July 6, 2024 – Session 6: Battle of Gettysburg – “Heavy Fighting on July 2”

This session will be a comprehensive overview of the Confederate assault on the Union flanks on the afternoon and evening of July 2nd. It will include the movements of the key units of both armies: elements of James Longstreet’s Confederate First Corps and Dan Sickles’s Union Third Corps as well as supporting units involved in the action. Often taking second place to events occurring on the southern part of the battlefield, the defense of Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill were equally important to the outcome of the Battle. We will move on to investigate the fighting on the Federal right flank. It will cover both the July 2nd attack on Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill by elements of Richard Ewell’s Confederate Second Corps as well as the Union counterattack and heavy fighting on the morning of July 3rd on Culp’s Hill. Affiliated actions on Power’s and Wolf’s Hill will be considered. The Second Day’s fighting resulted in the most casualties of any of the days at Gettysburg, engulfed the entire Union Line, and witnessed the two most important command controversies of the battle, The Lee-Longstreet and the Sickles-Meade controversies.  The Second Day could very well be the most significant day of fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg.