>>63977677 (OP)
IIRC the idea was Lee had spent time drawing forces from the center, and the charge would be against a lightly or lesser defended center. Even with the artillery, I think Lee was relying on less infantry as a screening. If you can push through heavy artillery fire, the artillery itself is never usually hard to deal with. See Charge of the Light Brigade for a similar example. The cannons ripped apart the charge but when they reached the Russian guns, they were still able to dispatch them, for a time (with other issues more pressing). Why the charge failed IIRC was moreso the infantry that the Union had more infantry than expected who were able to hold the Confederates in place for lack of a better term, the unmolested artillery still was able to fuck them up. Had they successfully breached and split and been able to maneuver their artillery things might have gone differently. TL:DR weakening the center and charging through had worked for Lee in the past and had a chance to work here, it is a good tactic if you have less supplies/men then the enemy and a determined charge can disrupt command and morale and lead to victory if you maintain an offensive tempo. But too many defenders slowing you down and it WILL fail.
