256 CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS
Chancellorsville were to be repeated. But there was no Stonewall Jackson to profit instantly by the enemy's con- fusion. Hancock, sent forward by Meade to take entire command, succeeded in pulling the troops together ; and Ewell, who was at the head of Jackson's corps, did not venture, in the uncertainties of coming darkness, to carry out the discretionary instructions that Lee had given him.
Therefore, when night closed, the Union army still held the strong position on the ridge, and the Confeder- ates had won no real victory. Their success had been such, however, as to convince most of them, including the commander-in-chief, that the next day would set Meade and his troops in full retreat toward Washington.
The next day came, July 2. Meade had established himself firmly on the curve of the ridge ; his flanks sup- ported each other. But at the southern end of the ridge. Great Round Top and Little Round Top were, in the morning, unduly exposed. It was here that Lee, relying upon Ewell at the northern end to distract the attention of the enemy, determined to make his main attack.
This attack was to be led by Longstreet, a splendid fighter, but a man too confident in his own opinions, and in this case, perhaps justly, in the opinion that Lee was making a mistake. Longstreet's heart was therefore not wholly in his work, and either from this reason, or from difficulties really insurmountable, he did not begin the assault on the Round Tops until the afternoon, when it was too late.
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