U.S. Civil War general blindsided at pivotal Gettysburg battle

(Reuters) - U.S. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was "virtually blind" to the superior positions held by Union troops hidden by rolling hills and valleys, which contributed to his downfall at the pivotal battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War, researchers said on Friday.

Lee's ill-fated combat decisions and ultimate defeat likely stemmed from bad reconnaissance reports, his forces spread too thinly across 7 miles (11 km), and an inability to see the more compact and elevated Union forces, according to geographers and cartographers who synthesised old maps, text and data into a digital model of the three-day Pennsylvania battle in 1863.