Gettysburg – Morning of July 2, the Briefing

/ "Lee's battle plan for July 2 called for Longstreet's First Corps to position itself stealthily to attack the Union left flank, facing northeast, astride Emmitsburg Road, and to roll up the Federal line The attack sequence was to begin with Major Gens's divisions John Bell Hood and Lafayette McLaws, followed by Major General Richard H. Anderson's division of Hill's Third Corps, the progressive echelon sequence of this attack would prevent. Meade moved his troops from his center to reinforce his left at the same time, the divisions of the Second Army Corps of Major General Edward /"Allegheny/" Johnson and Jubal Early were to make a /"demonstration/" against Culp's and. Cemetery Hills (again, to prevent the movement of Federal troops), and transform the demonstration into a full-scale attack if a favorable opportunity presented itself.

Lee's plan, however, was based on faulty intelligence, exacerbated by Stuart's continued absence from the battlefield. Instead of moving beyond the Federal left and attacking their flank, Longstreet's left division, led by McLaws, would face Major General Daniel Sickles' III Corps directly in their path.

Longstreet's attack had to be launched as soon as possible; however, Longstreet obtained permission from Lee to wait for one of his brigades to arrive, and as they marched to the assigned position, his men came within sight of a Union signal station on Little Round Top. Counter-marches to avoid detection wasted much time, and Hood's and McLaws' divisions did not launch their attacks until just after 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively./"

An extract from the film Gettysburg, with English subtitles. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107007/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg#Plans_and_movement_to_battle

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