“_July 2, 1863, 8_ P.M. _The enemy attacked me about 4_ P.M. _this day, and, after one of the severest contests of the war, was repulsed at all points. We have suffered considerably in killed and wounded. Among the former are Brigadier Generals Paul and Zook, and among the wounded are Generals Sickles, Barlow, Graham, and Warren slightly. We have taken a large number of prisoners. I shall remain in my present position tomorrow, but am not prepared to say, until better advised of the condition of the army, whether my operations will be of an offensive or defensive character._” Later in the night, at a council of war held by Meade with his corps commanders—Gibbon, Williams, Sykes, Newton, Howard, Hancock, Sedgwick and Slocum—sentiment favored remaining and fighting a defensive battle. As Lee attacked both wings of Meade’s line on the 2nd it was expected that if another attack were made it would be on the center. This expectation was correct—Wright’s attack on the 2nd, when he succeeded in reaching Meade’s line south of the Angle, led Lee to believe that this was the most vulnerable point. General Lee had more definite plans: “_The result of this day’s operations induced the belief that, with proper concert of action, and with the increased support that the positions gained on the right would enable the artillery to render the assaulting column, we should ultimately succeed, and it was accordingly determined to continue the attack._” The general plan was unchanged. Longstreet, re-enforced by Pickett’s three brigades, which arrived near the battlefield during the afternoon of the 2nd, was ordered to attack the next morning, and General Ewell was directed to assail the enemy’s right at the same time. The latter, during the night, re-enforced General Johnson with three brigades from Rodes’ and Early’s Divisions. INCIDENTS OF THE SECOND DAY The Roger House The Roger House is located on the west side of the Emmitsburg Road, about a mile south of Gettysburg, midway between Meade’s line of battle on Cemetery Ridge and Lee’s line on Seminary Ridge. On the afternoon of July 2nd, after Sickles advanced his corps from its first position to the Emmitsburg Road, it was surrounded by the right of the new line. The 1st Massachusetts Regiment, whose monument stands adjacent to the house, held this part of the line, and was hotly engaged when the brigades of Wilcox and Wright advanced during the assault of Longstreet on the Union left on the afternoon of the 2nd. During Pickett’s Charge, on the afternoon of the 3rd, the house was again surrounded by fighting men.