guns to fire back. This lead Lee into thinking that his artillery barrage had knocked out the majority of Hunt's guns.
It was a brilliant feint which had the proper effect upon Lee's mind. Thinking that most of the Union's guns were destroyed Lee ordered Picket's men forward.
As we know, most of the Confederate's men never got close to the Union’s lines that afternoon. Only at the bend in the Union's line known as "The Angle", did Gen Armistead's Corps engage the Union at close-quarters fighting, but Northern re-enforcements quickly arrived.
Seconds after Armistead ordered his men to turn the union cannon, they had just taken, around to use on the Union itself, he was to find that they were all empty. All the canister shot had already been fired into his men.
Of the first volley fired by the newly arrived Union re-enforcements to The Angle, three musket balls found the General's chest and Armistead fell dead and with him the dreams of the Confederacy. The War was now effectively over. It was only a matter of the South facing up to the fact.
Many, including myself, would say the turning point, the beginning of the end, occurred the previous spring of 1862 at Malvern Hill on July 1st, the last day of the Seven Days Campaign.
Lee began the battle with 52,000 men but left more than 22,000 dead on the battlefield when it was over. Southern newspapers shocked at the number of the dead called Lee a "butcher" and "incompetent".
So did General Hill, who lost his entire Corps that day, just as Picket will in a years time at Gettysburg lose his Division. Both Generals died hating R.E. Lee.
Of the Battle, which Gen. Hill had forcefully urged Lee not to make, Gen. Hill publicly called it not war but "murder".
Lee's failure at Gettysburg was in part a well-played feint by Gen. Hunt, but regardless, this battle Lee knew, was the last hope. He had to attack. Too many men had already died, men, he knew he would never replace.
Lee's back was against the wall, Lee had to fight, so, he gambled, and lost.
Gettysburg and Vicksburg were a 1-2 punch from which the South, militarily anyway, never recovered.
"Longstreet could not sit down. He disliked getting the old man up: Lee had not been well. But you could lose the war up here. Should have gone to Vicksburg. News from there very bad. It will fall, and after that...we must win here if we are to win at all, and we must do it soon."--The Killer Angels
General Henry Hunt, Yankee Artillery, approves of this plan.
The sand map/dirt map = a timeless element of military customs.
Anyone notice how Pickett just saluted Longstreet as opposed to telling him it was an honor serving under him and shaking his hand as the other too did?
The slow salute in military tradition has the same basic meaning as the hand shake and telling him it's an honor. If this scene is historically correct Pickett was not being disrespectful.
There weren't enough left obliques in the world to make that charge successful.
Steve Berlack What about adding 1 right oblique?
@@irockuroll60 *G E N I U S*
The left obliques fooled no one. Stannard's Vermont boys moved out from the Union line and flanked Kemper. The beginning of the end for Pickett.
Maybe if he’d done some crunches. 🤔
@Steve Berlack - Lol. Truth.
When the Confederates got hit with artillery and a giant musket volley the Union soldiers said that they heard a huge moan come from the Confederates. One Union soldier likened it to a giant animal getting inflicted with grievous wounds and letting out a groan with each hit. I have nothing but admiration and respect for these soldiers, both sides and how they always went forward-sometimes multiple times.
Therein lies the problem. You recognize martial courage. A dog has that. You don't recognize the much harder standard of moral courage. And these men wished to perpetuate the enslavement of Americans -- your countrymen -- so that they might be beaten, have their children sold, and freely raped without recourse. Aside from human decency, consider prioritizing the basic human rights of your fellow citizens. Some call it 'patriotism'.
@@i.m.9918 Oh stop. Do you really think 250,000 died to perpetuate slavery? They felt their homeland was being invaded and went to defend it. The Southern aristocracy (the top 2%) were the ones that started the war and wanted to keep slavery intact. (Along with many Northern Democrats.)
After missing so many opportunities in so many battles, Pickett was probably thinking to himself, "Yahoo! We're finally getting in the fight!" It was probably best that he didn't know then what he knew later that afternoon...
PCBacklash _ he would end the day saying "I have no division."
