It was the roads...

Staff Officer Frank Haskell, of Brig. General John Gibbon's II Corps headquarters said, "Gettysburg was a point of strategic importance---a great many roads, some ten or twelve at least, concentrated there, so the army could easily converge to, or, should a further march be necessary, diverge from, this point."

Brig. Gen. Henry J. Hunt, who commanded the artillery at during the battle, testified about the Gettysburg battlefield, "[it] is a natural place, I should think...so many roads meeting there. If [General Lee] wanted to concentrate, it would be the most natural place for him to do so."

French historian of the Civil War, Louise Phillipe, Comte de Paris wrote, "Cemetery Hill completed, in a tactical point of view, the stategic advantages presented by Gettysburg: it commanded the town and all the roads adjoining it."

Maj. Gen. Carl Schurz of the Union XI Corps recalled, "If the enemy was bringing on the whole or a large part of his army...then we had to look for a strong position in which to the establish and maintain ourselves until reinforced or ordered back. Such a position was easily found at the first glance. It was on Cemetery Hill, which was to play so important a part in the battle to follow."

My reference is Lee's Real Plan At Gettysburg, by Troy D. Harman, 2003.

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David Upton