GDG- Harry Heth and the First Morning at Gettysburg

[CWMHTours at aol.com]

Good post Jim-  You usually make some good  points.
 
A  Loyal Neo-Anti Unionist,
Peter  

 
In a message dated 1/29/2012 9:47:48 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
cameron2 at optimum.net writes:

Esteemed  GDG Member Contributes:
<<  He would have done better to regret  the wasting of two brigades in
an ill-conceived, hasty attack based on  false beliefs, the drive to be
approved by his superiors, and his impulsive  nature."   >>

Is sending in the two brigades seen as  ill-conceived because of the 
outcome?  Suppose Reynolds' two brigades  were half an hour later arriving.  
Archer and Davis blow through Buford's  screen, and Heth reaches the town.  Would 
we be calling such an advance  well conceived, if it had accomplished its 
purpose?  As to being hasty,  Heth didn't put the two brigades on line until 
he'd already been pushing the  Union force back for quite a while just by 
skirmish line action.  Since  he had no means by which to recon beyond the 
opposing force, yet at the same  time, nothing to suggest it was strong enough 
to resist an advance by two  infantry brigades (which in fact Buford's force 
wasn't, until Reynolds'  infantry came up), sending the two brigades 
forward when he did might well be  seen as a timely decision.  I have a hard time 
seeing how Heth's actions  thta morning can be considered to have been 
implusive.

Jim  Cameron
----------------http://www.arthes.com/mailman/listinfo/gettysburg_arthes.com
  -to unsubscribe
http://arthes.com/pipermail/gettysburg_arthes.com/ for  Archives