I stand by what I said. This was not at the beginning of the War.
Lee knew who was behind that ridge. He knew their weaponry. He did NOT know their resolve.
Marching 15,000 men in to that hell, against his best General’s advice, was was at best irresponsible, at worst criminal.
Originally Posted by Jacky S
He did NOT know the weaponry held on the reverse slope. Yes he knew it was artillery, he did not know the number, and condition and the fact that fresh troops were arriving to reinforce the Federals. He knew Meade was the opposing Commander and he knew Meade was an overly cautious turtle.
There was a good chance if the Union acted as they had previously he could have beaten them. Union leadership was feckless and Meade failed to pursue Lee as he SHOULD have.
If it weren't for Buford and Reynolds on Day one recognizing the advantage of the terrain that gave the Union ideal defensive positions, Lee probably would have defeated the Union yet again. This time however it was Fredricksburg in reverse. Remember, the Federals didn't even occupy the key terrain of Little Round Top until day two. It's the site of the most important company level unit action under Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain... (A personal hero of mine). Grant understood what Chamberlain had done.. and thats the reason he was the one that received the Confederate surrender at Appomatox two years later.
There's a great movie based on Shaaras Killer Angels that (although preachy at times) is as good an overview of the battle as you will find outside of history books. We read Killer Angels during our battlefield tour of Gettysburg at USMA and I know for at least a decade after its release, parts of the movie were shown in MIL history classes at USMA to illustrate the action on the ground.
At the end of the day calling Lee a war criminal for Picketts charge is a ridiculous assertion. The ACW laid the groundwork for the carnage in Europe in 1914, barb wire, trench warfare, machine guns, Aerial observation... Americans did it all first.. on both sides.