Man enslaved by Jefferson Davis shares his story: https://youtu.be/WUTuyVG1nMk?si=bXs18e6vB2y9mFmJ

I agree with Richard M’s sentiment above that Lee’s string of prior successes emboldened him and he probably thought that his boys could do almost anything, especially with so much on the line. He came north for a reason, and likely understood where the war was ultimately going.

His army moved south so fast he out paced his own supply lines. So much so that they just gave up trying to reach his army.

“The monument known as the High Water Mark of the Confederacy really wasn’t the closest the South came to winning in the battle. Actually, the closest they came was on the second day of the battle.”

It seems we owe John Bachelder for the phrase and the monument, and William Faulkner for making it famous. I don’t think Lee had any real chance of decisively defeating Meade’s army after the First Day, but I agree that this seems to be another instance where the first draft of history really does get improved upon by later generations. The counterattack of the First Minnesota certainly seems braver, more desperate than Pickett’s Charge, or even the charge of the 20th Maine; maybe the real problem is that Gettysburg offers us so many desperate, courageous moments that some were bound to get short shrift, even from Civil War devotees. They got a terrific monument, at least.

I want to take a little bit to your account. The monument known as the High Water Mark of the Confederacy really wasn’t the closest the South came to winning in the battle. Actually, the closest they came was on the second day of the battle. Without orders, the Union general Sickles had moved his group almost a half mile forward for the Union line on Cemetery Ridge, into a peach orchard. In no time flat, his troops were facing the entirety of Longstreet’s II Corps, coming at them down the Emmitsburg Road.

As what is now called Sickles’ Salient was being caved in, a group of Alabama troops came around one end. Union general Hancock, who was everywhere on the first two days of the battle. saw the developing catastrophe. If the Alabama troops could make it through the gap, they would split the Union line in two.

Desperate, he looked around and saw a detachment of the 1st Minnesota coming up. He told their commander to charge the group of Alabama troops who were coming at them, who outnumbered them more than 6 to 1. The 1st Minnesota were veterans; thewy had been in 13 battles by this time. They knew what the orders meant. They meant they’d all been sentenced to death. Yet there was no hesitation, The 282 men burst into a charge that hit the Alabama boys in a dry creek bed.

Somehow, they made the Alabama brigade hesitate; the Alabama troops had the numbers to have rolled right over them. General Hancock had needed 5 minutes for other units moving in to seal the gap. The 1st Minnesota boys gave him almost ten.

262 men went charged across that field. 47 came back. The rest were all down or dead.

For my money, the High Water Mark of the Confederacy should be right where the 1st Minnesota’s charge went home.

“120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait”
(Edited by Tom Snyder, National Center for Education Statistics, 1993).

https://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp

Lee was a very good general (yes, he was); but Wheeler is right: Lee had a bad fortnight in the Gettysburg Campaign. Partly that’s down to health, but mainly, I think his tremendous run of success over the past 12 months led him to the point where he really thought his men could do anything, and concomitantly, that the Army of the Potomac leadership could always be outmaneuvered. At Gettysburg, he found the hard limits of both propositions. He was let down by failures of his subordinates (Stuart, Heth, Hill, Ewell) at various points, but ultimately the loss is on Lee.

While it is often said that the winners write the histories, it is more accurate to say that the articulate survivors write them. Reading WW2 accounts from several countries*, it is amazing how much contradiction there is in written eyewitness accounts. Talking to individuals often also revealed lack of accurate knowledge. Such as a bomber crewman bragging about having 50 caliber machine guns while the German fighters only had 30s. Unaware of the 20MM cannon standard on the ME109 and FW190.

*American, Japanese, German, English, Russian, And civilian from occupied areas.

I suspect one of the reasons for the civility in the Civil War was that many of the officers on both sides had served together prior to the outbreak of hostilities. Each knew the other, they were friends; and in many cases, had gone to the same school at West Point. One-and-done Confederate President Jefferson Davis (D) was a Hudson High grad, and former US Secretary of War. There was also the fact that folks on both sides had the same cultural touchstones. Everyone more-or-less had the same type of societal indoctrination in primary school that is necessary for a civilization. That hasn’t been true for decades in this country. Now, half the Country has no idea what the other half is talking about. Then, there were Americans, and, Democrats. Now, there are Americans, and, well, that part hasn’t changed

Bob Wilson: That Lincoln quote is exactly why he hired Grant. And it is exactly why Grant’s policy in taking power was to tell Meade his target was Lee’s army. You go where it goes.

As you know, the aftermath of the battle was hugely controversial. The union general, Meade, did a terrible job when he had Lee in his hands. He allowed Lee’s army the time to cross the flooded Potomac River and escape. What ifs are always controversial but if Meade had captured Lee’s Army the war might’ve been shortened by years.

Lincoln was hugely frustrated. He is quoted as saying

“We had them within our grasp. We had only to stretch forth our hands and they were ours. And nothing I could say or do could make the Army move.”

Wikipedia has what seems to be a good article on the battle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retreat_from_Gettysburg