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Title: The Battle of Gettysburg - The Country, The Contestants, The Results
Author: Storrick, William C.
Language: English
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CONTENTS
PAGE
Foreword 3
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address 4
The Battle of Gettysburg 5-10
Location of the Armies. General Lee’s Plan. Lee’s First Movement.
Hooker’s Plan. The Appointment of Meade. Advance of Lee.
Meade’s Movement. Stuart’s Movement. Situation of
Confederate Forces on June 30th. Situation of Union Forces
on June 30th. The Approach.
The First Day 11-17
Arrival of Reynolds. Death of Reynolds. A Morning Lull. Arrival of
Rodes and Early. The Opposing Lines. Arrival of Howard.
Howard’s Position. The Confederate General Early’s
Position. The Union Retreat. Arrival of Lee. Formation of
Union Line. General Lee’s Report.
First Day Highlights 17-22
Death of Major-General Reynolds. The 26th Emergency Regiment. The
First Soldier Killed at Gettysburg. A Mysterious Letter.
The Flag of the 16th Maine. The Barlow-Gordon Incident.
General Ewell Is Hit by a Bullet. The School Teachers’
Regiment. An Incident of the First Day.
The Second Day 23-31
The Union Line of Battle. Confederate Line of Battle. Sickles’
Change of Line. General Lee’s Plan. Little Round Top. The
Peach Orchard and the Wheatfield. Ewell’s Attack on
Meade’s Right. Situation at End of the Second Day.
Incidents of the Second Day 32-36
The Roger House. Spangler’s Spring. Colonel Avery’s Lost Grave.
The Leister House. The Louisiana Tigers. General Meade’s
“Baldy.” General Lee’s “Traveller.”
The Third Day 37-51
Second Battle at Culp’s Hill. Meade’s Line of the Third Day. Lee’s
Line of the Third Day. The Bliss Buildings. The Artillery
Duel. Pickett’s Charge. The Advance. Engagements on the
Union Left. The Cavalry Fight on the Right Flank. The
Location. General Stuart’s Plan. General Gregg’s Report.
Lee’s Retreat. No Pursuit by Meade. The Gettysburg
Carriage.
Happenings on the Third Day 51-58
A Medal for Disobedience. The Wentz House. Fought with a Hatchet.
After the Battle. An Honest Man. Extracts from the Diary
of Colonel Fremantle.
Gettysburg and Its Military Park 59-70
The Soldiers’ National Cemetery 70-71
Lincoln at Gettysburg 72-75
Bibliography 76
Organization of the Army of the Potomac 77-79
Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia 79-80
Copyright, 1935, by J. Horace McFarland Company
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
_The Country
The Contestants
The Results_
BY
W. C. STORRICK, Litt.D.
Retired Superintendent of Guides. For Twenty Years Connected with the
Gettysburg National Park Commission
_First edition, 1931_
_Second edition, 1935_
_Third edition, 1938_
_Fourth edition, 1944_
_Fifth edition, 1945_
_Sixth edition, 1946_
_Seventh edition, 1946_
_Eighth edition, 1947_
_Ninth edition, 1949_
_Tenth edition, 1949_
_Eleventh edition, 1951_
_Twelfth edition, 1951_
_Thirteenth edition, 1953_
_Fourteenth edition, 1954_
_Fifteenth edition, 1955_
_Sixteenth edition, 1956_
_Seventeenth edition, 1957_
_Eighteenth edition, 1959_
_Nineteenth edition, 1959_
_Twentieth edition, 1961_
_Twenty-first edition, 1962_
_Twenty-second edition, 1965_
_Twenty-third edition, 1966_
_Twenty-fourth edition, 1969_
HARRISBURG, PA.
THE McFARLAND COMPANY
1969
[Illustration: Map of the
GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN
Map showing country through which the armies approached Gettysburg]
FOREWORD
No one is better fitted to describe the Battle of Gettysburg and the
National Park established on its site than Mr. William C. Storrick. Born
a short distance from the field, he was seven years old at the time of
the battle. He remembers the flight from home as the army drew near; he
remembers also the return to a house which had been occupied by troops.
Still more distinctly he recalls going to Gettysburg on November 19,
standing with his hand clasped in his father’s, watching a doorway from
which the President of the United States was shortly to appear. He shook
hands with Lincoln, was awed by his great height, and listened eagerly
to his plain and simple address.
For more than twenty years Mr. Storrick was connected with the
Battlefield Commission, first in charge of the farms, then of the guide
service as well. The history of the campaign which forms a part of this
volume was prepared at the request of the War Department.
There is no corner of the field which Mr. Storrick does not know; there
is no detail of its history which he has not studied; there is no
disputed question of which he cannot give both sides. His clear and
uncontroversial account of the battle is but an outline of his store of
information upon which he plans to draw more largely in a volume of
greater scope.
ELSIE SINGMASTER LEWARS.
