Introduction

Descriptions of July 1 always refer to Gen. Richard Ewell's outflanking of the Eleventh Corps north of town, sometimes to the flanking of the First Corps left along Seminary Ridge, but seldom to the successful assault on the First Corps right by Brig. Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur's North Carolina brigade against Brig. Gen. Gabriel Paul's Federals. This void is filled withour lead article, a detailed examination of that attack by Robert Wynstra.

Our next article is the second installment of Charles Norville's examination of the organization of the armies in July 1863. Having analyzed the Army of the Potomac in our last issue, he turns his investigative skills on the Northern Virginia including not only its structural changes in the preceding months but the adjustments among its leadership as well. Taken together, Norville's two articles represent a detailed analysis that sheds unique light on the advantages and disadvantages of the two armies based on their unit organizations and leadership.

Historians have long debated the merits or demerits of George Gordon Meade. Thomas Ryan enters this enduring fray with his own analysis of the first few days of Meade's tenure as commander of the Army of the Potomac. After reviewing numerous positive and negative commentaries by contemporaries and historians, he offers his own theory on why, as he says, "Meade's name and deeds have largely been relegated to historical limbo."

There has been increasing interest recently in the intelligence structures and activities of the two armies, including George Donne's Much Embarrassed: Civil War, Intelligence and the Gettysburg Campaign. His article focuses on the information gathering and analysis conducted by Lee and Hooker at the beginning of the campaign, before the Union change of command. In it he compares the views of the opposing generals on intelligence work to determine whether their diverging views created an advantage to one side or the other.

Historical mysteries are always popular with a large segment of readers and Gettysburg certainly has its share. One of these is the question of what happened to Confederate Brig. Gen. Richard Brooke Garnett who led his men into the face of Federal fire in Pickett's Charge only to seemingly disappear, his body never recovered. Emmanouil Skoufos looks at the early press reports—which only added to the confusion with their often contradictory reporting—initial Confederate reports, and the possible later confusion of artifacts attributable to Garnett, which may in fact have belonged to a relative, to show how difficult the historian's task often is.

Finally, in his "If You Want to Go" feature, Sonny Fulks looks at the artistic merit of some of the battlefield's monuments. "Gettysburg is the ultimate museum of art in nature," he writes, while illustrating this with his own original photographs that stand as works of art in themselves.

As always, we encourage our readers to submit their own research to Gettysburg Magazine, along with any comments or suggestions they might have.