Editing Culp's Hill (section)

===Battle of Gettysburg, First Day===
{{main|Battle of Gettysburg, First Day}}
[[File:Confederate pickets on Culp's Hill.jpg|thumb|Confederate pickets on Culp's Hill (engraving from ''[[The Century Magazine]]'')]]
Culp's Hill was occupied originally on the nightfall of July 1, 1863, by troops of the Union Army, along with neighboring [[Cemetery Hill]], as a rallying point from the retreat following the Confederate victory that day north and west of town. [[Lieutenant General (CSA)|Lt. Gen.]] [[Richard S. Ewell]] had discretionary orders to seize the heights south of town, and he believed that Culp's Hill was unoccupied and therefore a good target, one that would make the Union position on Cemetery Hill untenable. His third division, under [[Major General (CSA)|Maj. Gen.]] [[Edward Johnson (general)|Edward "Allegheny" Johnson]], had just arrived on the battlefield, and Johnson was ordered to take the hill if he had not already done so.<ref>Coddington, pp. 297&ndash;99.</ref>

Johnson did not take Culp's Hill. He sent a small party to reconnoiter, and they encountered the 7th Indiana Infantry of the I Corps, part of [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brig. Gen.]] [[James S. Wadsworth]]'s division, which had been in the rear guarding the corps trains and was now linked up with the [[Iron Brigade]], digging in following their fierce battle on [[Seminary Ridge]]. Johnson's party was taken by surprise and almost taken prisoner before fleeing.<ref>Sears, p. 233.</ref>

Ewell's failure to take Culp's Hill or [[Cemetery Hill]] that evening is considered one of the great missed opportunities of the battle.<ref>Sears, pp. 233&ndash;34.</ref> Another reason for his reluctance to proceed was intelligence that Union troops were approaching from the east on the Hanover Road. This was the vanguard of the [[XII Corps (Union Army)|XII Corps]] under Maj. Gen. [[Henry W. Slocum]]. If those troops had arrived at the wrong time, Ewell's flank would have been turned.<ref>Coddington, pp. 314&ndash;16.</ref>