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
·XIX NOVEMBER·MDCCCLXIII·
★
FOURSCORE & SEVEN YEARS AGO OUR FATHERS BROUGHT FORTH ON THIS CONTINENT
A NEW NATION·CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY·AND DEDICATED TO THE PROPOSITION THAT
ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL·
NOW WE ARE ENGAGED IN A GREAT CIVIL WAR·TESTING WHETHER THAT NATION·OR
ANY NATION SO CONCEIVED AND SO DEDICATED·CAN LONG ENDURE·WE ARE MET ON A
GREAT BATTLE-FIELD OF THAT WAR·WE HAVE COME TO DEDICATE A PORTION OF
THAT FIELD AS A FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR THOSE WHO HERE GAVE THEIR LIVES
THAT THAT NATION MIGHT LIVE·IT IS ALTOGETHER FITTING & PROPER THAT WE
SHOULD DO THIS·
BUT·IN LARGER SENSE·WE CANNOT DEDICATE—WE CANNOT CONSECRATE—WE CANNOT
HALLOW—THIS GROUND· THE BRAVE MEN·LIVING AND DEAD·WHO STRUGGLED HERE
HAVE CONSECRATED IT FAR ABOVE OUR POOR POWER TO ADD OR DETRACT·THE WORLD
WILL LITTLE NOTE NOR LONG REMEMBER WHAT WE SAY HERE·BUT IT CAN NEVER
FORGET WHAT THEY DID HERE·IT IS FOR US·THE LIVING·RATHER· TO BE
DEDICATED HERE TO THE UNFINISHED WORK WHICH THEY WHO FOUGHT HERE HAVE
THUS FAR SO NOBLY ADVANCED· IT IS RATHER FOR US TO BE HERE DEDICATED TO
THE GREAT TASK REMAINING BEFORE US—THAT FROM THESE HONORED DEAD WE TAKE
INCREASED DEVOTION TO THAT CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY GAVE THE LAST FULL
MEASURE OF DEVOTION·THAT WE HERE HIGHLY RESOLVE THAT THESE DEAD SHALL
NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN·THAT THIS NATION· UNDER GOD·SHALL HAVE A NEW BIRTH
OF FREEDOM·AND THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE·BY THE PEOPLE·FOR THE
PEOPLE·SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH·
·ABRAHAM LINCOLN·
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
[Illustration: Decorative Initial I]
It is difficult to present a great battle with sufficient detail to
please both the student of tactics and the average reader. If the
visitor is not satisfied with the brief outline here presented, he is
recommended to read further in the books listed, and especially to
employ a guide, without whose trained and supervised services the best
manual is inadequate. The reader in search of romance is recommended to
the successive Incidents of the Battle as herein presented.
According to official records, the Gettysburg campaign of 1863 began on
June 3rd and ended on August 1st. No effort will be made to describe the
movements, counter-movements, and fifty minor engagements that occurred
before the armies crossed the Mason and Dixon’s line and finally
concentrated at Gettysburg, where they engaged in battle on July 1st,
2nd, and 3rd. It is necessary, however, that the visitor should
understand the approach to the field.
Location of the Armies.
On June 3rd the Union Army, called the Army of the Potomac, lay at
Falmouth, Va., on the north side of the Rappahannock River,
Major-General Joseph Hooker in command.
The Confederate Army, called the Army of Northern Virginia, occupied the
south bank, with headquarters at Fredericksburg, General Robert E. Lee
in command.
Both armies were resting after the major engagement at Chancellorsville,
in which the Confederates were victorious.
The Army of the Potomac was made up of seven infantry and one cavalry
corps. It numbered at the time of the battle approximately 84,000.
The Army of Northern Virginia was made up of three infantry corps and
one division of cavalry. It numbered at the time of the battle about
75,000.
Following the text is a roster of officers, which should be consulted,
both for an understanding of the battle and because of the obligation to
honor brave men.
General Lee’s Plan.
During the month of May, General Lee visited Richmond to discuss with
the Confederate government various plans involving political and
military considerations. Up to this time, the South had won the major
victories, but her resources, both in men and sinews of war, were
diminishing, and a prolonged conflict would be disastrous. It was
decided that the army should invade the North via the Shenandoah and
Cumberland valleys, with Harrisburg as an objective. This route not only
afforded a continuous highway but put the army in a position to threaten
Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington from the north. The Blue Ridge
Mountains to the east would screen the advance, and the rich
agricultural section would furnish supplies of food and forage.
The time was propitious. General Lee’s army was in the prime of
condition. The North was discouraged by losses, distrustful of Lincoln,
weary of war. The South believed that one great victory would assure her
the friendliness of the leading powers of Europe. Her independence once
acknowledged, she could import the materials of war and the necessities
of life which she lacked. It was thought certain that at the prospect of
invasion the North would withdraw troops from the siege of Vicksburg
then being conducted by General Grant. With high hopes the march was
begun.
Lee’s First Movement.
On June 3rd Lee put his army in motion northward, with Ewell’s Corps,
preceded by Jenkins’ and Imboden’s Cavalry, in the advance, followed by
Longstreet and lastly by Hill. Longstreet moved on the east side of the
Blue Ridge in order to lead Hooker to believe that Washington would be
threatened. On reaching Snicker’s Gap, he crossed the Ridge into the
Shenandoah Valley and followed Hill, who was now in advance. The great
army was strung out from Fredericksburg, Va., on the south to
Martinsburg, W. Va., on the north, with the cavalry division under
Stuart guarding the gaps along the Blue Ridge.
[Illustration: Since 1863 the population of Gettysburg has increased
from 2,000 to 5,500]
After driving out Union forces stationed at Winchester under Milroy,
Lee’s Army crossed the Potomac at Williamsport and Shepherdstown on June
23rd, 24th, and 25th, and advanced northward, unopposed, through the
Cumberland Valley, toward Harrisburg.
Hooker’s Plan.
On June 10th, Hooker proposed to President Lincoln that he cross the
Rappahannock and attack Hill, who still remained, and then move south,
threatening Richmond. He thought this might divert Lee from his invasion
of the North. In reply Lincoln said:
“_I think Lee’s Army and not Richmond is your sure objective point._”
The Appointment of Meade.
Thereupon Hooker started in pursuit of Lee on June 13th, moving east of
the Blue Ridge on a line parallel with Lee on the west, with the cavalry
guarding his left. He thus protected Baltimore and Washington. He
crossed the Potomac at Edward’s Ferry on the 25th and 26th and reached
Frederick on the 27th, where he halted. Believing himself handicapped by
orders from General Halleck, Chief in Command at Washington, who refused
the use of the Union forces at Harper’s Ferry, he asked to be relieved
of the command of the Army of the Potomac. The request was granted, and,
on June 28th, Major-General George G. Meade, in command of the 5th
Corps, was appointed his successor, Sykes taking command of General
Meade’s Corps.
Advance of Lee.
Lee’s Army had been steadily moving northward in the Cumberland Valley.
Ewell, in the advance, detached Early’s Division on reaching
Chambersburg, directing him to move through Gettysburg on June 26th and
thence to York and Wrightsville, there to cross the Susquehanna to
Columbia and move up to Harrisburg to meet the divisions of Rodes and
Johnson. Rodes reached Carlisle on June 28th, accompanied by Ewell;
Johnson was at Greenvillage, between Chambersburg and Carlisle. Hill
moved from Chambersburg to Cashtown, and Longstreet was in the rear at
Chambersburg. Lee’s headquarters were in Messersmith’s Woods near
Chambersburg.
[Illustration: General Reynolds’ position shortly before his
death.—Near General Buford’s statue, pointing toward the spectator,
is the first gun fired by the Union forces]
In his advance into Gettysburg, Early was opposed by the 26th Emergency
Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company A, consisting of students
of Pennsylvania (now Gettysburg) College, citizens of the town, and some
volunteers from Harrisburg. After skirmishing on the Chambersburg Pike
about 3 miles from the town, this regiment was obliged to retreat,
finally reaching Harrisburg. About 175 were captured, but were afterward
paroled. On the same day, George Sandoe, a Union scout, was shot by one
of Early’s pickets on the Baltimore Pike. He was the first Union soldier
killed in the vicinity of Gettysburg prior to the battle.
On account of the absence of his cavalry under Stuart, who had been left
with five brigades to guard the rear and hold the gaps of the Blue
Ridge, Lee did not know until June 28th that the Union Army had crossed
the Potomac and was threatening his line of communication with the
South. Learning this, he ordered a concentration of his forces at
Cashtown.
Meade’s Movement.
On assuming command, General Meade moved his army northward from the
vicinity of Frederick and established a tentative line along Pipe Creek,
between Manchester on his right and Emmitsburg on his left, with
headquarters near Taneytown.
Stuart’s Movement.
After the Union Army crossed the Potomac, Stuart left the line of the
Blue Ridge with three brigades of cavalry and made a raid around the
Union Army, crossing the Potomac at Seneca Creek and moving thence to
Hanover, where he engaged Kilpatrick’s Division of Union cavalry on June
30th. Passing through Jefferson, Dover, and Dillsburg to Carlisle, he
reached Carlisle on the afternoon of July 1st, getting into
communication with Lee, after an interval of a week.
Situation of Confederate Forces on June 30th.
On June 30th, Pender’s Division, Hill’s Corps, moved from Fayetteville
to Cashtown; Anderson’s Division to Fayetteville; Rodes’ Division,
Ewell’s Corps, from Carlisle via Petersburg to Heidlersburg. Early’s
Division advanced from York through Weiglestown and East Berlin, and
encamped 3 miles from Heidlersburg. Johnson’s Division marched from
Greenvillage to Scotland. Hood’s and McLaws’ Divisions, Longstreet’s
Corps, moved from Chambersburg to Fayetteville; Pickett’s Division
remained at Chambersburg. Lee’s headquarters were at Greenwood.
Situation of Union Forces on June 30th.
On June 30th the 11th Corps was at Emmitsburg, the 1st at Marsh Creek,
the 3rd at Bridgeport, the 5th at Union Mills, the 6th at Manchester,
the 12th at Littlestown, the 2nd at Taneytown. Two brigades of Buford’s
Cavalry Division were at Gettysburg; Gregg’s Cavalry Division was at
Manchester; Kilpatrick’s at Hanover. Meade’s headquarters were at
Taneytown.
The Approach.
Neither commander yet foresaw Gettysburg as a field of battle. Each had
expected to take a strong position and force his adversary to attack.
But in the hot summer weather fate was moving the mighty hosts closer
and closer. The sky was cloudless, and the summer moon was at its
brightest. The wheat was ripe, and the armies marched between partly
reaped fields.
[Illustration: The Pennsylvania Monument, with bronze figures of
distinguished officers and a roster of all Pennsylvanians in
battle.]
On the 30th, Hill, in the front at Cashtown, sent Pettigrew’s Brigade to
Gettysburg for supplies, shoes especially being badly needed. In the
meantime, Meade ordered Buford, with two brigades of cavalry at
Emmitsburg, to make a reconnaissance to Gettysburg. Buford reported:
“_I entered this place today at 11_ A.M. _Found everybody in a
terrible state of excitement on account of the enemy’s advance._”
On reaching Seminary Ridge, Pettigrew saw the approach of Buford. Not
wishing to bring on an engagement, he withdrew to the vicinity of
Cashtown.
Buford moved through the town and bivouacked for the night west of the
Seminary, along McPherson Ridge. He assigned to Gamble’s Brigade the
task of watching the Fairfield and Cashtown roads and to Devin the
Mummasburg, Middletown (now Biglerville), and Harrisburg roads. Early on
the morning of the 1st, he picketed all the roads leading north and
northeast.
THE FIRST DAY
Informed by Pettigrew that Union forces had reached Gettysburg, and
anxious to know their strength, Hill sent Heth’s and Pender’s Divisions
with Pegram’s battalion of artillery forward on a reconnaissance in
force. This movement, made at 5.30 A.M. on July 1, precipitated the
battle.
The advance was soon interrupted by Buford’s skirmishers. On reaching
Herr Ridge, which crosses the Cashtown Road at right angles, Hill
deployed his line of battle—Heth on both sides of the road with Pender
in reserve. Pegram posted his artillery on Herr Ridge, and at 8 o’clock
fired his first shot. Buford’s artillery, under Calef, posted on the
opposite ridge, fired in reply. The battle was on, and the gravity of
the situation was clear to Buford, who at 10.10 A.M. sent this message
to Meade:
“_The enemy’s force are advancing on me at this point and driving my
pickets and skirmishers very rapidly. There is a large force at
Heidlersburg that is driving my pickets at that point from that
direction. I am sure that the whole of A. P. Hill’s force is
advancing._”
Arrival of Reynolds.
Union reinforcements were at hand. General Reynolds, in advance of the
1st Corps, arrived from Marsh Creek, via the Emmitsburg Road. After a
short conference with Buford at the Seminary buildings, he sent an
orderly urging Wadsworth, whose division was advancing across the
fields, to hasten. On its arrival, Reynolds posted Cutler to the right,
across the railroad cut which lies parallel to the Chambersburg Pike,
and Meredith on the left. (Reynolds Avenue now marks this line.)
Death of Reynolds.
After posting Hall’s battery in place of Calef’s, Reynolds rode to the
McPherson Woods, and while directing the advance of Meredith at 10.15
A.M. was instantly killed by a Confederate sharpshooter. Doubleday
consequently assumed command of the 1st Corps, and Rowley succeeded
Doubleday in command of the Division. Compelled to fall back into the
grove, Buford moved his cavalry to the left near the Fairfield Road, and
Meredith advanced into the woods, drove Hill’s right across Willoughby
Run, and captured General Archer and part of his men.
On the Union right, Cutler was attacked in flank by Davis’s Brigade, of
the left of Hill’s line, and was compelled to withdraw. Davis advanced
into the railroad cut where part of his force was captured. He then
withdrew to his original line.
A Morning Lull.
At 11 A.M. there was a lull. Doubleday withdrew his forces from across
Willoughby Run and established a new line through the McPherson Woods
from north to south. Robinson’s Division reached the field and was held
in reserve at the Seminary buildings. Rowley’s Division (formerly
Doubleday’s) arrived a little later; Stone’s Brigade of this Division
was deployed in the front line on what is now Stone Avenue, and Biddle’s
Brigade was placed on the left of Meredith, along what is now South
Reynolds Avenue. In the afternoon, Robinson’s Division was moved to the
right, prolonging the Union line to the Mummasburg Road in order to meet
the advance of Rodes’ Division, coming forward via the Carlisle Road.
Devin’s cavalry was moved from Buford’s right to the vicinity of the
York Pike and the Hanover Road.
[Illustration: Gettysburg Seminary Doorway.—The Lutheran Theological
Seminary was used as an observation point and hospital. The portico
was erected in 1913 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the
battle.]
In this preliminary action of the forenoon the advantage was in favor of
the Union forces. The Confederate General Heth reported:
“_The enemy had now been felt, and found in heavy force in and around
Gettysburg. The division was now formed in line of battle on the right
of the road; Archer’s brigade on the right, Pettigrew’s in the center,
and Brockenbrough’s on the left. Davis’s brigade was kept on the left
of the road that it might collect its stragglers, and from its
shattered condition it was not deemed advisable to bring it again into
action that day._”
The Union General Buford reported:
“_On July 1, between 8 and 9_ A.M. _reports came in from the 1st
Brigade (Colonel Gamble’s) that the enemy was coming down from toward
Cashtown in force. Colonel Gamble made an admirable line of battle,
and moved off proudly to meet him. The two lines soon became hotly
engaged, we having the advantage of position, he of numbers. The 1st
Brigade held its own for more than two hours, and had to be literally
dragged back a few hundred yards to a more secure and sheltered
position._”
Arrival of Rodes and Early.
On learning at Middletown (now Biglerville) that Hill was engaged with
the Union forces at Gettysburg, Rodes marched thither directly via the
Carlisle Road. Early approached via the Harrisburg or Heidlersburg Road.
The advance of both was quickened by the sound of cannonading. Arriving
a little past noon, Rodes deployed his Division of five brigades on both
sides of Oak Ridge, his right on the left of Heth’s Division and his
left with Early’s right, extending across the plain north of the town.
Carter’s artillery was posted on Oak Hill.
The Opposing Lines.
Robinson’s Division of the 1st Union Corps was moved from its position
in reserve at the Seminary buildings to the right of Cutler, to oppose
Rodes’s Confederate line.
Hill prolonged his right by bringing up Pender’s Division that had been
held in reserve. The artillery of McIntosh’s battalion was brought into
action in support. These guns, with Carter’s and Pegram’s, together
numbering 60, and 11 brigades of infantry now opposed the 1st Union
Corps of 36 guns and 6 brigades.
Arrival of Howard.
General Howard, in command of the 11th Union Corps, reached Gettysburg
from Emmitsburg between 10 and 11 A.M., in advance of his Corps, and
took command of the Union forces. Schurz succeeded Howard in command of
the Corps, and Doubleday resumed command of his Division.
On reaching Gettysburg, Howard went to the top of the Fahnestock
building at the corner of Baltimore and Middle streets to observe the
lines of battle. He reported:
“_I had studied the position a few moments, when a report reached me
that General Reynolds was wounded. At first I hoped his wound might be
slight and that he would continue to command, but in a short time I
was undeceived. His aid-de-camp, Major William Riddle, brought the sad
tidings of his death. This was about 11.30_ A.M. _Prior to this the
General had sent me orders to move up at a double quick, for he was
severely engaged. On hearing of the death of Reynolds, I assumed
command of the left wing, instructing General Schurz to take command
of the 11th Corps. After an examination of the general features of the
country, I came to the conclusion that the only tenable position for
my limited force was the ridge to the southeast of Gettysburg (now
well known as Cemetery Ridge). I at once established my headquarters
near the cemetery, and on the highest point north of the Baltimore
Pike._”
Howard’s Position.
On the arrival of the 11th Corps, Howard ordered Schurz to move the 3rd
and 1st Divisions to positions north of the town, while the 2nd Division
was held on Cemetery Hill in reserve. On account of the prior arrival of
the Confederates under Rodes, who covered the plain north of the town,
Schurz was unable to connect with the right of the Union line on Oak
Hill, and a gap remained between the two lines. The position of the 11th
Corps coincides with what is now Howard Avenue.
The Confederate General Early’s Position.
Shortly after the 11th Corps moved to the front, Early’s Division of
Ewell’s Corps arrived from Heidlersburg and went into line to the right
of Howard, connecting with Rodes’s left across the plain. Early posted
his artillery, Jones’s battalion, in position to enfilade the right of
Howard, while Carter’s batteries on Oak Hill enfiladed the left. The
Confederate forces largely exceeded the Union forces, the former being
about 28,000 and the latter about 18,000. The whole Confederate line
advanced and attacked the Union forces in front and on both flanks. On
Oak Hill part of Rodes’ forces, O’Neal’s and Iverson’s brigades, were
repulsed, a large part of the latter being captured.
The Union Retreat.
After a strenuous resistance the whole Union line was compelled to
withdraw to Cemetery Hill. The 11th Corps retreated through the center
of town where many were captured. The 1st Corps fell back through the
western part of the town. By 4.30 P.M. all the territory held by the
Union forces was occupied by the Confederates.
Arrival of Lee.
