Battle of Gettysburg,

It is important to note that many other Confederate leaders opposed Lee's strategic approach in Pennsylvania. William Swinton, a correspondent for the New York Times during that era, made first-hand observations of the disagreements that arose among the Southern generals of the time. In his book, Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, which was published In 1866, Swinton discussed a series of conversations that he had had with Lieutenant General James Longstreet. Longstreet disagreed with Lee's offensive strategy and felt that a better plan would be to lure Union troops away from their centralized strongholds, thereby weakening their forces (Swinton, 1968, p. 5). William Swinton also noted in his journal that General Lee himself had not originally planned on taking an offensive strategy at Gettysburg. However, when the first c

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his troops. Even though his advisers discouraged him, Lee proceeded with his offensive strategy despite the fact that the odds were stacked against him" (Gruver, 1981, p. 403). The Confederate forces were especially weakened after the failure of Pickett's Charge on the third day of battle. General George E. Pickett led a massive division of 15,000 men across the field toward the Union line. Pickett's men actually got as far as the edge of the Union line; however, the South was severely weakened by then and "their costly repulse ended the battle" (Catton, 1974, p. 84). In his memoirs entitled The Heart of a Soldier (1913), George E. Pickett recalled receiving the orders to charge on the Union stronghold. Pickett was with General Longstreet when he received the orders, and both men were instantly aware of the difficult task that lay ahead. Pickett wrote that General Longstreet silently extended his hand when the messenger brought the orders. Pickett wrote, "I shall never forget the look in his face nor the clasp of his hand when I said, 'Then General, I shall lead my division on" (Pickett, 1987, p. 237). General Robert E. Lee also wrote down his recollections of the major battles of the Civil War, including the fateful one a
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