Longstreet Attacks at 4 p.m.

After an early morning reconnaissance, General Robert E. Lee planned for the battle's second day to strike the Union line at both ends, with diversionary attacks at Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill and a major assault at the southern end intended to roll up the Federal left. Lieutenant General James Longstreet, commanding the Confederate corps on this part of the field, spent several hours maneuvering fifteen thousand troops into concealed positions using routes hidden from Union lookouts on Little Round Top, and the infantry assault did not begin until 4:00 p.m. Meanwhile, the Union Third Corps under Major General Daniel E. Sickles had moved without orders to the high ground along the Emmitsburg Road west of Little Round Top. Major General John B. Hood's Confederate division on Longstreet's right swept out of the woods and across the fields against Sickles' artillery and infantry, with the possibility that success would allow the Confederates to seize the strategic but undefended Round Tops. Federal forces occupied Little Round Top moments before the Confederate attack, making its rocky slopes and commanding view a strong anchor for the Union line, while Big Round Top remained undefended until the evening of the second day.

Freedom Township, Pennsylvania · United States