General Lee reached the field from Cashtown about 3 P.M., witnessed the
retreat of the Union forces, and established his headquarters in tents
in an apple orchard back of the Seminary. He ordered Ewell to follow up
the repulse if he thought it practicable. In this connection Ewell
reported:
“_The enemy had fallen back to a commanding position known as Cemetery
Hill, south of Gettysburg, and quickly showed a formidable front
there. On entering the town, I received a message from the Commanding
General to attack this hill, if I could do so to advantage. I could
not bring artillery to bear on it, and all the troops with me were
jaded by twelve hours’ marching and fighting, and I was notified that
General Johnson’s division (the only one of my corps that had not been
engaged) was close to town. Cemetery Hill was not assailable from the
town.... Before Johnson could be placed in position the night was far
advanced._”
[Illustration: John Burns, Gettysburg constable and Mexican War
veteran, shouldered his musket and went out to meet the
Confederates.]
General Hill reported:
“_Under the impression that the enemy was entirely routed, my own two
divisions exhausted by some six hours’ hard fighting, prudence led me
to be content with what had been gained._”
The failure of Ewell to follow up the repulse and capture Cemetery Hill
and Culp’s Hill, defended by a weak line of the Union forces, enabled
the Union commanders to establish during the night a line of defence
that was secure against attack. By many military critics, this is
generally considered Lee’s lost opportunity.
Formation of Union Line.
The retreating Union soldiers were met at East Cemetery Hill by Generals
Hancock and Howard, who directed them to positions, the 1st Corps on
Cemetery Ridge and Culp’s Hill, and the 11th on East Cemetery Hill. The
12th Corps arrived on the Baltimore Pike, and soon after Sickles’ 3rd
Corps came up from Emmitsburg.
Hancock had been instructed by Meade to take command and report if he
thought the ground a suitable place to continue the battle. A
battle-line was at once established on Cemetery Ridge. Geary’s Division
of the 12th Corps was ordered to the extreme left to occupy Little Round
Top. Hancock sent word to General Meade that the position was strong,
but that it might be easily turned. He then turned over the command to
Slocum, his senior, and returned to Taneytown to report in person. Meade
had already ordered a rapid concentration of all his forces at
Gettysburg.
[Illustration: Barlow’s Knoll.—The extreme right of the Union line
on the first day]
General Lee’s Report.
For the day, the Confederate commander reported:
“_The leading division of Hill met the enemy in advance of Gettysburg
on the morning of July 1. Driving back these troops to within a short
distance of the town, he there encountered a larger force, with which
two of his divisions became engaged. Ewell coming up with two of his
divisions by the Heidlersburg road, joined in the engagement. The
enemy was driven through Gettysburg with heavy loss, including about
5,000 prisoners and several pieces of artillery. He retired to a high
range of hills south and east of the town. The attack was not pressed
that afternoon, the enemy’s force being unknown, and it being
considered advisable to await the arrival of the rest of our troops.
Orders were sent back to hasten their march, and, in the meantime,
every effort was made to ascertain the numbers and position of the
enemy, and find the most favorable point of attack. It had not been
intended to fight a general battle at such a distance from our base,
unless attacked by the enemy, but, finding ourselves unexpectedly
confronted by the Federal Army, it became a matter of difficulty to
withdraw through the mountains with our large trains.... Encouraged by
the successful issue of the engagement of the first day, and in view
of the valuable results that would ensue from the defeat of the army
of General Meade, it was thought advisable to renew the attack._”
FIRST DAY HIGHLIGHTS
Death of Major-General Reynolds
Major-General John Fulton Reynolds, killed at Gettysburg while
commanding the 1st Corps, was born in Lancaster, Pa., on the 21st day of
September, 1820. His father, John Reynolds, also a native of Lancaster
County, was the son of William Reynolds, who came to America in 1760
from Ireland. His mother’s maiden name was Lydia Moore, daughter of
Samuel Moore, who held a commission in the Revolutionary Army. He had an
elder brother, William, who served as Admiral in our Navy with great
distinction, and also two other brothers who served in the war, one as
paymaster, and the other, the youngest of the four, as
Quartermaster-General of Pennsylvania.
William and John went first to an excellent school at Lititz, in
Lancaster County, going thence to Long Green, Md., and from there they
returned to the Lancaster Academy. Through the influence of James
Buchanan, they received appointments, one as midshipman in the Navy, and
the other as cadet at West Point. John was graduated from West Point on
June 22nd, 1841, at the age of twenty-one. He served with distinction
during the Mexican War, and at the outbreak of the Civil War entered the
Union Army. At the battle of Gaines’ Mill, on June 28th, 1862, he was
captured, and after a confinement of six weeks in Libby Prison, he was
exchanged for General Barksdale.
General Reynolds was six feet tall, with dark hair and eyes. He was
erect in carriage and a superb horseman, so much at ease in the saddle
as to be able to pick a dime from the ground while riding at full speed.
He was killed in the grove now known as Reynolds’ Grove on the morning
of July 1st, between 10 and 11 o’clock, while directing the attack of
Meredith’s brigade against Archer’s Confederate brigade. His body was
first taken to the Seminary, and later to Lancaster, where it was
interred in the family graveyard.
The 26th Emergency Regiment
The 26th Emergency Regiment met the advance of Gordon’s brigade of
Early’s Division of Ewell’s Corps in their advance into Gettysburg.
Company A consisted of students of the Lutheran Theological Seminary,
Pennsylvania (now Gettysburg) College, and citizens of the town. H. M.
M. Richards, of Company A gives the following sketch of the services of
the regiment:
“Upon the first indication of an invasion of Pennsylvania, the 26th
Regiment, P. V. M., was organized and mustered into the United States
service at Harrisburg, under the command of Colonel W. W. Jennings of
that city. Company A of this regiment, to which I belonged, was composed
of students from the Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Pennsylvania
College at Gettysburg, and of citizens of the town; one other company
came from Hanover, but a few miles distant.
“On June 23rd we left Harrisburg for Gettysburg, to be used, I believe,
as riflemen among the hills at or near Cashtown. A railroad accident
prevented this plan from being carried out, and kept us from reaching
Gettysburg until the 26th, by which time General Early had reached
Cashtown. In accordance with orders received from Major Granville O.
