Had Lee withdrawn the next morning when he scanned those hills which
looked down on him through bristling brows of brass and iron the history
of the Confederacy might have been longer. It could not have been more
illustrious.
His reasons for assault were sound. To his council of war he was
explicit.
"I had not intended, gentlemen," he said, "to fight a general battle at
such distance from our base, unless attacked by the enemy. We find
ourselves confronted by the Federal army. It is difficult to withdraw
through the mountains with our large trains. The country is unfavorable
for collecting supplies while in the presence of the main body of the
enemy as he can restrain our foraging parties by occupying the mountain
passes. The battle is in a measure unavoidable. We have won a great
victory to-day. We can defeat Meade's army in spite of these hills."
When Lee surveyed the heights of Gettysburg again on the morning of the
second of July, he saw that the Northerners held a position of
extraordinary power. Yet his men were flushed with victory after
victory. They had swept their foe before them in the first encounter as
chaff before a storm. They were equal to anything short of a miracle.
He ordered Longstreet to hurl his corps against Cemetery Ridge and drive
the enemy from his key position before the entrenchments could be
completed.
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