e of a horseshoe.
The Twelfth Corps was on the extreme right; next came one division
of the First Corps on Culp's Hill, then the Eleventh Corps on
Cemetery Hill, with two divisions of the First Corps at the base;
next the Second Corps; then the Third, and the Fifth Corps on the
extreme left, the Sixth Corps being posted in rear of Round Top as
a general reserve to the army. Sickles, however, denies that any
position was ever marked out for him. He was expected to prolong
Hancock's line to the left, but did not do so for the following
reasons: _First,_ because the ground was low, and _second,_ on
account of the commanding position of the Emmetsburg road, which
ran along a cross ridge oblique to the front of the line assigned
him, and which afforded the enemy an excellent position for their
artillery; _third,_ because the ground between the valley he was
expected to occupy, and the Emmetsburg road constituted a minor
ridge, very much broken and full of rocks and trees, which afforded
excellent cover for an enemy operating in his immediate front. He
had previously held an interview with General Meade and asked that
an experienced staff officer be sent with him to assist in locating
a suitable position for his corps. At his request, General Hunt,
the Chief of Artillery, was sent for that purpose. They rode out
to the ridge and Sickles directed that his troops should be posted
along that road, with his centre at the Peach Orchard, which was
about a mile from and nearly opposite to Little Round Top; his
right wing, under Humphreys, extending along the road, while his
left wing, under Birney, made a right angle at the Peach Orchard
with the other part of the line, and bent around, so as to cover
the front of Little Round Top at the base. The disadvantages of
this position are obvious enough. It is impossible for any force
to hold its ground when attacked at once on both sides which
constitute the right angle. The diagram shows that the force _A_
will have both its lines _a1_ and _a2_ enfiladed by batteries at
_b1 b2_, and must yield. The ground, however, may be such that
the enemy cannot plant his guns at _b1_ or _b2_; but under any
circumstances it is a weak formation and the enemy easily penetrate
the angle. When that is the case, and it was so in the present
instance--each side constituting the angle is taken in flank, and
the position is no longer tenable.

[Diagram]
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| _b2