Haller, acting aide-de-camp to General Couch, commanding the Department
of the Susquehanna, we were marched out on the Chambersburg Pike at 10
A.M., June 26th, for a distance of about three and a half miles,
accompanied by Major Robert Bell, who commanded a troop of horse, also
raised, I understand, in Gettysburg. Having halted, our colonel,
accompanied by Major Bell, rode to the brow of an elevation and there
saw General Early’s troops a few miles distant.
“We, a few hundred men at most, were in the toils; what should be done?
We would gladly have marched to join the Army of the Potomac, under
Meade, but where was it? Our colonel, left to his own resources, wisely
decided to make an effort to return to Harrisburg, and immediately
struck off from the pike, the Confederates capturing many of our
rear-guard after a sharp skirmish, and sending their cavalry in pursuit
of us. These later overtook us in the afternoon at Witmer’s house, about
four and a half miles from Gettysburg on the Carlisle Road, where, after
an engagement, they were repulsed with some loss. After many
vicissitudes, we finally reached Harrisburg, having marched 54 out of 60
consecutive hours, with a loss of some 200 men.
“It should be added that Gettysburg, small town as it was, had already
furnished its quota to the army. Moreover, on the first day of the
battle, hundreds of the unfortunate men of Reynolds’s gallant corps were
secreted, sheltered, fed, and aided in every way by the men and women of
the town.”
The First Soldier Killed at Gettysburg
George W. Sandoe, the first Union soldier killed at Gettysburg, was a
member of Company B Independent 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry. Upon arriving
at Gettysburg, June 26th, 1863, General Gordon sent out a picket line on
the Baltimore Pike. As these pickets reached the Nathaniel Lightner
property, George W. Sandoe and William Lightner, also a member of
Company B, approached the pike, coming across the McAllister field from
the direction of Rock Creek. Owing to a growth of bushes and trees along
the fence, they did not discover the Confederate pickets until they were
ordered to halt. Lightner at once jumped his horse across the fence and
escaped by riding rapidly down the pike. Sandoe’s horse fell in making
the leap, and in attempting to escape by riding back in the direction
from which he came, Sandoe was shot. He lies buried at Mount Joy Church,
in Mount Joy, Adams County.
A Mysterious Letter
Having passed through Gettysburg on June 28th, General John B. Gordon,
of Lee’s army, went on to York and Wrightsville before returning on July
1st. In his “Reminiscences of the Gettysburg Campaign” he tells the
following story:
“We entered the city of York on Sunday morning. Halting on the main
street, where the sidewalks were densely packed, I rode a few rods in
advance of my troops, in order to speak to the people from my horse. As
I checked him and turned my full dust-begrimed face upon a bevy of
ladies very near me, a cry of alarm came from their midst; but after a
few words of assurance from me, quiet and apparent confidence were
restored. I assured these ladies that the troops behind me, though
ill-clad and travel-stained, were good men and brave; that beneath their
rough exteriors were hearts as loyal to women as ever beat in the
breasts of honorable men; that their own experience and the experience
of their mothers, wives, and sisters at home had taught them how painful
must be the sight of a hostile army in their town; that under the orders
of the Confederate commander-in-chief both private property and
non-combatants were safe; that the spirit of vengeance and of rapine had
no place in the bosoms of these dust-covered but knightly men; and I
closed by pledging to York the head of any soldier under my command who
destroyed private property, disturbed the repose of a single home, or
insulted a woman.
“As we moved along the street after this episode, a little girl,
probably twelve years of age, ran up to my horse and handed me a large
bouquet of flowers in the center of which was a note in delicate
handwriting, purporting to give the numbers and describe the position of
the Union forces of Wrightsville, toward which I was advancing. I
carefully read and reread this strange note. It bore no signature and
contained no assurance of sympathy for the Southern cause, but it was so
terse and explicit in its terms as to compel my confidence. The second
day we were in front of Wrightsville, and from the high ridge on which
this note suggested that I halt and examine the position of the Union
troops, I eagerly scanned the prospect with my field-glasses, in order
to verify the truth of the mysterious communication or detect its
misrepresentations.
“There, in full view of us, was the town, just as described, nestling on
the banks of the Susquehanna. There was the blue line of soldiers
guarding the approach, drawn up, as indicated, along an intervening
ridge and across the pike. There was the long bridge spanning the
Susquehanna and connecting the town with Columbia on the other bank.
Most important of all, there was the deep gorge or ravine running off to
the right and extending around the left bank of the Federal line and to
the river below the bridge. Not an inaccurate detail in that note could
be discovered. I did not hesitate, therefore, to adopt its suggestion of
moving down the gorge in order to throw my command on the flank, or
possibly in the rear of the Union troops, and force them to a rapid
retreat or surrender. The result of this movement vindicated the
strategic wisdom of my unknown and—judging by the handwriting—woman
correspondent, whose note was none the less martial because embedded in
roses, and whose evident genius for war, had occasion offered, might
have made her a captain equal to Catherine.”
The Flag of the 16th Maine
A marker showing the position of the 16th Maine Infantry Regiment on the
afternoon of the first day’s battle stands at the intersection of
Doubleday Avenue and the Mummasburg Road, and contains the following
inscription:
Position Held July 1, 1863, at 4 o’Clock P.M.
by the 16th Maine Infantry
1st Brig., 2nd Div., 1st Corps
WHILE THE REST OF THE DIVISION WAS RETIRING, THE REGIMENT HAVING MOVED
FROM THE POSITION AT THE LEFT WHERE ITS MONUMENT STANDS, UNDER ORDERS TO
HOLD THIS POSITION AT ANY COST.
It Lost on This Field
Killed 11, Wounded 62, Captured 159
Out of 275 Engaged.
When almost surrounded, the regiment withdrew to the left of the
railroad cut to help cover the withdrawal of Stewart’s battery, which
was also almost surrounded. The regiment had two flags, the Stars and
Stripes and the flag of Maine.
Finally, assaulted by the flank and rear, they determined not to
surrender their colors, but tore them from their staffs and into small
bits, each man taking a star or a bit of silk which he placed in his
pocket. Some of these fragments were carried through the southern
prisons and finally home to Maine, where they are still treasured as
precious relics by the relatives and friends of the brave men of the
regiment.
