Edward Johnson was the Confederate division commander ordered to take Culp’s Hill on the evening of July 1, 1863.
Johnson commanded the Third Division of Richard S. Ewell’s Second Corps. After Confederate forces drove Union troops through Gettysburg on the battle’s first day, Ewell had discretionary orders to seize the high ground south of town. Culp’s Hill was one of the key positions because its capture could make the Union line on Cemetery Hill untenable.
Johnson’s division had just arrived, and he was instructed to take Culp’s Hill if it had not already been occupied. He sent a small reconnaissance party forward, but it encountered Union soldiers from the 7th Indiana and was nearly captured. Johnson did not launch a full assault.
The delay proved consequential. Union troops consolidated the heights, and reinforcements from the XII Corps approached from the east. Johnson later captured portions of Culp’s Hill during fighting on July 2, but the missed opportunity on the first evening became one of the battle’s most discussed decisions.