ee's full strength should
break through before his own last men were up. His right was not
safe against surprise by the Confederates who slept at the foot of
Culp's Hill, and his left was in imminent danger from Longstreet's
corps. But on the second day Longstreet marked his disagreement
with Lee's plans by delaying his attack till Warren, with admirable
judgment, had ordered the Round Tops to be seized at the double
quick and held to the last extremity. Then, after wasting enough
time for this to be done, Longstreet attacked and was repulsed;
though his men fought very well. Meanwhile Ewell, whose attack
against the right was to synchronize with Longstreet's against
the left, was delayed by Longstreet till the afternoon, when he
carried Culp's Hill.

This was the only Confederate success; for Early failed to carry
Cemetery Hill, the adjoining high ground, which formed the right
center, and the rest of the Federal line remained intact; though
not without desperate struggles.

The third was the decisive day; and on it Meade rose to the height
of his unappreciated skill. This was the first great battle in
which all the chief Federals worked so well together and the first
in which the commander-in-chief used reserves with such excellent
effect, throwing them in at exactly the right moment and at the
proper place. But these indispensable qualities were not of the
kind that the public wanted to acclaim, or, indeed, of the kind
that they could understand.

Meade was determined to clear his flanks. So he began at dawn to
attack Ewell on Culp's Hill and kept on doggedly till, after four
hours of strenuous fighting, he had driven him off. By this time
Meade saw that Lee was not going to press home any serious attack
against the Round Tops and Devil's Den on the left. So the main
interest of the whole battle shifted to the center of the field, where
Lee was massing for a final charge. The idea had been to synchronize
three cooeperating movements against Meade's whole position. His left
was to have been held by a demonstration in force by Longstreet
against the Devil's Den and Round Tops, while Ewell held Culp's
Hill, which seemed to be at his mercy, and which would flank any
Federal retreat. At the same time Meade's center was to have been
rushed by Pickett's fresh division supported by three attached
brigades. But though the central force was ready before nine o'clock
it never stepped off till three; so great was Longstreet