[terryu1]

It was a series of bad calls. Starting with the cannonade which sailed harmlessly over the heads of Union troops due to bad intel. They assumed the Union forces were assembled more to the rear instead of being almost entirely distributed along the front line. There were many other factors as described but had the cannonade been able to "soften up" the Union line a little and cause disruption before the charge even began who knows what may have happened?? I have walked the route of Picketts charge several times (including at 1:00 AM , OK I like ghost hunting) and it is quite spiritual as you think about all that happened. It is quite an open walk in plain sight of "the angle" and the high water mark.