"why did Robert R Lee lose the battle of Gettysburg?" Ordering a charge into an open field with heavy Union canon fire was probably it. An unbelievably idiotic order from a General who should have known better or listened to his staff
@@Fhurin Correct. Even if the assault had achieved its objective, the attrition and loss of men would still have been nearly as great, something that Lee could not afford. He still would have been stuck in enemy territory with a hobbled and undersupplied army. Even a technical victory at Gettysburg probably would have proved to be a Pyrrhic one.
I write from England . You are absolutely right. The way Lee is depicted in the film Gettysburg conjours up images of the British generals of World War One - donkeys leading lions to reverse the normal phrase.
Lee's cavalry lost touch with the army and Lee had no good intelligence as to what the Union army was doing before and during the first two days of the battle.
Chancellorsville was right before Gettysburg. And what Lee did in May was beyond believable. With a army that was already short (Longstreet was in N.Carolina) he divided his army at least 3x in the face of a superior force ! And nearly drove it into the river. Hard not to think your are invincible so immediately after such a showing. But Lee learned a hard lesson : - Frontal assault (so stupid) - Faulty intelligence (not believing that nearly the entire AOP was on the field by the evening of the 2nd also stupid) - Loss of Stonewall (relying on Ewell and Hill to be up to Jackson's par, unwise)
@@lpwienert7358 Jackson only commanded a brigade, probably didn’t have much influence with Johnston, or Beauregard (or Davis. who was on the scene by that time) but there should have been at least an attempt!
Lee lost Gettysburg because it is a war and you don’t win every battle. He had won almost every battle from 7 days to Chancellorsville (Antietam was a draw). Winning every battle against great odds prob gave him a false sense of security
@@irockuroll60 Seven Days was a strategic victory because McClellan had decided to start running away before the fighting even started. Tactically, Lee was defeated in almost every engagement. At Gaines Mill, Lee had a huge numerical advantage yet lost more men and accomplished nothing. Just a few days after Gaines Mill, Lee suffered an awful defeat at Malvern Hill. What did the two battles have in common? Lee attacked uphill against determined infantry and massed artillery. What happened at Gettysburg? Lee attacked uphill against determined infantry and massed artillery. Conclusion: Lee hadn't been learning from his mistakes. If he couldn't defeat Porter at Gaines Mill when the rebels had a huge numerical advantage, how on earth did he think he could be able to defeat Meade with uphill attacks across open ground when the rebels were outnumbered?
@@aaronfleming9426 did the seven days battle drive McClellan from Richmond? Did it drive McClellan from the Peninsula? I love know it alls aka virgins.
The seldom mentioned factor is the Union rate of march. It is often stated that the marches before Gettysburg were difficult, but no credit is given to their result. Meade for the first time parked the ambulances and supply wagons to give the fighting forces priority on the road. As a result, those forces marched several times faster than they had before, and more Union troops were at Gettysburg than Lee anticipated. Of course, no ambulances or supplies proved a difficulty for the Union forces, but the speed and numbers led to a victory.
Shelby Foote said that Gettysburg was the price the confederacy paid to have Lee as their Commanding General. And as has been suggested, Lee had not lost a significant battle to that point and had a belief that the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was somehow invincible!
The battle should have been one on the second day. Two corps commanders (Hill and Ewell) and several other generals including Anderson, Mahone, Posey, Rodes and Early failed to carry out their responsibiliteis.
Weight and age issues aside as it is beating an already over-discussed dead horse, reenactors should know by now how to poperly wear/don your kit. Accoutrement belts should be worn at the waist...not haphazardly hanging off the hips.. This among other...
Lee, what a disaster, his decision making at Gettysburg, it totaly erased all of his previous stategy and prior success, was his failure a culminating weakness, one that would bring light to his lack of leadership and validation, or was this a judgment, and devine intervention at the hands of our creator ?
STUART was the reason as Lee didnt know where the union army was..then a attack up hill against defended positions and over open ground..longstreet knew what to do drop back and set up defencive positions.
At a UDC Meeting, General Picket was asked why General Lee lost The Battle of Gettysburg! He stated, “The last time I checked, the Yankees had something to do with it!”
this is the shortest documentary of Gettysburg EVER... omg 2 min 53 seconds... theyre usually a minimum of 45 minutes. hmm mb this is like a Cliffnotes doc
It was crazy stuff to make this assault and this attack without the required Intelligence of what the Union Forces were upto or planned to do. But with this defeat the Confederacy were always going to be defeated.
