Did 'Baldy' Ewell Lose Gettysburg?

By Samuel J. Martin

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After disobeying Robert E. Lee’s orders to avoid a general
engagement at Gettysburg, Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell received
an order to ‘press those people.’ His failure to do so
created a controversy that survives to this day.

Late in the afternoon of July 1, 1863, after a full day of fierce fighting, Confederate troops finally drove the Union defenders from the fields west of Gettysburg. As the Union troops fled east toward the haven of Cemetery Hill, General Robert E. Lee sent the following order to Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell, commander of the II Corps, whose men had gained victory that day: “The enemy [is] retreating over those hills…in great confusion. You only need press those people to secure possession of the heights….Do this, if possible.” Legend tells us that, at that crucial moment, “Old Bald Head” lost his nerve. Instead of pursuing the fleeing Union soldiers, who were so panicked they could not defend themselves, Ewell held back, allowing the Federals to entrench atop Cemetery Hill. The advantage of holding the heights led to the Union victory at Gettysburg. Ewell’s indecision supposedly cost the South the battle.

While this is an interesting story–and one that has been repeated again and again in many books about the Civil War–it is also a lie that libels Ewell. The story was concocted by Lee’s apologists in a postwar attempt to shift the blame for losing the battle from their hero onto Ewell. In truth, Lee sent no definitive orders directing Ewell to pursue the enemy when the Union lines broke at Gettysburg, and Ewell was not benumbed by indecision when he should have been chasing the Federals to prevent them from establishing an impregnable position on top of Cemetery Hill. The proof of this lies in a close study of the battle, including the location and strength of the opposing forces once the first day’s fighting had ended, and in how the key participants reacted to the changing events of the day.

It all began because too many Rebels were barefoot. “A large supply of shoes were stored in Gettysburg, but there was evidently a [Union] cavalry force occupying the town,” Confederate Maj. Gen. Henry Heth stated, “and [my] men reported the beat of drums, indicating infantry.” There was always the risk of battle, but Heth went to his superior, Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill, chief of the III Corps in Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. “If there is no objection, I will march my division…to Gettysburg, and secure those shoes,” Heth requested. “Do so!” Hill replied.

Heth started his column of 7,500 troops, including the infantry brigades led by Brig. Gens. James J. Archer, Joseph R. Davis, John M. Brockenbrough and James J. Pettigrew, down Chambersburg Pike toward Gettysburg at 5 a.m. on July 1. About three miles west of the small crossroads village, Heth’s advance was met by Federal skirmishers from Colonel William Gamble’s brigade of Maj. Gen. John Buford’s cavalry division. This confrontation started about 5:30 a.m.

Gamble’s objective was to delay the Rebels until Union infantry reached the field. The Union Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George C. Meade, was hurrying through Maryland to intercept the Confederates, who were concentrating just north of the border.

When the Union pickets opened fire, Heth halted, formed into battle line and began to slowly probe his front to test the strength of the force that was blocking his way into Gettysburg. Two hours passed. When the Confederates finally climbed Herr Ridge, they saw ahead a meandering creek, Willoughby Run. On the opposite bank, the ground sloped upward to McPherson’s Ridge, where Gamble’s 1,600 men were posted. Heth sent Archer’s and Davis’ brigades, totaling 3,800 troops, ahead to face the Union line. They exchanged fire from a distance with the Federal cavalry for two more hours.

At about 10 a.m., Union Maj. Gen. John Reynolds’ infantry corps came marching into Gettysburg. Brigadier General James A. Wadsworth’s division, including the brigades led by Brig. Gens. Lysander Cutler and Solomon Meredith, arrived first and pressed forward to relieve Gamble’s exhausted troops, who were still aligned along McPherson’s Ridge. The cavalry withdrew to the left, below the slope, as a reserve force. Just as Wadsworth’s men took their post, the Confederates under Archer and Davis charged. Both sides absorbed terrible losses in the one-hour melee. At first the Southerners prevailed, but a Northern counterattack pushed them back.

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