D. Scott Hartwig. "Gettysburg Campaign". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
Brendan Wolfe. "Shoes at Gettysburg". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
Earl J. Hess and Brendan Wolfe. "Pickett's Charge". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
Brendan Wolfe. "Numbers at Pickett's Charge". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
Earl J. Hess and Brendan Wolfe. "Pickett's Charge". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
All American Civil War casualty numbers are approximate, no matter what the source.[7] Three types of documents were used to estimate casualties. These were: enlistment rolls, muster rolls and casualty lists.[7] Aside from spelling and other errors, many of these were subjected to the weather, lost or damaged.[7] Many Confederate records were destroyed by the end of the war leaving Union numbers the more accurate of the two estimates.[7]
By late 1862, Virginia was running out of food to feed its army.[11] Lee's horses were dying of disease because they had little or no fodder. The cavalry and artillery units had to be widely scattered behind his lines in order to find food for the horses.[11] In the winter of 1863, food trains from the south were becoming more and more scarce. One of Lee's main reasons for invading the North was to get supplies to continue the war. Lee's army foraged many of the small towns around Gettysburg for food and fodder.[12]
The addition of "shoes especially" in parentheses in Heth's report has blown up into one of the larger myths about Gettysburg.[18] It was even a question on the televisiongame showJeopardy!.[18] The misconception grew over many years, but was made larger by an 1897 newsletter of the American Podiatric Medical Association that stated there was a warehouse full of shoes at Gettysburg at the time.[17] There was no shoe factory or warehouse either in or near Gettysburg in 1863.[19] However there may have been a rumor at the time that shoes could be found there.[17] A few days earlier General Jubal Early's men came through Gettysburg and demanded a ransom including 1,500 pairs of shoes.[17] However, they left town empty handed.[17] All there was at Gettysburg in 1863 was a girl's school, a college and a carriage factory.[17] The battle at Gettysburg did not happen because of shoes.[18] It happened because 10 roads intersect at Gettysburg and both commanders had sent troops in that direction.[18]
Lee was used to giving discretionary, sometimes vague, orders leaving the final decision up to his commanders. He had done this routinely with General Stonewall Jackson, usually with great success.[21] But Jackson had been killed at Chancellorsville and Ewell had only recently been promoted to Corps commander. Ewell was used to following specific orders from Jackson that told him exactly what to do, not vague discretionary orders.[22] To add to the confusion, Lee repeated his earlier order not to cause a general engagement until the rest of the army had arrived.[23] Lee added he had no troops to support Ewell.[23]
