In fact, seven brigades were concentrated in the attack upon Steuart's brigade, and they were supported by a powerful artillery. Whitelaw Reed says, "From four to five there was heavy cannonading from our batteries nearest the contested point * * * the rebels made no reply * * * the musketry crash continued with unparalleled tenacity and vehemence." Bates says, "The batteries began to open again on points along our outer line. They were evidently playing on what had been Slocum's line of yesterday. The rebels then were still in our rifle pits. Presently the batteries on Slocum's Hill opened too, aiming apparently in the same direction."
VI. Third Day.
We come now to the third and last day of the battle.
Count von Wartenburg, in his brilliant work on the campaigns of Napoleon (published in 1902), says: "In the case of Lee we admire much that is Napoleonic in the conception of his plans." Now his determination to pierce the center of Meade's line on the third day was the adoption of one of Napoleon's favorite methods. "The young general, Bonaparte, initiated his brilliant career by piercing the enemy's center: he employed the same method again in 1812 in the most magnificent and well thought out manner, and once more in the opening of the last of all his campaigns. At Austerlitz he ordered Marechal Soult to assail the heights of Praetzen, thus piercing the center of the Austro-Russian army. This gave him the victory. In the same way at Rivoli, he sacrificed his wings in order to decide the issue in the center; and again at Eylau; and yet again at Wagram." In the same way Lee now determined to assail the center of Meade's line, and gave directions to Longstreet to make the assault early next morning.
But the question has been raised "Was Lee justified in expecting success in adopting this Napoleonic method at this center? Was there any reasonable hope of success in the grand assault which he ordered on the third day of the battle?"
In answering this question we may now take into account
