Originally Posted by paulcg77

Alonzo Cushing was an incredible patriot who continued to direct his artillery while literally holding his intestines in his hand, all the way until he was shot in the head. His service and sacrifice were remarkable, but with the utmost respect to him both as an American and a veteran, the failure of Pickett's Charge was the result of much more than one man on either side (other than perhaps Lee himself in deciding to order it).

Where to start? Alexander Porter's reb artillery failed to break up the union artillery or soften the infantry in the center for a variety of reasons, leaving the majority of the union position intact behind a stone wall. Then 12,000+ rebs had to march in Napoleonic formations nearly a mile across a gigantic open field with no cover in 90 degree heat and attack a (largely intact) fortified position with good cover that was slowly picking them off with accurate rifle fire and grapeshot. By the time the rebs even got close, they had suffered nearly 50% casualties and were demoralized, and some of their field commanders, like General Trimble, gave confusing orders that caused multiple regiments to move and attack uncoordinated and to get outright slaughtered. Pickett's Charge was not a single point failure or success. It was a combination of failures for the rebs and a combination of luck, bravery and skill for the union.