FALL !? The battle was supposed to slam the southern forces .... after three days of slaughter and no positions overrun or decided victory ..... the field of battle was near even in death tolls for each side .... 53,000 men perished at Gettysburg ! Lee and his second division each retired from the conflict - as did the North .... each wanting to minimize losses for another day.
It's simple Nathan Bedford Forrest was ordered to flank the hill with pickit but followed a trail gold laden wagons with beer bullets 😉 BTW this guy is clueless your welcome
And the next day, Vicksburg surrendered, cutting the Confederacy in half and giving the Union full control of the Mississippi River.
And it got Lincoln re-elected.
@@donb7113 No, that was Sherman's capture of Atlanta a year later in 1864. That was when Lincoln was re-elected.
"why did Robert R Lee lose the battle of Gettysburg?"
Ordering a charge into an open field with heavy Union canon fire was probably it. An unbelievably idiotic order from a General who should have known better or listened to his staff
Wrong they were not supported.
@@edwardclement102 what? Lee was winning the battle, until he got it in his head to attack the center lines 😐
@@Fhurin Correct. Even if the assault had achieved its objective, the attrition and loss of men would still have been nearly as great, something that Lee could not afford. He still would have been stuck in enemy territory with a hobbled and undersupplied army. Even a technical victory at Gettysburg probably would have proved to be a Pyrrhic one.
I write from England . You are absolutely right. The way Lee is depicted in the film Gettysburg conjours up images of the British generals of World War One - donkeys leading lions to reverse the normal phrase.
Robert R. LEE.?
Because Meade outfought him.
And General Buford had an "eye" for good high ground.
@@anthonyhengst2908 Definitely!
Lee lost the battle Gettysburg because of general Longstreet!!
@@WalterKing-f2h
No, lee lost in spite of Longstreet. Longstreet was right, attacking those hills was suicide.
NO!
"I always thought the Yankees had something to do with it." - George Pickett
That guy, to whom I am related by marriage into my extended family, had a damned good point there.
Pickett himself said that the Union Army had something to do with it. Lee didn’t lack cavalry.
Lee's cavalry lost touch with the army and Lee had no good intelligence as to what the Union army was doing before and during the first two days of the battle.
@@infantinofan He had at least one brigade of cavalry, plus other intelligence sources
@@TheBabashee Which Brigade and what other sources?
Lee believed his own press clippings, thought his army was invincible. Frontal assault proved otherwise
You mean invincible :)
Chancellorsville was right before Gettysburg.
And what Lee did in May was beyond believable.
With a army that was already short (Longstreet was in N.Carolina)
he divided his army at least 3x in the face of a superior force !
And nearly drove it into the river.
Hard not to think your are invincible so immediately after such a showing.
But Lee learned a hard lesson :
- Frontal assault (so stupid)
- Faulty intelligence (not believing that nearly the entire AOP was on the field by the evening of the 2nd also stupid)
- Loss of Stonewall (relying on Ewell and Hill to be up to Jackson's par, unwise)
Stonewall wanted towards the capital immediately after Bull Run. Washington was open, Baltimore was open, troops were fresh.
@@lpwienert7358 Jackson only commanded a brigade, probably didn’t have much influence with Johnston, or Beauregard (or Davis. who was on the scene by that time) but there should have been at least an attempt!
Lee lost at Gettysburg because he didn't listen to General Longstreet.
Wrong Longstreet moved too slowly.
@@edwardclement102 Longstreet did not agree with Pickets Charge, Lee should have listened.
Lee lost Gettysburg because it is a war and you don’t win every battle. He had won almost every battle from 7 days to Chancellorsville (Antietam was a draw).
Winning every battle against great odds prob gave him a false sense of security
@@irockuroll60 Seven Days was a strategic victory because McClellan had decided to start running away before the fighting even started. Tactically, Lee was defeated in almost every engagement. At Gaines Mill, Lee had a huge numerical advantage yet lost more men and accomplished nothing.
Just a few days after Gaines Mill, Lee suffered an awful defeat at Malvern Hill.
What did the two battles have in common? Lee attacked uphill against determined infantry and massed artillery.
What happened at Gettysburg? Lee attacked uphill against determined infantry and massed artillery.
Conclusion: Lee hadn't been learning from his mistakes. If he couldn't defeat Porter at Gaines Mill when the rebels had a huge numerical advantage, how on earth did he think he could be able to defeat Meade with uphill attacks across open ground when the rebels were outnumbered?
@@aaronfleming9426 did the seven days battle drive McClellan from Richmond? Did it drive McClellan from the Peninsula?
I love know it alls aka virgins.
