For two days the lush Pennsylvania ground around Gettysburg had been trampled and covered in blood. The hand of the Grim Reaper had reigned supreme. Yet when the sun broke the horizon on July 3, many knew that the carnage had not come to an end.

Robert E. Lee still had his eye on the Yankee line along Cemetery Ridge. The past two days of fighting had been to the Confederate advantage: July 1 ended with the Federals scrambling though the town with the Rebels hot on their heels; July 2 ended with the Confederates in some of the Union entrenchments on Culp’s Hill and in possession of the Peach Orchard, Wheatfield and Devil’s Den. The day’s only major disappointment for Lee’s army was not capturing Little Round Top.

Federal commander George Gordon Meade knew Lee was not going away. At a council of war during the late-night hours of July 2 he had opted to keep the Army of the Potomac in place to await Lee’s next move. He even told one of his subordinates that if Lee attacked it would be on that officer’s front.

For the men in the ranks on both sides their lives followed the same routine—many were hungry, others wondered if they had spent their last night on earth, while others simply went through their daily chores. But on all their minds was what the dawning day would bring. Now it was just a matter of time.

In this article I intend to describe and interpret details of the Union center and the action along that line on July 3 that do not appear in broader treatments of the Battle of Gettysburg. You will find material never before presented as well as some new interpretations that, without doubt, should stir debate.

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