Position.

From General James Longstreet's memoirs of the Second Day of Gettysburg ...

The stars were shining brightly on the morning of the 2d when I reported at General Lee's head-quarters and asked for orders. After a time Generals McLaws and Hood, with their staffs, rode up, and at sunrise their commands filed off the road to the right and rested. The Washington Artillery was with them, and about nine o'clock, after an all-night march, Alexander's batteries were up as far as Willoughby's Run, where he parked and fed, and rode to head-quarters to report.

As indicated by these movements, General Lee was not ready with his plans. He had not heard from his cavalry, nor of the movements of the enemy further than the information from a despatch captured during the night, that the Fifth Corps was in camp about five miles from Gettysburg, and the Twelfth Corps was reported near Culp's Hill. As soon as it was light enough to see, however, the enemy was found in position on his formidable heights awaiting us. 

Confusion then seems to have ruled the day ...

American Battlefield Trust analyzes the leadership on Day Two ... 

I highly recommend further exploration of the Trust's Gettysburg pages. 

Gettysburg.

The American Battlefield Trust looks at Tom Marchesani's newly launched application depicting troop movements of the Battle Of Gettysburg ...

Spirit.

Pyle, The Fight on Lexington Common, April 19, 1775, 1898

The American Revolution began on this morning in 1775.

CONCORD HYMN

By the rude bridge that arched the flood, 

   Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, 

Here once the embattled farmers stood 

   And fired the shot heard round the world. 

The foe long since in silence slept; 

   Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; 

And Time the ruined bridge has swept 

   Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. 

On this green bank, by this soft stream, 

   We set today a votive stone; 

That memory may their deed redeem, 

   When, like our sires, our sons are gone. 

Spirit, that made those heroes dare 

   To die, and leave their children free, 

Bid Time and Nature gently spare 

   The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Further ...

• The American Battlefield Trust explains … HERE.
• Imagining the Battle of Lexington, a look at the artist depictions of the first battle of the American Revolution … HERE.
• Concord Museum:  The Shot Heard Round the World: April 19, 1775
• The American Revolution in Four Minutes: Lexington and Concord

Escalate.

O'Sullivan, Little Round Top, 1863

The American Battlefield Trust on Gettysburg ...

On the second day of battle, the Union defends a fishhook-shaped range of hills and ridges south of Gettysburg. The Confederates wrap around the Union position in a longer line. That afternoon Lee launches a heavy assault commanded by Lieut. Gen. James Longstreet on the Union left flank. Fierce fighting rages at Devil's Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard, and Cemetery Ridge as Longstreet’s men close in on the Union position. Using their shorter interior lines, Union II Corps commander Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock and others move reinforcements quickly to blunt Confederate advances. On the Federal right, Confederate demonstrations escalate into full-scale assaults on East Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill. Although the Confederates gain ground on both ends of their line, the Union defenders hold strong positions as darkness falls.

The Gettysburg episode of the Trust's masterful series, In Four Minutes ...

An animated map of the battlefield ...

Spirited.

Riley, The Battle of Bunker Hill, N/d

The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on this day in 1775.

As always, American Battlefield Trust nails it ...

On this sultry afternoon, Gage and his commanders order British regulars and grenadiers to move across Boston Harbor and disembark in lower Charlestown, where Gage will force the rabble’s hand with an assault. As the British move into position, the fatigued but spirited defenders are on the alert inside their hastily built fortifications.

Led by Gen. William Howe, King George’s troops climb Breed’s Hill in perfect battle formation. Legend has it that as they advance, American officer William Prescott cautions his men not to waste their powder, exclaiming “don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes” ...