In his excellent study, Gettysburg, Day Three, 2001, pp. 70-74, military historian Jeffrey D. Wert details the command decisions on the day Mudge was killed, and the probable miscommunication and/or misunderstanding that led to the order to “take the hill”…an order Mudge followed though he knew it almost certainly meant his death.
It is gripping reading, which I strongly recommend, and a wrenching anecdote of what has come to be called the fog of war.
Sadly, copyright restrictions prevent me from reproducing it here, or I would share it in full.
I tried to look for a short passage or two to quote under allowances for fair use, but you really have to follow the whole argument from beginning to end to appreciate the futility and the tragedy of what transpired.
You can buy the book here.
Kinsmen and Kinswomen 