Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War
The story takes place in 1863 when Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia are victorious at the Battle of Gettysburg instead of the United States. (Instead of attacking the Union line on July 2, 1863, Lee conducts a broad turning movement and forces the Army of the Potomac to attack him in a favorable position.) Gettysburg becomes something of a footnote in the main battle, which takes place at Union Mills in Maryland. The defeat at Union Mills is a grave setback to the United States, but it by no means spells the end of the war or determines its outcome, and the United States still has a lot of fight in it.
Evander M. Law
In 1863, Law accompanied Longstreet's Corps to Suffolk, Virginia, which prevented his participation in the Battle of Chancellorsville. However, the corps returned to the Army of Northern Virginia in time for the Gettysburg Campaign. At the Battle of Gettysburg, Law's brigade fought in the unsuccessful assault on the Union left on July 2, 1863, on Little Round Top and the Devil's Den. He assumed temporary division command after John Bell Hood was wounded. Some historians have criticized Law for the lack of coordination that existed in Hood's division while he served as a temporary commander. Gettysburg historian Harry W. Pfanz suggested that Law's "control of the division as a whole that afternoon was not very active and strong." He did not appoint his own successor at brigade command until after the fighting was over for the day, leaving his regiments without direction. None of Hood's other brigade commanders reported receiving any commands from Law during the battle.