Why did the south loose the battle of gettyburg?

Question: Why did the south loose the battle of gettyburg!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

They lost for a host of reasons!.
1 Lee was blind and didn't know what was in front of him due to Stewart being off to the north!.
2!. The union army acquired the HIGH ground!. Forcing the confederates to march across bare fields to get to them where they could rain artillery and cannon fire down as they advanced
3!. The confederates were outnumbered with no supply lines!.
4!. Lee's army had accomplished unachievable victory's by BOLD and risky chances taken!. Lee was beginning to believe his boys could do anything!.
5!. Lee's pride stood in the way, he didn't want to leave the battle field in the face of the enemy!. He could have easily withdrawn and battle at better ground later but was determined that he had the better army and could beat the Union army anywhere, anytime!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The primary answer was that Lee was saddled with a host of generals who had all become personalities by then, and all too often they went off and did their own things, leading to huge miscalculations on Lee's part!. Lee had not even intended to fight a battle at Gettysburg, but his subordinates forced his hand by getting involved in a huge cavalry fight!. His main cavalry commander had gone off on a wide ride raiding supply lines which left Lee with no idea what sort of Federal forces were in the area!. Longstreet did not follow his orders to seize the Round Tops when he should have (yes, there are all sorts of claims and counterclaims up to this day as to how much of a genius Longstreet was), leading up to the withdrawal of the Confederate supply train before their artillery could effectively prepare the Federal positions for assault!. However, the ridiculous idea to send Pickett's division into a suicide attack with no support and no reinforcements to assist if he succeeded, well, that was all Lee's fault (as he admitted when the shocked remmants straggled back - to his credit)!.

On the other hand, Meade had a host of non-entities as subordinates who were ready to follow their orders, do their jobs, and leave the initiative to their commander (with the exception of Custer, but he was so far off the battlefield that his little tantrum really had no effect on anything of any importance)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Location, location, location!.

The north had the high ground, and much better strategic position!. The South was playing offense, the north defense!.
Because the south had to launch a frontal assault against artillery, they suffered enormous losses!.

Look up Pickett's Charge -- it explains most of why the South lost at Gettysburg!.
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Pickett's_C!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

besides being out numbered the south also had to fight an uphill battle, the north had the high ground which is a huge advantage in warfareWww@QuestionHome@Com

becuz lincoln pooped!.Www@QuestionHome@Com