In the battle of Gettysburg tell why Pickett's charge was a bad move by gene

Question: In the battle of Gettysburg tell why Pickett's charge was a bad move by general lee!?
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There was a intesting look into this battle the other night on the Military Channel called "Unsolved history" it talked of everything that went wrong with the charge!.

It said that Lee was desperate at the time!. He had pretty much lost the battle, and was trying one last desperate attempt with his best troops left to charge the Union Center position!.

Problem was two fold:

Artillery (cannons) were hidden in positions unseen till the Confed soldiers were well on their way to the union line!. These alone made a huge dent on the attackers!.

also There is a road and a picket fence that seperated the field of battle and the center Union line!.

They said that loses were so great by the time the attackers reached the road that they believe many turned around or were unwilling to continue a useless charge!.

Those who did go on were shot at as they tried to scale the fence!. Now they said there's a good chance a lot of the fence was destroyed before that but the Union line would have had a field day just picking em off!.

That being said, Its clear that Lee had no chance at a victory at that point in the battle!. He underestimated the artillery positions that he could not see, and the will of the Union army behind a simple fence!.

Very bad move
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I agree with the other posters about artillery and distance!. The CSA artillery dreadfully overshot their intended target in the center which was intended to scatter and soften the Union lines!. But the real problem with the plan was that it never should have happened in the first place!. James Longstreet tried in vain to talk Lee out if it repeatedly!. But after stunning southern victories at Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg Lee was hungry to devastate the army of the Potomac once and for all!. It's called Pickett's Charge but it was actually Longstreet who put it together, Pickett was just one of his division commanders, not the architect of the assault!. Longstreet knew marching three divisions across nearly a mile of open field would be a bloodbath!. Union cannon could shred their lines long before the CSA was within musket range!. Longstreet suggested they withdraw from Gettysburg toward the lightly defended Washington which would force Meade to pursue!. The CSA could then re-engage on ground of their choosing where the numerical superiority of the Union would not be a factor!. Another poster commented on tactic not keeping up technology and that is absolutely correct!. Lee was very much a student of mass assaults in large ranks!. The march also bought time to reinforce the center and repel the attack!. Very few confederates actually reached the wall and not nearly enough to do any real damage to the Union line!. Had Lee listened to Longstreet, well the war may well have had a different outcome!. Instead, the Army of Northern Virgina would never again be a potent offensive force!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The first book is an informative account of the whole Gettysburg campaign and Lee's reasoning behind some of his decision making!. I don't agree with all of the conclusions of the second book, but it is an interesting study of Civil War tactics!.

The charge at Gettysburg was a bad move just as the assault on the Somme in the First World War was a terrible and costly move!. The introduction and widespread use of the "rifled musket" had increased the power of the defense to withstand an attack even by highly motivated attackers!. Tactics still lagged behind technology!.

also remember that Lee was was educated in a military society that idolized Napoleon and his bold tactical moves!. He would have been wise to remember Waterloo!.

Lee had already shown a propensity for aggressive moves many times earlier as witnessed at Malvern Hill, another frontal assault which ended badly, though the Union forces did retreat!. Meade had decided to stand firm and this doomed the charge from the beginning!.

My opinion is that after the failure of the second day, Lee should have tried to disengage and force the Union to attack him in a defensive position!. Admittedly this would have been difficult!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It wasn't really a bad move, I believe it was the only best option he can do!.
In the past few days, Lee already attack the Union's two flank at Little Round Top and Cemetery Hill!. The Union concentrate most of their defense in the two flank!. The middle would be the weakest and if Lee broke the middle, it will have split the Union army in two!.
Like In the movie, Gettysburg, they told Chamberlain that it was the safest place in the whole battlefield!.

It was a "bad move" because they would have to march about a mile to reach the Union's line while being hit by artillery shells and lead!. There was also a fence there that made it difficult for the troops to get over!.
And also Lee planed for his artillery to destroy the Union's artillery before the charge like at Fredericksburg!. It didn't work out as he plan!.
Gen!. Longstreet was against it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Napoleonic assaults were outdated, in view of rapid fire artillery and entrenched musketry fire!. Rebel artillery overshot most of their targets and caused damage to supply units in the rear!. One unit of rebel artillery was supposed to close in behind the advancing line, however, in the fog of war, they moved to the rear!. Rebel caissons were also moved to the rear in order to get out of reach of Union guns!.

Because of the shape of the Union line (a 'fish hook') they were able to bring reinforcements up quickly to bolster the center defence!. Lee had gambled that the attacks on the flanks the previous day had weakened the Union line!.

Going against entrenched positions with massed artillery over a clear field of fire on July 3rd was totally a blunder on Lee's part!. So why did the greatest tactician of the war fail on this account!?

There were several reasons why the greatest tactician of the war blundered at Gettysburg, namely:

1!. he felt his boys were invincible

2!. the attacks on the left and right the previous two days should have left the center weakened!.

3!. the preliminary artillery bombardment was the largest of the war up till that time, they were supposed to silence the union guns!.!.!.!.unfortunately most overshot their target and wrought havoc among the supply units in the Union rear!.

4!. Supporting units of confederate artillery were supposed to advance with the rebel lines to support their attack, instead, the unit retreated due to misinformation!.

5!. Artillery caissons were sent to the rear trying to avoid Union fire, which only lessened the rebel cannonade!.

6!. The Union artillery fell silent wanting to conserve their ammunition for the main attack, instead it misled the rebels into thinking that the Union guns were silenced by the cannon fire!.

7!. Ewell was supposed to coordinate his attack on the Union right flank, instead he attacked to early and was driven back!. The plan was for him to attack at the same time as the Pickett-Pettgrew assault!. Since the Union line was a 'fish hook' shape, they could easily shift reinforcements to the center where they were needed!.

So it may look like a blunder some 144 years later, but at the time, there may have been more of a chance to succeed then it appears to us now!.
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he salivated alright but did not hold on to his weak ****!.He did not recharge by taking the first hungry white ***** full of oat meal!.Long live the hungry white ***** with a lot of techo!.Www@QuestionHome@Com