The Barlow-Gordon Incident
Barlow’s Knoll, a short distance northeast of Gettysburg, is named in
honor of Brigadier-General Francis C. Barlow, in command of the 1st
Division of the 11th Corps. In his “Reminiscences of the Civil War,”
General Gordon describes his meeting with Barlow:
“Returning from the banks of the Susquehanna, and meeting at Gettysburg,
July 1, 1863, the advance of Lee’s forces, my command was thrown quickly
and squarely on the right flank of the Union Army. A more timely arrival
never occurred. The battle had been raging for four or five hours. The
Confederate General Archer, with a large part of his brigade, had been
captured. Heth and Scales, Confederate generals, had been wounded. The
ranking Union officer on the field, General Reynolds, had been killed,
and General Hancock was assigned to command. The battle, upon the issue
of which hung, perhaps, the fate of the Confederacy, was in full blast.
The Union forces, at first driven back, now reënforced, were again
advancing and pressing back Lee’s left and threatening to envelop it.
The Confederates were stubbornly contesting every foot of ground, but
the Southern left was slowly yielding. A few moments more and the day’s
battle might have been ended by a complete turning of Lee’s flank. I was
ordered to move at once to the aid of the heavily pressed Confederates.
With a ringing yell, my command rushed upon the line posted to protect
the Union right. Here occurred a hand-to-hand struggle. That protecting
Union line, once broken, left my command not only on the right flank,
but obliquely in rear of it.
“Any troops that were ever marshalled would, under like conditions, have
been as surely and swiftly shattered. Under the concentrated fire from
front and flank, the marvel is that they escaped. In the midst of the
wild disorder in his ranks, and through a storm of bullets, a Union
officer was seeking to rally his men for a final stand. He, too, went
down pierced by a minie ball. Riding forward with my rapidly advancing
lines, I discovered that brave officer lying upon his back, with the
July sun pouring its rays into his pale face. He was surrounded by the
Union dead, and his own life seemed to be rapidly ebbing out. Quickly I
dismounted and lifted his head. I gave him water from my canteen, and
asked his name and the character of his wounds. He was Major-General
Francis C. Barlow, of New York, and of Howard’s Corps. The ball had
entered his body in front and passed out near the spinal cord,
paralyzing him in legs and arms. Neither of us had the remotest thought
that he could survive many hours. I summoned several soldiers who were
looking after the wounded, and directed them to place him upon a litter
and carry him to the shade in the rear. Before parting, he asked me to
take from his pocket a package of letters and destroy them. They were
from his wife. He had one request to make of me. That request was that,
if I lived to the end of the war and ever met Mrs. Barlow, I would tell
her of our meeting on the field of Gettysburg and his thoughts of her in
his last moments. He wished to assure me that he died doing his duty at
the front, that he was willing to give his life for his country, and
that his deepest regret was that he must die without looking upon her
face again. I learned that Mrs. Barlow was with the Union Army, and near
the battlefield. When it is remembered how closely Mrs. Gordon followed
me, it will not be difficult to realize that my sympathies were
especially stirred by the announcement that his wife was so near to him.
Passing through the day’s battle unhurt, I despatched, at its close,
under a flag of truce, the promised message to Mrs. Barlow. I assured
her that she should have safe escort to her husband’s side.
“In the desperate encounters of the two succeeding days, and the retreat
of Lee’s army, I thought no more of Barlow, except to number him with
the noble dead of the two armies who have so gloriously met their fate.
The ball, however, had struck no vital point, and Barlow slowly
recovered, though his fate was unknown to me. The following summer, in
battles near Richmond, my kinsman with the same initials, General J. B.
Gordon of North Carolina, was killed. Barlow, who had recovered, saw the
announcement of his death, and entertained no doubt that he was the
Gordon whom he had met on the field of Gettysburg. To me, therefore,
Barlow was dead; to Barlow I was dead. Nearly fifteen years passed
before either of us was undeceived. During my second term in the United
States Senate, the Hon. Clarkson Potter of New York was the member of
the House of Representatives. He invited me to dinner in Washington to
meet a General Barlow who had served in the Union Army. Potter knew
nothing of the Gettysburg incident. I had heard that there was another
Barlow in the Union Army, and supposed of course, that it was this
Barlow with whom I was to dine. Barlow had a similar reflection as to
the Gordon he was to meet. Seated at Clarkson Potter’s table, I asked
Barlow: ‘General, are you related to the Barlow who was killed at
Gettysburg?’ He replied: ‘Why, I am the man, sir. Are you related to the
Gordon who killed me?’ ‘I am the man, sir,’ I responded. No words of
mine can convey any conception of the emotions awakened by these
startling announcements. Nothing short of an actual resurrection of the
dead could have amazed either of us more. Thenceforward, until his
untimely death in 1896, the friendship between us which was born amidst
the thunders of Gettysburg was cherished by both.”
General Ewell Is Hit by a Bullet
General Gordon gives an account of an amusing incident of the first day:
“Late in the afternoon of this first day’s battle, when the firing had
greatly decreased along most of the lines, General Ewell and I were
riding through the streets of Gettysburg. In a previous battle he had
lost one of his legs, but prided himself on the efficiency of the wooden
one which he used in its place. As we rode together, a body of Union
soldiers, posted behind some dwellings and fences on the outskirts of
the town, suddenly opened a brisk fire. A number of Confederates were
killed or wounded, and I heard the ominous thud of a minie ball as it
struck General Ewell at my side. I quickly asked: ‘Are you hurt, sir?’
‘No, no,’ he replied; ‘I’m not hurt. But suppose that ball had struck
you: we would have had the trouble of carrying you off the field, sir.
You see how much better fixed I am for a fight than you are. It don’t
hurt a bit to be shot in a wooden leg.’