I suspect he did know. It is why he hung back and let his men go without him. He knew the fire would be hot and he likely killed.
scott goodman he was a division commander. They were to lead from the rear. And even then Pickett came under fire from where he was leading from that day. He was no coward. In a previous battle he was from his horse. Got up and and continued to lead, walking his horse infront of his men
@@scottgoodman4776 as a division commander he was not supposed to be in the front like Hancock or Reynolds (mind, they were defending) but in the real battle he also had to run for cover as the Union artillery managed to reach his position, leading him to walk through columns of smoke. His desperation in the movie scene was made worse in real life by the smoke obscuring his vision and the general disarray of the line after reaching Union musket range and the Emmetsburg fence
@@scottgoodman4776 Pickett gained glory by being the first over the wall at Chipultipec (sp?) during the Mexican War. He was wounded during the Peninsula Campaign (not sure which battle) and missed the 2nd Manassas-Antietam campaign and Fredricksburg. He was in NC on a foraging expedition with Longstreet during Chancellorsville. He was doing what he was supposed to be doing on Day 3. He was no coward.
next scene with Harrison: "You know what's gonna happen ?, I'll tell you whats gonna happen..."
Tried to to talk Harrison out of joining the charge. Longstreet could see the end result of the charge, BEFORE the charge, just like Buford could envision the taking of the "Round Tops", if he didn't intervene.
this was a great film,I saw it on the big screen,didn't care much for the sequel Gods & Generals... the most heartrending scene was the battle of Little Round Top,whew... most of the actual generals on both sides were fairly young,l wish they had used some younger actors... loved the Longstreet portrayal,although l kept staring at those false beards... Lee should have listened to his Old War Horse and headed toward DC but being a person of color,I'm obviously glad they lost...
I agree. Gettysburg was much better than Gods and Generals and what got me the most was using Stephan Lang as Gen. Pickett in Gettysburg and then cast him as Gen. Stonewall Jackson’ in G & G. Lol
God's and Generals is actually a prequel. But you're right: it doesn't quite live up to Gettysburg.
being whit i agree. grant died in wilton ny 50 miles from my home of watervliet ny, the arsenal. grant rought with the aggressive spirit of donald trump. lee is biden, a loser. btw, i am white
Do plan it well I pray you Sir. Thing is, if Longstreet would of planned it completely, the attack would of never takemln place. He knew it was a huge mistake.
Actually they had good reason to suspect the Union line of being weak in the center. Previous attacks on the flanks had required the Union to renforce using troops from the center of the line. Lee's assessment that they had to be weak in the center as a result of previous attacks has merit, in fact the center had been filled in with previously engaged units that had been somewhat depleted, but the Union still had artillery in the center- which was not taken out by Confederate shelling as the plan called for- and the center had been firmed up enough to hold. It was a near thing anyhow. The Confederates got to the wall, but not beyond it.
The annals of war may long be searched for a parallel to the desperate valor of the charge of the Army of Tennessee at Franklin, a charge which has been called "the greatest drama in American history." Perhaps its only rival for macabre distinction would be Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. A comparison of the two may be of interest. Pickett's total loss at Gettysburg was 1,354; at Franklin the Army of Tennessee lost over 6,000 dead and wounded. Pickett's charge was made after a volcanic artillery preparation of two hours had battered the defending line. Hood's army charged without any preparation. Pickett's charge was across an open space of perhaps a mile. The advance at Franklin was for two miles in the open, in full view of the enemy's works, and exposed to their fire. The defenders at Gettysburg were protected only by a stone wall. Schofield's men at Franklin had carefully constructed works, with trench and parapet. Pickett's charge was totally repulsed. The charge of Brown and Cleburne penetrated deep into the breastworks, to part of which they clung until the enemy retired. Pickett, once repelled, retired from the field. The Army of Tennessee renewed their charge, time after time. Pickett survived his charge unscathed. Cleburne was killed, and eleven other general officers were killed, wounded or captured. "Pickett's charge at Gettysburg" has come to be a synonym for unflinching courage in the raw. The slaughter-pen at Franklin even more deserves the gory honor.
Stanley F. Horn, The Army of Tennessee
Pat Cleburne General CSA formerly Corporal Cleburne of Her Majesty's 41st Regiment.
jacktheripoff1888 l
jacktheripoff1888 I guess Lee felt like he could not pass up the opportunity to win the war at Gettysburg, but the Confederacy also could really afford to absorb the catastrophic death toll of the battle, since they were already badly outnumbered.
so, when the Union would attack en masse and get their asses handed to them it was crappy leadership, but when the Confederacy did something stupid and were mauled by the (mercenary immigrant) army of Northern Aggression it was incredible valor and self-sacrifice?
