What do you think was the biggest mistake the Confederates made at the Battle of Gettysburg?

Answer 1

Pretty amazing on how close some of the answers come and pretty amazing how wrong they are mostly.

Lee should have had his army closer together instead of being spread out over nearly half the state. He KNEW he was being pursued and it seems should have bunched them up more. What he didn't know was the Army of the Potomic's location and that was because Jeb Stuart was off circling the enemy and not in contact with his boss. There are varying opinions as to what Stuart's orders meant and did he follow them or ignore them. However Lee was NOT without cavalry, he had Robertson and Jones with him and failed to use them for anything but a rear guard.

NOW those shoes. There was NO shoe factory and the excursion toward GB was NOT with the intent of finding shoes. Ewell had been through here recently and would have taken anything that was usable. This is a myth that has continued for years and is not true.

The lack of communication the first day was critical as was the distance needed to be covered to fight at GB. Ewell made the most serious blunder in not following Lee's suggestion that he take Culp's Hill, (NOT A ROUNDTOP AS SUGGESTED ABOVE) if practical. He decided it was not and lost the chance to take a lightly guarded, very valuable piece of ground that would cost him literally thousands of the boys lives the next day without suceeding in taking it.

Both Longstreet and Hood wanted to circle to the right and try a flanking manuver but Lee would not allow that. The sad ending is a poorly coordinated charge on the third day that might be considered the turning point of the war, which still would continue for two more years.

The Union on the other hand also made a huge mistake in not immediatly putting the heat on Lee as he escaped. Either side might have ended the war at Gettysburg and both failed.

Answer 2

Lee did not make a mistake at Gettysburg. Lee wanted the war to end and knew a decisive defeat at Gettysburg would help end the war early - thus saving American lives. However, even after a major defeat at Gettysburg with major casualties, the south still lingered on in the war for another two years! Lee tried to quit after Gettysburg but Jeff Davis wouldn't let him.

No telling how long the war would have lasted had Lee elected not to engage the Federals there due to tactical disadvantages.

Answer 3

Lee thought they were not ready for a full scale battle at Gettysburg. It all started while the confederates were raiding a shoe factory so their soldiers could have better shoes. The Raiders engaged a small union cavalry unit that grabbed the high ground because they knew the value of it. The union cavalry held it until the Union forces moved up to occupy it. I believe the biggest mistake was made the first day by the confederate raiders by not pushing the small union cavalry unit off the high ground and occupying it (they really didn't try since Lee told them not to engage any Union forces if confronted). If they had driven off the union cavalry and if the Confederates had moved up and had occupied "Little Round Top and Big Round top" right away, they would have probably won the battle.

Answer 4

there have been 2 major blunders made via the Confederates at Gettysburg. the first grow to be the previous due arrival of the accomplice Cavalry less than command of J.E.B. Stuart. via prevalent Stuart's previous due arrival, Lee grow to be blinded in result as to the move of the Union lines, and their positions. the 2d major flaw contained in the conflict, grow to be with the accomplice Artillery. at the same time as initially the Confederates laid down a serious barrage, it grow to be ineffectual by using unfavorable recognizing. The rounds were going over the heads of the Union positions, and were not accomplishing the Union Artillery positions. The Union grow to be waiting to counter-battery, and to that end make the accomplice barrage ineffectual. The Confederates were compelled to flow their caissons in the route of the rear to guard them from Union hearth.

Answer 5

In my humble opinion, the biggest mistake the Confederates made was getting involved in the fight in the first place.

Lee had NO cavalry in front of him (Stuart was off riding around the Union forces again, getting his name in the papers and not accomplishing much at all), so he had no idea of the strength of the forces opposing him or the layout of the land. Had he known either of these before the engagement with Buford's cavalry began, he could have done one of two things: avoided contact completely and gone around the Union forces, or he could have continued on and pushed through Gettysburg, denying the Union forces the chance to entrench on the high ground and command the field.

There were several mistakes on the part of the Confederate command - Ewell's failure to take Culp's Hill as ordered, Stuart's not being with the army as he should have been, Lee's decision to attack the center of the Union line after two day's worth of fighting, to name a few - but the single biggest mistake, I think, was letting the fight happen in the first place.

If Lee had gone AROUND the Union forces and engaged them later on ground of his choosing, things may have turned out differently than they did. For someone who had proven himself to be a brilliant commander of troops in the field, Lee made a serious of mistakes in this most crucial engagement that are nearly beyond comprehension.

ADDED COMMENT: My apologies for a small brain fart on my part. It was Culp's Hill and not LRT that Ewell should have taken. I have corrected my writing.

Oh, and Michael...do you suppose you could be a little more condescending and a little more arrogant?

Answer 6

There were two major mistakes:
1) The failure to capture little round top. This hill to the north of the Yankee lines was critical to the north, but not of significant threat to the south. The south sent some men to capture the hill, but not nearly enough. Capturing the hill would have allowed the south to fire cannon down on the entire Northern Army lines.

2) The poor coordination of Pickett's charge. Had the cavalry been in place for the charge (as the plan called for) the charge would have penetrated deeper into union lines and destroyed the defensive positions, allowing the south to flank the union troops.

Answer 7

The biggest mistake was the command sent by Lee to Yule one day one of the battle where he said to take the hill if practical. Yule had replaced Stonewall Jackson who would have taken that message to mean attack and secure the hill but Yule was to cautious and it cost the Rebels the battle. The second day also saw errors when Lee refused to allow Longstreet to adjust to the south and he would have flanked the Union Lines.

Answer 8

Picketts charge. It also didn't help to try and take the devils den either just a waste of manpower that could have been used elsewhere. though the biggest mistake belongs to JEB Stewart for not doing his job instead he was looting Northern supply Wagons This resulted in Lee running into the North without knowing how many and on ground he didn't choose.

Answer 9

Pickett's Charge

Answer 10

Not chasing the Union during the first day. They let the Union wait for reinforcements. VERY BAD MISTAKE tactically.