by Suzanne Marsh

Created on: January 19, 2009

Richard S. Ewell was the commanding General of the Second Corp Army of Northern Virginia and the worst Confederate General. General Ewell admitted after the battle of Gettysburg that most of the mistakes that were made, he made them, unfortunately that was all to true. General Ewell before he was injured at Seven Pines and lost his leg had been a favorite of "Stonewall Jackson". When General "Stonewall" Jackson was killed, General Robert E. Lee broke down the Army of the Northern Virginia into three corps: General James P. Longstreet led the First Corp, General Richard S. Ewell the second corp and General Ambrose Powell Hill led the third corp. Both Ewell and Hill were new to command of a corp however Ewell had also lost his leg and perhaps his nerve also.

General Robert E. Lee issued orders for the invasion of Pennsylvania, with instructions for General Ewell to invade Carlisle, Pennsylvania and burn the Carlislie Barracks, then IF PRACTICABLE to take Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. With that in mind Ewell marched, however he did not follow orders, if he had taken Harrisburg, that would have threatened several other northern cities including Philadelphia and New York City. That was undoubtedly part of Lee's original plans however once Lee arrived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania his plans changed: so did the outcome of the Civil War.

General Richard S. Ewell arrived in Gettysburg in a carriage with his wife whom he referred to as Mrs. Brown, he was ill prepared to fight any type of battle much less one as critical as Gettysburg. On the first day of battle General Robert E. Lee gave orders to General Richard S. Ewell to take the round tops IF PRACTICABLE. Big Round Top and Little Round Top were critical to Lee's plans to win the battle at Gettysburg however Ewell deferred to General Jubal Early, who was the second worst Confederate General. Lee waited for the Round Tops to be taken but to no avail, since Ewell and Early decided it was not practicable to take them! This in turn put the First Corp and General John Bell Hood in a very bad position on the second day of battle. Hood wanted to go Big Round Top and put artillery up there, however, there was no time to do that. Hood argued with Longstreet protesting that trying to take Little Round Top would wipe out his command after all, all the Union soldiers had to do was roll rocks down on them. If Ewell had taken Little Round Top the day before the roles would have been reversed, the chances are good that the Confederates might have won at Gettysburg.

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