And that's why I argue the two toughest armies were IN NO ORDER: The Union's Army of the Potomac, and the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee, for the same reasons: very few victories, hard luck, army leadership not worthy of the men they led, yet neither army ever fought as if they were losing ( and the AoP had some REALLY bad leaders). Those men make me want to live up their level of conduct when life gets me down.
GOD BLESS MY AWESOME FRIEND MOCTESUMA ESPARZA. I AM SO VERY PROUD OF YOU AND SO VERY HAPPY FOR YOU. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH MR. ESPARZA.
Johnson Pettigrew would be wounded in the stomach as a part of the rear guard at Falling Waters on July 14 and die the next day. He had been wounded in the hand on July 3 but not seriously. Like John Gordon, another non-West Pointer, he likely would've been promoted to a higher command soon after Gettysburg.
Longstreet: what could possibly go wrong? I drew up the battle plan in the dirt and everything!
"Gettysburg was the price the South paid for RE Lee"
-- Shelby Foote, Civil War Historian
It was more or less Lee's idea to invade north. He knew how close he came in '62 to inflicting a humiliating defeat on the North and he wanted badly to do it right. There were many who argued that if he did so, they would be surrendering the Western Confederacy as they would be unable to properly defend Vicksburg or the lower Mississippi River from the Yankee's. Davis essentially sacrificed the West, and Vicksburg, hoping Lee was right and would win a spectacular victory for them. As it fate would have it, this was not to be.
Always easy to say such things "After the fact".
According to Gen. Fuller in "Grant & Lee" Appomattox was the price the South paid for RE Lee.
The Gettysburg campaign was the wrong strategy. Reinforcing Bragg while having Lee hold the defensive in Virginia was the best option at that point.
This is the equivalent of the British "Charge of the Light Brigade"
General picket you must see to your division ! ,, General Lee sir (crying ) I have no division!
blame it on those blasted fences!! and the csa artillery running out of shells and canon balls!! as well as the csa cavalry delay of the rear attack on the union lines!!
You can tell Pickett knew it was a mistake... even though it’s a movie
Best sarcastic Seinfeld voice: "Oh yeah, I like this idea."
But what about Marisa Tomei
@Rick Rose - lol
So, do we have the airing of grievances before or after the charge?
@@pittland44
Hah. They always follow the feats of strength!
Brig. Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew being played by 007 George Lazenby
Even though he knew it was hopeless, Longstreet still gave the order to advance.
"Gentlemen, you will never make it to that clump of trees. Instead, you will catch your lunch, because this attack, into the open, against a well fortified and concealed enemy will fail simply because of the lunacy contrived from the start."
When you see these historical reenactments and listen to how eloquent and dignified their speech and manner were, the bravery shown by those in charge who led their men into that bullet riddled hell instead of hiding behind rank and privilege.....its truly sad how far we have fallen
so true
Every man featured in this video gave their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to a cause whose "cornerstone rests on the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man" in the words of Vice President Alexander Stevens.
They needed to parachute the 82 airborne in and sent tanks from 3rd armored division
Stuart not being there on day 1 and giving Lee intelligence on the Yankees really hurt them and thanks to Lee's quick thinking they won day 1 which made him Overconfident and without intelligence greatly underestimated the union forces. Longstreet also knew most of the union generals like Hancock and such and knew there tactics and skill. Lee also thought that his troops with such a high motivating could overcome the unions superior forces. Longstreet warned that the union artillery and plenty of it plus all the confederate artillery overshot its mark thereby not helping the charge.
He didn’t win day one Bufords Brigade and Reeds division simply fought a delaying action to deny Lee The high ground. They knew they could not hold off Indefinitely. Buford achieved his objective in forcing Lee to fight on unfavourable conditions as was proved on day 1 and day 2.
Stuart was absent and Longstreet was slow. Lee missed Stonewall!
Yes Longstreet had his reservations. His experience showed him it would be a tough go
and lose a lot of men . I don’t believe that he thought it would fail for sure . How would he know the the artillery would not drive the union troops away . They did not let him down in the past .
Longstreet was Lee's right hand man.
