During Gettysburg, how was Lee's artillery organization different from Meade's?

• A. Lee's artillery was dispersed among corps and divisions.
• B. Meade's artillery was more unified and centralized with a reserve.
• C. Lee centralized artillery, Meade dispersed.
• D. Both centralized

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is how artillery was deployed on the battlefield: massed fire versus distributed support. At Gettysburg, Lee did not keep his batteries in a single, centralized pool. Instead, his guns were spread out with the main infantry corps and often attached to divisions, providing artillery support directly where the infantry fought. This meant fire could be brought to bear with the units it supported, but there wasn’t a strong, centralized reserve that could be massed for a heavy, coordinated strike.

Meade organized his artillery differently. He maintained an Artillery Reserve that could be concentrated and fired as a unified force, along with batteries assigned to corps as needed. That centralized approach gave him the ability to mass fire for counter-battery actions or to support crucial moments in the battle.

So the distinction is that Lee’s artillery was dispersed among corps and divisions, while Meade’s was more centralized with a reserve ready to mass fire when required.