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very somber.

He was a 20-year-old courier for Col. Roy Stone, and supposedly the last man on a horse after the attack. Men on horses were the first targets because they were generally officers. 60-75% casualties, but slowing the Confederate advance and allowing the Union to take and fortify the high ground. Stone was wounded twice himself.

Through deduction I realize that my great-grandfather also must have witnessed, as a third line of defense, Pickett's Charge a couple of days later, and were dodging Confederate artillery that was overshooting it's target.

Although Appomattox Courthouse would not come for nearly two years, this was the battle where the South was defeated.

This battle forever sealed the deal that a Strong Central American Union would stand.

Prior to the American Civil War, you would say "The United States are..." while after the ACW you now say "The United States is...".

That alone is a fundamental difference in how our nation existed pre and post war.

where they say "we lost the Battle and the War".

Vicksburg, Mississippi would not celebrate the day again until 1945.

to question people's patriotism.

Chickamauga-Chattanooga was the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.

The place where 80% of the Confederate Generals from Lee on down to Brigadiers chose that three day period to have a collective brain fart.

It didn't really matter though because, a one historian noted, if Pickett's charge had succeeded, Lee would have ridden up to the top of Cemetery Hill to be surrounded by cheering soldiers. The defeated Union forces would retreat to the next range of hills. Lee would be out of ammunition and heavily burdened with wounded and prisoners. His only open course of action would be to go back to Virginia with his looted supplies, prisoners, and wounded. This is the same thing he did in real life after Pickett's charge was defeated.

performing a flanking maneuver around Meade's forces. But, according to Longstreet, Lee has "his war on" and refused to listen to reason or caution. Meade was no McClellan, though, being made of far sterner stuff.

All he had to do was keep countering the Confederates piecemeal attacks (and did a workmanlike job of it).

he could have dug in on favorable terrain and forced Mead to attack him.

At least according to Longstreet's memoirs written well after the war.

Considering the difficulty that Longstreet experienced getting to the right flank of Lee's army to start the attack on the 2nd day, I am not sure that a really wide flanking movement was possible given the size of staff Lee had and the spread out state of Lee's army. Longstreet would have had to extend to the right, then Ewell would have to withdraw from his position and pass around hill and Longstreet to extend to the right. With Stuart unavailable, Lee had no one able to scout out the road net and the enemy dispositions. He did have Jenkin's cavalry brigade, but they were more of a raiding bunch and lacked the discipline needed to cover a movement. It probably would have been easier to move Longstreet around to the left from his position to get to the left flank of the Army.

On the third day, lee tried to move Stuart's cavalry around to the left and get in behind Meade in coordination with Pickett's attack, but Stuart ran into crazy George Custer and got involved in a cavalry fight which was an inconclusive brawl.

The Battle of the Somme, July 1, 1916