meade made his decision late that night in a council of war that included his senior staff officers and corps commanders. the assembled officers agreed that, despite the beating the army took, it was advisable for the army to remain in its present position and to await attack by the enemy, although there was some disagreement about how long to wait if lee chose not to attack. there is some evidence that meade had already decided this issue and was using the meeting not as a formal council of war, but as a way to achieve consensus among officers he had commanded for less than a week. as the meeting broke up, meade took aside brig. gen. john gibbon, in command of the ii corps, and predicted, "if lee attacks tomorrow, it will be in your front. ... he has made attacks on both our flanks and failed and if he concludes to try it again, it will be on our centre."