Editing Battle of Gettysburg (section)

==Third day of battle==
{{Main|Battle of Gettysburg, third day cavalry battles}}
{{further|Culp's Hill|Pickett's Charge|Battle of Gettysburg, third day cavalry battles}}

===Lee's plan===
[[File:Gettysburg Battle Map Day3.png|thumb|An overview map of the [[Battle of Gettysburg, third day cavalry battles|third and final day]] of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought on July 3, 1863]]
Lee wished to renew the attack on Friday, July 3, using the same basic plan as the previous day: Longstreet would attack the Union left, while Ewell attacked Culp's Hill.<ref>Harman, p. 63.</ref> However, before Longstreet was ready, Union XII Corps troops started a dawn artillery bombardment against the Confederates on Culp's Hill in an effort to regain a portion of their lost works. The Confederates attacked, and the second fight for Culp's Hill ended around 11{{nbsp}}a.m. Harry Pfanz judged that, after some seven hours of bitter combat, "the Union line was intact and held more strongly than before".<ref>Pfanz, ''Culp's Hill'', pp. 284–352; Eicher, pp. 540–541; Coddington, pp. 465–475.</ref>

Lee was forced to change his plans. Longstreet would command Pickett's Virginia division of his own First Corps, plus six brigades from Hill's Corps, in an attack on the Union II Corps position at the right center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Prior to the attack, all the artillery the Confederacy could bring to bear on the Union positions would bombard and weaken the enemy's line.<ref>Eicher, p. 542; Coddington, pp. 485–486.</ref>

In his memoir, Longstreet states that he told Lee that there were not enough men to assault the strong left center of the Union line by McLaws's and Hood's divisions reinforced by Pickett's brigades. Longstreet thought the attack would be repulsed and a counterattack would put Union forces between the Confederates and the Potomac River. Longstreet wrote that he said it would take a minimum of thirty thousand men to attack successfully as well as close coordination with other Confederate forces. He noted that only about thirteen thousand men were left in the selected divisions after the first two days of fighting. They would have to walk a mile under heavy artillery and long-range musketry fire. Longstreet states that he further asked Lee: "the strength of the column. He [Lee] stated fifteen thousand. Opinion was then expressed [by Longstreet] that the fifteen thousand men who could make successful assault over that field had never been arrayed for battle; but he was impatient of listening, and tired of talking, and nothing was left but to proceed."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Longstreet |first1=James |title=From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America |date=1896 |publisher=J. B. Lippincott |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US |pages=[https://archive.org/details/manassasappomatt00longrich/page/386 386]–387 |url=https://archive.org/details/manassasappomatt00longrich}}</ref><ref group="fn">Longstreet wrote in his memoirs that he estimated that his force would have "about thirteen thousand" men, not fifteen thousand. When asked by Longstreet the "strength of the column", Lee said the size would be fifteen thousand, which apparently included his estimate of the strength of two brigades of Anderson's Division of Hill's Third Corp that he would add to support Longstreet's men. Neither general knew the exact number of men available to attack at that tine because of casualties already sustained, merely the units. Longstreet did not write that he accepted that 15,000 would be the exact number of attackers. He merely said that no fifteen thousand men could take the Union position, that it would require 30,000. Historians give differing numbers of attackers for various reasons but all give numbers that are lower than 15,000 as shown in the next footnote.</ref>

===Largest artillery bombardment of the war===
[[File:High Water Mark - Cemetery Ridge, Gettysburg Battlefield.jpg|thumb|The high water mark on [[Cemetery Ridge]] with the [[72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Monument]] commemorating the [[72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment]] (on right) and [[The Angle]] (on left) in August 2005]]
[[File:Union Infantry and Artillery Advancing Toward The Angle July 3, 1863 -- Gettysburg (PA) Cyclorama 2012.jpg|thumb|Union infantry and artillery advancing toward [[The Angle]] on the [[Gettysburg Battlefield]]]]
Around 1{{nbsp}}p.m., from 150 to 170 Confederate guns began an artillery bombardment that was probably the largest of the war. To save valuable ammunition for the infantry attack that they knew would follow, the Army of the Potomac's artillery, under the command of Brigadier General [[Henry Jackson Hunt]], at first did not return the enemy's fire. After waiting about 15 minutes, about 80 Union cannons opened fire. The Army of Northern Virginia was critically low on artillery ammunition, and the cannonade did not significantly affect the Union position.<ref>See discussion of varying gun estimates in [[Pickett's Charge]] article footnote.</ref>

