Tom...

After the war, James Longstreet and Cadmus Wilcox carried on a "spirited" public debate about the Battle of Gettysburg. In one article, Longstreet blamed most of the failures of the 2nd and 3rd days' fighting on Wilcox's failure to follow orders. Wilcox denied the allegations and accused Longstreet of much of the same thing. Wilcox's long rebuttal to Longstreet can be found in Southern Historical Society Papers, "Gen. C. M. Wilcox on the Battle of Gettysburg," vol. 6, no. 3, 1878. While I am a Wilcox supporter (I also like Longstreet), I have to agree with his assessment of Longstreet at Gettysburg. He also goes further than most critics in claiming that Longstreet's entire corps had been ordered to attack. It's interesting reading.

I have never seen anything about the 12th Alabama firing into the 20th NC. I am not sure of the location of the 20th or if the description refers to the second day (it sounds like it does). If the 20th was in the vicinity of the 12th it was possible, since the regimenmts had all overlapped and Union forces were fighting in between Confederate regiments.

John