Mr. Allport,

1) Having an artillery piece not spiked is irrelevant. It takes time to reload such a piece and time is opportunity. Where there is a will, there is a way. Inexperienced infantry would have took additional time to reload and fire the piece.

Check you numbers. Having the numbers to defend a position and having the numbers to do a sustained assault are two different animals.

2) If you check the lines of advance for the Federals, I believe you will find that in order for the Confederates to impose themselves on the lines of advance in the immediate area of Gettysburg they would have been more exposed than in a prison shower. I would have to a more thorough terrain analysis but that terrain is pretty much rolling hills. What is an advantage for the defense is also an advantage for the offense. I have driven through there a number of times over the years and ran these scenarios through my Southern sympathizing noggin.

J.E.B. Stuart's "jilly-jacking" (I like that term, not quite doctrine but tragically humorously accurate) was pretty much fatal. The lack of effective cavalry doing its mission is fatal to the force it supports. What is the mission of the cavalry?
1. Reconnaissance. Route, Area, Zone Reconnaissance.
2. Security. Screen, Guard, Cover, Area Security.
3. Offensive Operations.
4. Defensive Operations.

The names have changed slightly but the mission hasn't since the beginning of mounted warfare.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

V/R

Gerald D. Hodge, Jr.
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired)
M.A. Military History - Civil War Concentration
Research - Preservation
Historian: 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
http://39thgavolinfrgt.homestead.com/39thHomepage.html
Athens, Tennessee