Charge of Ewell's Corps on the cemetery [sic] gate.

Credit: Library of Congress

This contemporary painting depicts the fighting near the Cemetery gate between Confederate troops from General Richard Ewell's 2nd Corps and the Union's Eleventh Corps under Oliver Otis Howard. Almost from the moment the battle at Gettysburg ended, Ewell came under harsh criticism for failing to aggressively pursue the retreating Union forces up Cemetery Hill in the waning light of the first day's fighting on July 1, 1863. This allowed the Union to occupy crucial high-ground that proved critical to the Union victory.