General Lee formed a plan of direct assault; but General Longstreet
was of opinion that a movement of the army to the Union left flank
would be preferable, and that by that method the flank might be turned
and the position of Meade carried with less loss and much less hazard.

Longstreet, however, did not oppose the views of his commander to the
extent of thwarting his purpose or weakening the plan adopted. On the
second of July the battle began in earnest about noon. The
Confederates advanced against the Union centre and left, and at a
later hour a strenuous and partly successful attack was made on the
Federal right. But complete success was not attained by Lee in any
part of the field. About sundown the Confederates gained considerable
advantage against Slocum, who held the line along Wolf Hill and Rock
Creek; and on the Union left a terrible struggle occurred for the
possession of Great and Little Round Top. In this part of the field
the fighting continued until six o'clock in the evening; but the
critical positions still remained in the hands of the Federals.

In the centre the contest was waged for the mastery of Cemetery Hill,
which was the key to the Union position. Here were planted batteries
with an aggregate of eighty guns, and here, though the assaults of the
Confederates were desperate and long continued, the integrity of the
Federal line was preserved till nightfall. The fighting along a front
of nearly five miles in extent continued in a desultory manner until
about ten o'clock on the July night, when the firing for the most part
ceased, leaving the two armies in virtually the same position which
they had occupied the day before.

This signified, however, that thus far the advantage was on the Union
side; for on that side the battle was defensive. The Confederate army