===Pickett's Charge===
{{Main|Pickett's Charge}}
Around 3{{nbsp}}p.m.,<ref>Coddington, 402; McPherson, 662; Eicher, 546; Trudeau, 484; Walsh 281.</ref> the cannon fire subsided, and between 10,500 and 12,500 Confederate soldiers<ref group=fn>Writing about the number of attackers in the charge, Carol Reardon, in ''Pickett's Charge in History & Memory'', at page 6, wrote "Modern histories have reduced the number to a range somewhere between 10,500 and 13,000. No one 'knows' the number." Eicher, ''The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War,'' at p. 544 gives the same range as Reardon does for the number of attackers. Stephen W. Sears in ''Gettysburg'' at p. 407 wrote "...George Meade thus had some 13,000 troops - as it happened, just about the same number as stepped off in Pickett's Charge..." Alan C. Guelzo, in ''Gettysburg: The Last Invasion,'' at p. 393 wrote "There would be around 13,000 men in the attack, if all of them could be gotten to move." He also notes in a footnote that estimates of the number vary widely. Among those giving a higher numbers of attackers, neither Guelzo nor Sears appear to take into account [[Ed Bearss]]'s statement in ''Receding Tide'' p. 366 that Confederate casualties from Union Army artillery "overshoot"  into the Confederate soldiers staged behind the front line before the charge amounted to almost 600 men. [[George R. Stewart]], in ''Pickett's Charge: A microhistory of the final attack at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863'' (1959), p. 173, after totaling the strength in the divisions and brigades in the charge considering earlier losses gives the lowest estimate of "troops in the assaulting column...at 10,500."  [[Gary W. Gallagher]], Stephen D. Engle, Robert K. Krick & Joseph T. Glatthaar in ''The American Civil War: This Might Scourge of War'' at page 180 wrote "About 12,000 Confederates tried, in the most renowned attack in all of American military history." Earl J. Hess in ''Pickett's Charge&ndash;The Last Attack at Gettysburg'' p. 335 wrote of "11,830 men engaged" in the charge. Noah Andre Trudeau wrote in ''Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage'', p. 477, that with the addition of the very late advance of the brigades of Brig. Gen. [[Cadmus M. Wilcox]] and Brig. Gen. [[Edward A. Perry]] (led by Col. David Lang), the number of attackers could be said to approach 15,000, but with their subtraction, because the main charge had already been repulsed  and accounting for Confederate casualties caused by Union Army artillery "overshoot", the number of attackers "approaches 11,800". Most references do not mention and cannot be adding about 1,400 men of the brigades of Brig. Gen. Cadmus Wilcox and Brig. Gen. Edward Perry, led by Col. [[David Lang (Civil War)|David Lang]], who started after the main charge had been repulsed with great casualties. Lang's (Perry's) three Florida regiments suffered hundreds of casualties, including many taken prisoner. Wilcox saw the futility of the attack and ordered his men back when he discovered the main attack had been repulsed and they would receive no artillery or other support. The brigade lost about 200 men before turning back. Gottfried, pp. 581, 588. McPherson, p. 662, gives a larger number than other modern historians of 14,000 Confederates going forward in the charge, scarcely half of whom returned. This may count the Wilcox and Perry (Lang) brigades, although he does not mention them.</ref> stepped from the ridgeline and advanced the three-quarters of a mile (1,200 m) to Cemetery Ridge.<ref>Wert, p.194</ref> Pickett's division role in leading the attack has led to the attack to be known as [[Pickett's Charge]].<ref>Sears, pp. 358–359.</ref>

As the Confederates approached, there was fierce flanking artillery fire from Union positions on Cemetery Hill and the Little Round Top area,<ref>Wert, pp. 198–199.</ref> and musket and canister fire from Hancock's II Corps.<ref>Wert, pp.205–207.</ref> In the Union center, the commander of artillery had held fire during the Confederate bombardment (to save it for the infantry assault, which Meade had correctly predicted the day before), leading Southern commanders to believe the Northern cannon batteries had been knocked out. However, they opened fire on the Confederate infantry during their approach with devastating results.<ref name="McPherson, p. 662">McPherson, p. 662.</ref>