4 months later, detached from Lee and after the battle of Chickamauga,, he failed to "retake" Knoxville for the card.
He lost 800 men in only 20 minutes at Fort Sanders. 🇺🇸
Even a lance Corporal would not take his section a mile up hill towards enemy troops "dug in" and vastly out numbering the assaulting force . What was General LEE thinking ?
I think he wanted something to show after two days in Yankee Pennsylvania without accomplishing much. It is the most atypical command decision the cautious commander ever made. Frustration?
@@steelers6titles Thanks
Three men thanking a general for condemning their units to destruction.
But what should they do? Longstreet told his opinion to Lee and as we know the attack failed as Longstreet predicted. I saw the plan of the attack and battlefield many times. I think that if Pickett's division tried to attack on center as Lee wanted but just for a short time and the rest (mainly Pettigrew's and Trimble's brigades) went around to Cemetery ridge to the left flank of the the Union they should break it. Federals should have deploy their reserves from the center on the left flank and Pickett's division could have a chance to split federal forces. This could happen if Stuart didn't f*ck it up in recon.
Trimble was all for an attack on the first day, yelling at Lee for Ewell's failure to take the hill. Now he is trying to take a hill .
Pettigrew also felt the attack was going to fail, but also thought they had to do it.
As soon as he said "University of North Carolina", Longstreet knew it was going to end up a crap sandwich.
The confederate artillery bombardment was nearly a complete failure . Due to the inability determine it's effectiveness & the faulty fuses of the confederates artillery ammunition . There had been an explosion at the Richmond armory prior to the Gettysburg campaign , so artillery ammunition was shipped in from different armories in the south . After the confederate army returned to Virginia , Lee had the ammo tested . The fused ammunition set to explode at 4 seconds didn't ignite for a full second further than it was supposed to & many shells didn't ignite at all .
It barely even affected the Union line. If anything it gave the Confederates a false sense of security.
Very true. From the problem with the new fuses to the lack of registration of the artillery to the inadequate amount of ammo necessary to support the charge, the handling of the Confederate artillery was a cluster fu-k.
Maybe they should have used the artillery as cover for the advancing troops rather than sending over the troops across open ground after all the cannons were fired
Most certainly I'm not sure how "brave " I'd be walking in a column of men side by side of guys dropping left and right, I think I'd just fall and spare my life!
One reason for the Gettysburg campaign was to get the Union army out of Virginia so the Virginia farmers could work in peace. June and July is when corn was harvested.
A great scene in a great movie.
The South had to take risks to have any chance at prevailing in this war, they had to gamble. At Chancellorsville 3 months earlier a similar gamble paid off. At Gettysburg a greater gamble did not. It's a shame brave men had to die like that, but you can understand how Lee felt he desperately needed to do something to turn the tide of the war-to force the Union to recognize the cost was going to be greater than they were willing to endure.
When I was in the Army I was an MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) Crewmember and later on I was a gunner in one of those vehicles and I could have wiped out every single Confederate soldier on Seminary Ridge, BEFORE the charge even started, with one flick of a switch, and do it from 25 miles away, 12 rockets, thousands of grenade sized bomblets falling all over and exploding, and within a minute it's over, just proves the devastating advances in weaponry over the past 150+ years where a three man crew and one vehicle dozens of miles away could have killed all 15,000 Confederates forming up for that charge.
You Sir were not there at Gettysburg to perform your 21 century weaponry against either side.
@@broe6570 really?...I wasn't??...thanks for reminding me!!
@@stevenm3823 To bad the South didn't have the weapons we have today. Things would look a little better in the US.
@@broe6570 Oh we have a "Lost Causer" here...sure the U.S. needed slavery to survive right?....your racist, regressive Confederacy LOST...so get over it.
Edelman enhances that moment with a perfect arrangement. Were I to quote this Longstreet address (2:28) suddenly at Thanksgiving to my four sons, it would probably not impress them.
Big factor for the South that was even if they had taken the line, what would that have really accomplished? Every battle where the losses were similar on both sides only whittled down the South's forces while the North could replenish. Grant understood this.
Admirable men in service of a horrid cause.
Great scene
Love Pickett holding those flowers so tightly. Speaks so much of his character. Than towards the end of his *Charge on day three he's holding "his glasses" next to some blooming Tail Thistle. This movie was done with so much care.
