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on Gettysburg had not precipitated a battle.
A British officer— Colonel Freemantle—was present as a spectator, and spent the night of July 1st at General Lonstreet's headquarters.
In his diary he says:
‘I have the best reason for supposing that the fight came off prematurely, and that neither Lee nor Longstreet intended that it should have begun that day. I also think that their plans were deranged by the events of the 1st.’
The record shows who is responsible for the loss of the campaign, and that it was not Stuart.
There were no orders to make a reconnoissance on July 1st, and no necessity for making one.
The success of the first day, due to the accident of Ewell's arrival on the field when he was not expected, was a misfortune to the Southern army.
It would have been far better if Ewell had let Hill and Heth be beaten.
They had put the Confederates in the condition of a fish that has swallowed a bait with a hook to it.
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Richmond, VA. 1895.
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