"On the 30th of June, I had been directed to have my division in readiness to follow General Ewell's corps. Marching toward Gettysburg, which it was intimated we would have passed by 10 o'clock the next day (the first of July), my division was accordingly marched from its camp and lined along the road in the order of march by 8 o'clock the 1st of July. When the troops of Ewell's corps--it was Johnston's division in charge of Ewell's wagon trains, which were coming from Carlisle by the road west of the mountains--had passed the head of my column, I asked General Longstreet's staff officer, Major Fairfax, if my division should follow. He went off to enquire, and returned with orders for me to wait until Ewell's wagon train had passed, which did not happen until after 4 o'clock P. M. The train was calculated to be fourteen miles long, when I took up the line of march and continued marching until I arrived within three miles of Gettysburg, where my command camped along a creek. This was far into the night. My division was leading Longstreet's corps, and of course the other divisions come up later. I saw Hood's division the next morning, and understood that Pickett had been detached to guard the rear. While on the march, at about 10 o'clock at night, I met General Longstreet and some of his staff coming from the direction of Gettysburg, and had a few moments conversation with him. He said nothing of having received an order to attack at daylight the next morning. Here I will state that until General Pendleton mentioned it about two years ago when he was on a lecturing tour, after the death of General Lee, I never heard it intimated even that any such order had ever been given."
- L. McLaws
Source: Southern Historical Society Papers, essay by Longstreet
Commentary
This is an excerpt from an account of Gettysburg written in 1873 by General LaFayette McLaws. He discusses his approach to Gettysburg, the night prior to the battle of the second, and indicates that there was no order to attack at sunrise that day. He further states that he had never heard of such a notion until General Pendleton's address on the matter.