As if to say "Be so kind and lay these on my grave later today."
Pickett was known to be a perfumed dandy. A not uncommon element of an 18th century male personality.
If I was Longstreet I would of resigned from my command on the spot right in front of Lee rather than lead some half baked attack knowing it was doomed since it's inception.
A good day. Traitors get what traitors deserve.
Sending all these soldiers over an open field facing rifled muskets and artillery was hopeless and a huge waste of men. After this Lee lost all chances of southern independence.
The judgement on this attack is based on the outcome....the plan was not a bad one. But the artillery overshot and Stuart's cavalry could not break through and the attacks on the flanks were not pressed hard enough to keep the center from being reinforced...
So there are no Wilcox's and Lang's brigades mention in this film? Right flank at Pickett's Charge.
The South should have stayed in Virginia and just wore out the Union. Going to the North and then charging Union lines seems like the south forgot the massive Union losses at Fredericksburg
Gettysburg was an unfortunate battle and not the battle he had originally plan. If only he had better intelligence and Stonewall. He would have known to push for Harrisburg, Ewell was within a day’s march of Harrisburg and could have burn the city. Stonewall was missed most certainly. If Jackson had been there on the 1st day Cemetery Ridge and Culps Hill would have been taken and Lee would have the high ground.
The relationship between Lee and Jackson was pivotal to the success of the Army of Northern Virginia. Having a subordinate who is in tune with you is extremely important. “With Jackson no detailed orders were required. Just the mere suggestion was enough”.- R.E.Lee
Clifton Hall Stonewall also had the advantage of fighting against Union armies with very poor leadership. Hancock, Reynolds, even Meade were much better than who Jackson had faced. Jackson's tactics would have played into Grants hands.
Every time I watch this movie I keep hoping the outcome will be different, but sadly it never is.
Lee should have listened to his officer's
The South was in an unenviable position --- which they did not appreciate at the time, only in retrospect: they had to do everything perfectly in order to win. The North could make horrendous blunders (Fredricksburg and Cold Harbor) and still recover. The biggest blunder was those orders wrapped around the cigars. After Antietam, it was just a matter of time before Lee would have to meet Grant at Appomattox Court House with the words, ""There is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths."
The South's only hope was to win a short and quick war. They lacked the industries and population required to rage war. Lee feared that the longer the war went on, the odds of a northern victory increased, and that's exactly what happened.
Surely Longstreet couldn’t have been the only one that thought the attack had barely a chance of succeeding?
The Ken Burns civil war documentary claims that everyone who heard about the attack knew it was a disaster, with the possible exception of Pickett, who was raring to fight. The bit at the end where the others tell Longstreet it's been an honor to serve with him possibly hints at this, with both generals realizing they're probably going to die in this charge.
Many officers may have been skeptical but remember most soldiers and officers trusted and respected Lee.
Yes... But I think everyone just wanted get over it... Its been 3 years and win or lose just want to get over it
Longstreet tried to talk Lee out of it.
I want to make sure everyone knows this movie is based off a book and that a lot of this didn't happen or there is no historical proof it happened.
Shelby Foote noted that Gettysburg was the price the South paid for Lee. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery surveyed the field with Eisenhower and marveled that Lee was not sacked afterward. But Davis knew they had no one else. After Fredericksburg it is pretty boggling to think Lee ordered that charge onto the teeth of entrenched troops and artillery. Maybe he was ill. But more probably he thought his troops could do anything even if it were impossible. He was wrong.
The left obliques fooled no one. The Vermont and Ohio infantry regiments easily flanked the attack. Longstreet should have maintained a line formation but that is not what Lee wanted. You never should break into a column assault in the face of heavy artillery and musket.