Although the Union line wavered and broke temporarily at a jog called [[The Angle]] in a low stone fence, just north of a patch of vegetation called the Copse of Trees, reinforcements rushed into the breach, and the Confederate attack was repelled. The farthest advance, by Brigadier General [[Lewis A. Armistead]]'s brigade of Pickett's division at the Angle, is referred to as the "[[high-water mark of the Confederacy]]".<ref>McPherson, pp. 661–663; Clark, pp. 133–144; Symonds, pp. 214–241; Eicher, pp. 543–549.</ref> Union and Confederate soldiers locked in hand-to-hand combat, attacking with their rifles, bayonets, rocks and even their bare hands. Armistead ordered his Confederates to turn two captured cannons against Union troops, but discovered that there was no ammunition left, the last [[Canister shot|double canister]] shots having been used against the charging Confederates. Armistead was mortally wounded shortly afterward. Nearly one half of the Confederate attackers did not return to their own lines.<ref>Glatthaar, p. 281.</ref> Pickett's division lost about two-thirds of its men, and all three brigadiers were killed or wounded.<ref name="McPherson, p. 662"/>

===Cavalry battles===
There were two significant cavalry engagements on July 3. The first one was coordinated with Pickett's Charge, and the standoff may have prevented a disaster for Union infantry.<ref name="Starr p. 438">Starr p. 438</ref> The site of this engagement is now known as the East Cavalry Field.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gettysburg - East Cavalry Field - July 3, 1863 |url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/gettysburg-east-cavalry-field-july-3-1863 |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=American Battlefield Trust |archive-date=September 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928123207/https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/gettysburg-east-cavalry-field-july-3-1863 |url-status=live }}</ref> The second engagement was a loss for Union cavalry attacking Confederate infantry. It has been labeled as a "fiasco", and featured faulty cavalry tactics.<ref>Coddington pp. 524–525</ref> The site of this engagement is now known as the South Cavalry Field.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gettysburg - East Cavalry Field - July 3, 1863 |url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/gettysburg-south-cavalry-field |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=American Battlefield Trust |archive-date=November 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129211031/https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/gettysburg-south-cavalry-field |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Northeast of Gettysburg====
Stuart's cavalry division (three brigades), with the assistance of Jenkins' brigade, was sent to guard the Confederate left flank. Stuart was also in position to exploit any success the Confederate infantry (Pickett's Charge) might achieve on Cemetery Hill by flanking the Union right and getting behind Union infantry facing the Confederate attack.<ref>Starr pp. 437–438</ref> The cavalry fight took place about {{convert|3|mi|km|spell=in}} northeast of Gettysburg at about 3:00{{nbsp}}pm—around the end of the Confederate artillery barrage that preceded Pickett's charge. Stuart's forces collided with Union cavalry: Brigadier General [[David McMurtrie Gregg]]'s division and Custer's brigade from Kilpatrick's division.<ref>Coddington, pp. 520-522</ref> The fight evolved into "a wild melee of swinging sabers and blazing pistols and carbines".<ref>Sears p. 462</ref> One of Custer's regiments, the [[5th Michigan Cavalry Regiment]], was armed with Spencer repeating rifles, and at least two companies from an additional regiment were also armed with repeaters.<ref>Coddington, pp. 258-259</ref> The fight ended in a standoff, as neither side changed positions. However, Gregg and Custer prevented Stuart from gaining the rear of Union infantry facing Pickett.<ref name="Starr p. 438"/>

====Southwest of Gettysburg====
After hearing news of the Union's success against Pickett's charge, Brigadier General [[Judson Kilpatrick]] launched a cavalry attack against the infantry positions of Longstreet's Corps southwest of [[Big Round Top]]. The terrain was difficult for a mounted attack because it was rough, heavily wooded, and contained huge boulders—and Longstreet's men were entrenched with artillery support.<ref>Starr pp. 440–441</ref> Brigadier General [[Elon J. Farnsworth]] protested against the futility of such a move, but obeyed orders. Farnsworth was killed in the fourth of five unsuccessful attacks, and his brigade suffered significant losses.<ref>Eicher, pp. 549–550; Longacre, pp. 226–231, 240–44; Sauers, p. 836; Wert, pp. 272–280.</ref> Although Kilpatrick was described by at least one Union leader as "brave, enterprising, and energetic", incidents such as Farnsworth's charge earned him the nickname of "Kill Cavalry".<ref>Starr, pp.417–418</ref>