On a recent trip to Gettysburg I found myself standing in the rain atop Little Round Top watching as people tried desperately to free sodden shoes from the suction of sloppy mud. This got me to thinking…
How would the battle of Gettysburg had played out if instead of starting to rain the day after the battle it poured for the previous 3 days leading up to the battle?
The wheat field would have been a marsh, the same with the lands down around the Round Tops, and the north area of Culp’s Hill.
Because of this, Longstreet would not have been able to do his long march around to Devils Den and the Round Tops (or if he did, the noise of sloshing men would have been noticed long before Warren ordered a cannon shot fired over the woods). And the attack on Culps Hill would have been far harder, if it was done at all.
Would Lee have concentrated more of his force on the center to try and break the union lines there?
Would either side have withdrawn rather than fight over such terrain?
How would the battle of Gettysburg had played out if instead of starting to rain the day after the battle it poured for the previous 3 days leading up to the battle?
The wheat field would have been a marsh, the same with the lands down around the Round Tops, and the north area of Culp’s Hill.
Because of this, Longstreet would not have been able to do his long march around to Devils Den and the Round Tops (or if he did, the noise of sloshing men would have been noticed long before Warren ordered a cannon shot fired over the woods). And the attack on Culps Hill would have been far harder, if it was done at all.
Would Lee have concentrated more of his force on the center to try and break the union lines there?
Would either side have withdrawn rather than fight over such terrain?