It was mathematical after all
they were lost without stonewall, its really sad how bad stonewall was needed, he literally almost was the confederacy army
Jackson was certainly a great general. Would his presence have assured victory a Gettysbug? I don't think so. His presence at Antietam did not prevent a Confederate loss. In the Peninsular Campaign it was not Jackson or Lee who brought about the Confederate victory but the indecision of McClellan. I don't see what difference his presence would have made little difference in the Wilderness or at Spottsylvania both of which could be regarded as Confederate victories. Certainly Cold Harbor was. Grant knew what he had to do and he had the resources to do it. Once he took command and gave the Western command to Sherman the Confederacy was doomed. But who knows? You may be right.
its just, I'm a southerner, he is like the Caesar of the South, its a moral thing, while he did lose quite a bit he was the Stonewall, I mean just "Caesar, Caesar, Jackson, Jackson" he was Lee right hand, and I just see him as being to next in line to take off, my main reason for think stonewall would have helped with a confederate victory was he would've urged Lee to redeploy south, which I mean I have over 1000 hours on Total War: Empire, Redeploying to more friendly terrain is only a bad idea if Reinforcements are coming, and if you cannot hold those reinforcements in the entrenched area you are retreating to. id like to be a general, sadly I like toilets, and showers
As I said you may be right. I served a bit in the army down South, strictly peace time, I got along pretty well with the Southern soldiers, nice guys.
Well, to keep our eye "retroactively" on the ball, let's be happy that the South lost the Civil War, just as we're supposedly pleased that the Nazis lost WWII.
Do you think Lee would have listened to Stonewall and disengaged and redeployed? Lee almost seemed like he just kept hearing Father Time in his ear saying, 'we have to end this quickly.'
A Great Movie !
Longstreet had a good plan, if the Northern army had just cooperated. (rather than allowing themselves to be drawn out & thinned, they curled into a fish-hook which the Confederates were unable to break)
Fun fact: this video is actually in HD. The past was just blurrier back then. So authentic.
A series of left obliques. A recipe for being decimated by flanking fire. A fool's errand.
Lee was a great commander, but in Gettysburg he was achingly subpar.
Meade, usually a so-and-so commander, literally slapped Lee silly.
Lee cornered himself in a hopeless situation without any viable option other than attacking the center ... exactly what Meade knew was going to happen.
Longstreet knew they were going to be massacred because Lee’s tactical blunders.
Pettigrew would survive the assault, only to die days later during a rear guard action as the Confederate Army retreated. Trimble would be wounded, lose a leg and be captured by the Union Army. Pickett would never really recover from the terrible damage that was done to his division and would bitterly blame Lee in later years.
So the clump of trees is the center of the Union line and yet not a single Union soldier is visible. Now that is some great camoflage.
You probably wouldn't see many. There'd be a handful at the wall (remember they're nearly a mile from CSA lines smack in the middle of their own lines) and others would be seeking what shade and rest they could.
“My boys got their dander up”
I’m not a military scholar by any means nor do I know the accuracy of this scene...but he said when the bombardment is complete then he will give the order for the troops to march in....wouldn’t it have been more practical and effective to actively bombard the union position while the infantry were making their way toward the objective??? I know they can’t fire the entire time they are making the approach, but the march was over a mile of open ground and at a certain point it would have been safe for the reb artillery to fire over pickets division as well as the other brigades involved in the charge.
There was a problem with the supply of ammo to support the attack. Longstreet learned of this only seconds before Pickett started forward and too late to delay the charge. The handling of the artillery the whole day was disastrous.
Stop trying to make sense
It is so easy to speculate that after the fact, on what should have been done on behalf of the Confederate Army. The Union Army however, at the time, must have known what to do in winning the war.
One of the things I’m glad about the killed angels the book this movie was based on is it gives Longstreet and Buford their due
It simply makes no sense to me. Longstreet plans this attack such that it is sure to fail. Napoleon would have deployed a narrow column behind the grand battery (the massive amounts of smoke would help hide the column). It seems like Longstreet basically spreads all three divisions into a mile long row , perform a series of obliques to converge on a single point - this an insane idea. Its the exact opposite of how a column de attaque' should be deployed behind the grand battery; the column should spread out at the last minute to prevent flanking maneuvers, repositioning of artillery , etc. , then should transition into a suitable formation that will weaken and eventually break the enemy line. Perhaps this is why Longstreet was at the bottom of his west point class. He either put zero effort into planning this attack or intentionally deployed his men such that they would be annihilated as a passive aggressive form of insubordination (I hope it is not the latter) ; Either way this suicidal attack .... it is unforgivable.
I wish someone would make a movie like this about Vicksburg. So sick of movies about cartoon characters.
Weird!..Longstreet was so disenchanted with the plan that he could not bring himself to give the order, but put his artillery commander Porter Alexander in charge to give the order,
That is true. Alexander writes in both of his books that he was stunned by the order.