Page "Edward Porter Alexander" Paragraph 10

Alexander's most famous engagement was on July 3, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg, during which he was in command of the artillery for Longstreet's corps.

On that day, he was effectively in control of the artillery for the full army ( despite Brig.

Gen. William N. Pendleton's formal role as chief of artillery under Lee ).

He conducted a massive two-hour bombardment, arguably the largest in the war, using between 150 and 170 guns against the Union position on Cemetery Ridge.

Unfortunately, the poor quality of the Confederate fuses delayed the planned detonation of many of the shells, and a number of the guns were not properly ranged, so that the rear areas sustained more damage than the front lines.

General Longstreet effectively put Alexander in charge of launching Maj. Gen. George Pickett on his famous charge, putting the young colonel under enormous pressure to determine whether the Union artillery defenses had been effectively suppressed.

Alexander would blame Lee for the defeat at Gettysburg, writing in 1901: " Never, never, never did Gen. Lee himself bollox a fight as he did this.