He thought the Union army was conquered at last.

The long struggle was over, and peace would soon come, accompanied by the acknowledgment of the independence of the Southern Confederacy.

It was but a passing dream; the flag receded, and soon the plain was covered with fugitives making their way to the rear.

Then, anticipating an immediate pursuit, he used every effort to rally men and officers, and made strenuous efforts to get his artillery in position to be effective.
The Confederate General A.R.Wright criticises this attack and very justly says, "The difficulty was not so much in reaching Cemetery Ridge or taking it.

My brigade did so on the afternoon of the 2d, but the trouble was to hold it, for the whole Federal army was massed in a sort of horse shoe, and could rapidly reinforce the point to any extent; while the long enveloping Confederate line could not support promptly enough." This agrees with what I have said in relation to the convex and concave orders of battle.
General Gibbon had sent Lieutenant Haskell of his staff to Power's Hill to notify General Meade that the charge was coming.