What could have been done better at Gettysburgh?

[Pontifex Rex]

Flanking at tactical level was often impossible because of the visibility. Mostly when the tactical officers became aware of the need or possibilty, the other side had spotted them. So when they marched off to flank they could respond. However, if they had been more fluid and less in ranks and files such would have been possible.

Also, while the rifles in WWI were better (obviously) the combat inside the trenches was very much similar to the melee the infantry in the ACW experienced. A single shot then with bayonet from there on. And that was what the infiltration was about.

Northern armies were notoriously lax in anything but the most obvious way. They simply didn't have the same heart into the war as the CSA troops, generally of course (there were the regulars which tended to best the CSA troops in all departments).
They hadn't really advanced that much since Shiloh (in this department).

Kraxis, I do not normally disagree with too much of what you post but this time I have to say you are fairly far off the mark. The type of tactics you describe were simply beyond the capabilities of the south in ACW. Infiltartion takes training and discipline,...both commodities missing in the southern armies by 1863 (well, perhaps after Gettysburgh). What they had was moral and elan but that is a different asset entirely. Further, battles were not simply a matter of lining up at 50 yards, firing a volley and then charging in with the bayonet. Tactics, contrary to what some here believe, were developing and the armies were beginning to spread out. Ranges for engagements were growing and it was not uncommon for northern units equipped with rifled muskets to be able to begin accurately engaging the southern smooth bores from ever increasing ranges.

You also under estimate the advances made by the north since 1861, almost to the point of being unfair. While the north struggled to match the calibre of senior commanders facing Lee, the corps, division and regimental officers were made of sterner material. Gettysburg is a prime example of the devloping skill of northern officers in mastering their trade. By 1863 the dedcation of the average northern soldier was arguably just as strong as that of the southerners,...if not more so.

Cheers