Decision 3 of 4

Result: Minor Confederate Defeat

Longstreet's I Corps marches and countermarches to avoid Union observation until finally, the attack begins in the afternoon. Union General Sickles' III Corps is shattered in the Peach Orchard. Seeing the deteriorating situation, General Warren of the Union V Corps moves his men into position to defend the high ground of the Round Tops.

Rebel troops assault both hilltops ferociously and attempt to swing some troops even further south but are repulsed by Union cavalry. After intense fighting among the rocks and trees throughout the day and evening, no Confederate breakthrough occurs in the south. (Continued below map)

In the north, Confederate forces attempt to storm what has become a Union fortress on Cemetery Hill. At great cost, some gains are made, but a constant stream of Union reinforcements counterattack and regain whatever ground the Southerners take.

Both sides suffer enormous casualties. The flanks of the Union army have held against repeated assaults but the fate of the battle is still not decided. As night falls, the final reinforcements of both armies continue to join the battlefield for the final, decisive day.

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