| July 2, 12:00 noon | J.E.B. Stuart, riding ahead of his troops, arrives at Lee's headquarters. Lee, visibly displeased, orders him to bring his troops to the Confederate left, to defend that flank against D. Gregg's Union cavalry division (2/Cavalry) operating near Brinkerhoff's Ridge, and free the Confederate infantry brigade there (Stonewall/Johnson/Second) for the main battle at Culp's Hill. |
| July 2, 7:00 | Two of Stuart's cavalry brigades arrive; the third will arrive in the middle of the night. |
| July 2, 9:00 | Meade calls a council of war at his headquarters. The council decides unanimously to stay in position and await attack the next day. |
| July 3, midnight | General Williams, commanding XII Corps, discovers the gap in the XII Corps line and Confederates in the corps's lost entrenchments. He, Slocum, and Meade agree to attack at dawn to recapture the lost ground. |
| July 3, 1:00 | Lee sends orders to Longstreet and Ewell to renew their attacks on the Union flanks at dawn. Ewell receives the order and prepares to carry it out; Longstreet, apparently, never receives it. |
| July 3, 4:00 | Daniel's Brigade (Daniel/Rodes/Second), O'Neal's Brigade (O'Neal/Rodes/Second), and Smith's Brigade (Smith/Early/Second) take position as reinforcements to Johnson's Division (Johnson/Second) for its attack on Culp's Hill. |
| July 3, 4:30 | Union artillery opens fire on the right flank, to prepare for an assault by XII Corps to retake the lost entrenchments. The Confederate batteries cannot safely reply without hitting their own men. |
| July 3, 5:00 | Johnson's division opens its planned assault; the Union army is forced onto the defensive and its planned attack is cancelled. Fortunately for the Union, the Confederate attack is aimed at the crest of Culp's Hill, which is well entrenched, and not at the gap in the Union lines a few hundred yards farther south. The Confederate attack is repulsed. |
| July 3, 6:00 | Lee meets Longstreet on the Confederate right. Longstreet, rather than attacking, is making preparations to move his divisions south of Round Top for a flanking attack up the Taneytown Road or farther east. Lee cancels plans for a morning attack (too late for Ewell, whose attack is already well underway) and begins to survey Cemetery Ridge as a possible attack point. |
| July 3, 8:00 | The Confederates on Culp's Hill, having no success with their first attack, extend their line to the left and bring up fresh brigades. Their attack reaches the gap in the Union lines, but Union reinforcements of Shaler's brigade (1/3/VI) counterattack and drive the Confederates back off the hill. |
| July 3, 8:30 | Lee, satisfied that no better plan is available, orders Longstreet to attack Cemetery Hill with the First Corps. Longstreet points out that Hood and McLaws are protecting the Confederate right flank, and suggests using Hill's troops instead; Lee assigns him Heth's Division (Heth/Third), and two brigades of Pender's Division (Pender/Third) to join Pickett's Division (Pickett/First). Longstreet protests that the attack cannot possibly succeed, and asks that Hill command it rather than himself. Lee persists with his plan. Pender and Heth are both out of action; Heth's division will be commander by Johnston Pettigrew, and Pender's by Isaac Trimble. |
| July 3, 9:00 | Pickett's Division begins forming for the attack behind Seminary Ridge. The other two divisions are already in place. |
| July 3, 10:00 | As
Johnson's attack is repulsed, the Union army
counterattacks. Two regiments from Colgrove's brigade
(3/1/XII) make a hopeless attack on the Confederates due
to a mistake in orders, but McDougall's brigade (1/1/XII)
retakes the lost Union entrenchments, and Neill's brigade
(3/2/VI) extends the Union right flank to a point where
the Confederates cannot turn it. Union infantry from II Corps decides to destroy the Bliss barn, which is blocking the fire of Union artillery. Their movement provokes an artillery duel that lasts an hour, as well as heavy skirmishing. |
| July 3, 11:30 | Stuart rides east on the York Road with his cavalry division, looking to get into the Union rear and provide a diversion from the main infantry attack to come that afternoon. |
| July 3, 1:15 | Confederate artillery on Seminary Ridge opens fire on Cemetery Ridge, to prepare the way for the coming infantry attack. Second and Third Corps batteries posted as far away as Oak Hill join the fire. Hunt orders the Union artillery to conserve its fire to save ammunition; Hancock overrides this order in the Second Corps front around 1:30. |
| July 3, 2:15 | The Confederate artillery spots what it thinks (mistakenly) is three Union batteries pulling out of the Union defensive line. Porter Alexander advises Pickett to attack at once if he is going to attack at all. |
| July 3, 2:30 | Pickett's, Pettigrew's, and Trimble's Divisions come out from the cover of the woods and commence their attack on Cemetery Hill. |
| July 3, 3:00 | The
flank brigades of Pettigrew's and Trimble's divisions are
forced to halt by flanking fire from Union troops in
advanced positions along the Emmitsburg Road. The other
brigades of the divisions advance to Cemetery Ridge but
cannot reach the Union line. On the Confederate right,
Stannard's brigade (3/3/I) advances to turn the
Confederate flank, forcing Kemper's Brigade
(Kemper/Pickett/First) to halt. Armisted's Brigade
(Armisted/Pickett/First), in the center across from
Webb's brigade (2/3/II), reaches and penetrates the Union
line on Cemetery Hill; a counterattack by Hall's brigade
(3/2/II) seals the gap and forces the Confederates to
retreat back to their lines under heavy artillery fire. Stuart's cavalry, approaching the Union's right about three miles from the main battlefield, is counterattacked by David Gregg's cavalry division (2/Cavalry) and Custer's brigade (2/3/Cavalry). After a furious but short fight, both sides withdraw to their original positions, and the fight has no effect on the outcome of the rest of the battle. |
| July 3, 5:30 | Upon hearing of the repulse of Pickett, Kilpatrick orders a cavalry charge by Farnsworth's Brigade (1/3/Cavalry) and Merritt's Regular Brigade (3/1/Cavalry) against Hood's Division on the Confederate right flank. The charge is hopeless and is easily repulsed. |
| July 3, 7:00 | Meade, contemplating a counterattack, orders V Corps, with support of VI Corps, to make a reconnaissance in force against the Confederate right. It finds McLaws's division in good defensive positions and Meade decides not to make any attack. |
| July 3, 11:00 | Lee, after consulting with his corps commanders, decides to retreat. The Battle of Gettysburg is over. |