...the Battle of Gettysburg had begun, brought on without choice of Lee or Meade by the fact that the roads that crossed here brought together men possessed by a blind, driving urge to fight.
The flame fed itself.
...
This battle that involved only fractions of the armies grew far beyond its size, and like the war itself it became bigger and more destructive than anyone intended.
...
...this first, unplanned encounter between the two armies had been a smashing victory for General Lee.
But the victory meant little except that it robbed both Lee and Meade of their freedom of action. They had to finish what had been so violently begun...When darkness came on July 1 each commander accepted this fact...
Catton, Never Call Retreat, Remorseless Revolutionary Struggle, "Encounter at Gettysburg," 181-83.
