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Lee has decided to launch the two divisions of James Longstreet's Corps on the field in a massive assault against the left, or southern end of the Yankee line. A.P. Hill's Corps will carry the attack on to Longstreet's left and at some point Lee feels he will find an opening to hit the flank, or side of the Federal line and then begin to knock it down like so many dominoes.

General Lee orders supporting attacks to take place against the right of the Yankee line. These assaults are intended to keep the Yanks busy at those points, disallowing them to shift troops to meet the weight of his main effort against the left of the blue line. Should they be successful, by all means continue these attacks. If the attacks are coordinated, the Confederate plan will be similar to a nutcracker, and smash the Yankees in the middle.

General Meade has ordered his army into a very strong defensive position, today known to us as the Yankees' "Fishhook Line" at Gettysburg. Shaped as a "J", we can see much of it from the Peach Orchard: About a mile east we can see the baldish crest of Little Round Top. Just to the south of this climbs a much higher eminence, logically enough known as Big Round Top. (Little Round Top and Big Round Top)However, just as we see today, the tall hill was covered then with a dense growth of trees, strewn with boulders and criss crossed with ravines and crevasses. It would be a good position with several days of preparation but time is a luxury neither army enjoys that July. Little Round Top has been harvested of its timber, opening it up to use as a strong position. We can see the Union line stretching north, marked today by the monuments dotting the crest of Cemetery Ridge. Previous to the war, the people of Gettysburg had established a cemetery on the hill the ridge leads to; this is known as Cemetery Hill. At the time of the battle the hill was largely devoid of trees. At this point Meade's line bends back in a southeasterly direction to Culp's Hill, the hook of the fishhook. Culp's Hill, as today, was heavily forested. While a very strong position, the loss of any of the three hills could seriously compromise the Yankees' chances.

An old bromide warns us 'The best laid plans of mice and men may go awry." And here we are given an example of just such an event. General D.E. Sickles of New York, a politician who has worked his way to command ofthe Union III Corps, over 10,000 strong, has been charged with the defense of the left end ofthe Union line in the area of the Round Tops. Without orders, Sickles advances his entire force forward to the Peach Orchard. This poses two significant problems to the Yankees. First, the left flank of their army is exposed, and second, Sickle's entire corps is open to destruction in its isolated position..

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