The seldom mentioned factor is the Union rate of march. It is often stated that the marches before Gettysburg were difficult, but no credit is given to their result. Meade for the first time parked the ambulances and supply wagons to give the fighting forces priority on the road. As a result, those forces marched several times faster than they had before, and more Union troops were at Gettysburg than Lee anticipated. Of course, no ambulances or supplies proved a difficulty for the Union forces, but the speed and numbers led to a victory.
Shelby Foote said that Gettysburg was the price the confederacy paid to have Lee as their Commanding General. And as has been suggested, Lee had not lost a significant battle to that point and had a belief that the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was somehow invincible!
Meade, "How did we win the battle? Easy. Our boys were better."
The battle should have been one on the second day. Two corps commanders (Hill and Ewell) and several other generals including Anderson, Mahone, Posey, Rodes and Early failed to carry out their responsibiliteis.
Battlefields aren't chessboards. It's hard to carry out your responsibilities when the Union army is shooting at you.
still licking their wounds from Day 1
Not even remotely true.
Charging across a vast open field at an enemy who is well fortified, while holding high ground...aint too smart!🙄
Weight and age issues aside as it is beating an already over-discussed dead horse, reenactors should know by now how to poperly wear/don your kit. Accoutrement belts should be worn at the waist...not haphazardly hanging off the hips.. This among other...
Lee, what a disaster, his decision making at Gettysburg, it totaly erased all of his previous stategy and prior success, was his failure a culminating weakness, one that would bring light to his lack of leadership and validation, or was this a judgment, and devine intervention at the hands of our creator ?
Good and to the point!!
He lost because he was too pig headed to listen to reason!
Lost all those men 😮
STUART was the reason as Lee didnt know where the union army was..then a attack up hill against defended positions and over open ground..longstreet knew what to do drop back and
set up defencive positions.
At a UDC Meeting, General Picket was asked why General Lee lost The Battle of Gettysburg! He stated, “The last time I checked, the Yankees had something to do with it!”
I wonder if the Confederacy would still have lost the war if they won at Gettysburg.
Every piece of bad luck hit Lee at the same time ? Outnumbered and Overextended lines didn’t allow for Any Mistakes ? Hubris or Desperation ? 🤔
Meade had interior lines and the high ground. Lee didn't have enough artillery ammunition. A.P. was sick , Ewell failed .
It's unfortunate that Gen. Lee never studied the teachings of Sun Tzu.
Chairside Generals..I am with Pickett..the Union soldiers had something to do with the Confederates losing at Gettysburg.
His intelligence was poor due to his cavalry gallivanting, and overconfidence.
Lee's intelligence problems and his 'lack of cavalry' (he actually had two other cavalry units he failed to use to that end) was Lee's own fault.
this is the shortest documentary of Gettysburg EVER... omg 2 min 53 seconds... theyre usually a minimum of 45 minutes. hmm mb this is like a Cliffnotes doc
Lee lost to a better general.
Wrong l disagree
There's a lot of truth to that. Meade did anticipate where Lee would attack on 3 July.
was this an american version of stalingrad?
Because Lee failed to properly direct his Corp commanders. That and that stupid Napoleonic charge the last day.
What’s with the Russians at 1:56?
When we make plans God laughs.
It was crazy stuff to make this assault and this attack without the required Intelligence of what the Union Forces were upto or planned to do.
But with this defeat the Confederacy were always going to be defeated.
FALL !? The battle was supposed to slam the southern forces .... after three days of slaughter and no positions overrun or decided victory ..... the field of battle was near even in death tolls for each side .... 53,000 men perished at Gettysburg ! Lee and his second division each retired from the conflict - as did the North .... each wanting to minimize losses for another day.
Not enough men and fire power no cannons
Why does nobody ask “Why did George Meade WIN the battle of Gettysburg”?
Why did George Meade WIN the battle of Gettysburg? I asked.
Lee was outgeneraled by Meade.
Largely true.
The Union will come to you...but if you come to us...mmmm no
Shallow. Does not actually explain why Lee lost.
Great .!!! The Union beat break off lee army .!!! Thank God the US Army .!!!!
It's simple Nathan Bedford Forrest was ordered to flank the hill with pickit but followed a trail gold laden wagons with beer bullets 😉 BTW this guy is clueless your welcome
🤣🤣🤣
You mean Jeb Stuart.
Forest was not at Gettysburg
Forrest was at a lot of major battles the rebels lost. Great cavalry raider, but not some sort of game-changer in pitched battles.
Lee and Forrest never met
Hot and humid 😫
Well known jeb screwed it all up
каких "выводов" хочет московит дождливый?
Lack of intelligence why does that remind me of something. That’s trump right now!😅