“Ewell was a most interesting and eccentric character. It is said that
in his early manhood he had been disappointed in a love affair, and had
never fully recovered from its effects. The fair maiden to whom he had
given his affections had married another man; but Ewell, like the truest
of knights, carried her image in his heart through long years. When he
was promoted to the rank of brigadier or major-general, he evidenced the
constancy of his affections by placing upon his staff the son of the
woman whom he had loved in his youth. The meddlesome Fates, who seem to
revel in the romances of lovers, had decreed that Ewell should be shot
in battle and become the object of solicitude and tender nursing by this
lady, Mrs. Brown, who had been for many years a widow. Her gentle
ministrations soothed his weary weeks of suffering, a marriage ensued,
and with it came the realization of Ewell’s long-deferred hope. He was a
most devoted husband. He never seemed to realize, however, that marriage
had changed her name, for he proudly presented her to his friends as ‘My
wife, Mrs. Brown, sir.’”
The School Teachers’ Regiment
The 151st Pennsylvania Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel George
F. McFarland, included Company D, made up mainly of the instructors and
students of the Lost Creek Academy, of McAlisterville, Juniata County,
of which Colonel McFarland was principal. For this reason it was called
the “Schoolteachers’ Regiment.” The material throughout was excellent,
many of the men being experienced marksmen. The regiment went into
battle with 21 officers and 446 men, and sustained a loss in killed,
wounded, and missing of 337, or over 75 per cent.
The casualties of the 26th North Carolina Regiment, against which they
were engaged, were 588 out of 800, just about the same percentage.
Colonel McFarland lost his right leg and had the left permanently
disabled, but survived until 1891. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of
the battle, he delivered the dedicatory address at the unveiling of the
regimental monument, exactly twenty-five years to the hour after his
engagement in battle.
An Incident of the First Day
An incident, similar to that described by Browning in his poem “An
Incident of the French Camp,” occurred at the railroad cut early on the
first day.
An officer of the 6th Wisconsin Regiment, active in the capture of the
Mississippians belonging to the 2nd and 42nd Regiments, who had taken
shelter in the railroad cut after turning the right of Cutler’s line,
approached Colonel Rufus R. Dawes after the engagement was over. Colonel
Dawes supposed, from the erect appearance of the man, that he had come
for further orders, but his compressed lips told a different story. With
great effort the officer said: “Tell them at home I died like a man and
a soldier.” He then opened his coat, showed a ghastly wound on his
breast, and dropped dead.
[Illustration: Dormitory of Gettysburg College.—The dormitory of
Gettysburg (then Pennsylvania) College sheltered many Union and
Confederate wounded]
THE SECOND DAY
The scene of the engagements of the second and third days shifted to the
south and southeast of Gettysburg. General Meade arrived on the field
from his headquarters at Taneytown, Md., at 1 A.M., July 2nd, and
established his headquarters at the Leister House, on the Taneytown
Road, in rear of the line of the 2nd Corps. As soon as it was light he
inspected the position already occupied and made arrangements for
posting the several corps as they should reach the ground.
The Union Line of Battle.
Starting on the right with Slocum’s 12th Corps, Williams’ Division
extended from Rock Creek by way of Spangler’s Spring to Culp’s Hill,
with Geary’s Division on the hill. The line between Culp’s Hill and
Cemetery Hill was held by Wadsworth’s Division of the 1st Corps.
Barlow’s Division of the 11th Corps under Ames was located at the foot
of East Cemetery Hill. Carman, Colgrove, Slocum, Geary, and Wainwright
avenues follow these lines of battle.
On Cemetery Hill, across the Baltimore Pike, the line was held by Schurz
and on his left Steinwehr, both of the 11th Corps. Robinson’s Division
of the 1st Corps extended across the Taneytown Road to Ziegler’s Grove.
Beyond lay Hancock’s 2nd Corps, with the Divisions of Hays, Gibbon, and
Caldwell from right to left. To the left of Hancock, Sickles’ 3rd Corps,
consisting of the Divisions of Humphreys and Birney, prolonged the line
to the vicinity of Little Round Top. Beginning at the Taneytown Road,
Hancock and Sedgwick avenues follow these lines of battle.
Arriving later in the day, the 5th Corps, under General Sykes, was
posted on the Baltimore Pike, at the Rock Creek crossing. Later it
occupied the ground about Round Top to the left of the 3rd Corps. The
6th Corps, under General Sedgwick, reaching the field still later after
a march of over 30 miles, was posted in reserve back of Round Top, from
which position portions were moved as circumstances demanded. The lines
held by the 5th and 6th Corps coincide with Sykes, Ayres, Wright, and
Howe Avenues.
[Illustration: Stevens’ Knoll.—Arriving on Stevens’ Knoll at the end
of the first day, General Slocum brought supporting troops. The
lunettes protecting the cannon remain intact.]
Gamble’s and Devin’s brigades of Buford’s Cavalry, which had had an
active part in the battle of the first day, were on the left between
Cemetery and Seminary Ridges until 10 A.M. when they were ordered, by
some mistake, to move to Westminster, Md., before the arrival of Gregg’s
Division on its way from Hanover, and Merritt’s brigade of Buford’s
Division from Mechanicsburg (now Thurmont), Md.
General Meade’s line, shaped like a fishhook, was about 3 miles long.
The right faced east, the center over Cemetery Hill, north, and the left
from Cemetery Hill to Round Top nearly west. The whole line was
supported by artillery brigades belonging to the different corps.
Confederate Line of Battle.
General Lee’s line was nearly the same shape as General Meade’s but,
being the outer line, was about 6 miles long. On the right, facing the
two Round Tops, were Hood’s and McLaws’ Divisions of Longstreet’s Corps.
On the left of McLaws, extending along the line of Seminary Ridge, were
the Divisions of Anderson and Pender of Hill’s Corps, with Heth’s
Division in the rear in reserve. On the left of Pender, extending
through the town along the line of West Middle Street, was Rodes’
Division of Ewell’s Corps, then Early’s and Johnson’s Divisions, the
latter reaching to Benner’s Hill, east of Rock Creek. Pickett’s Division
of Longstreet’s Corps was at Chambersburg, guarding trains, and Law’s
Brigade of Hood’s Division of Longstreet’s Corps at New Guilford,
guarding the rear. The latter arrived at noon on the 2nd in time to
participate in the day’s engagement. Pickett’s Division arrived later
and was not engaged until the afternoon of the 3rd. The artillery was
posted according to the different corps to which it was attached.
General Lee’s line coincides with the present West Confederate Avenue
along Seminary and Warfield or Snyder Ridges, west of the town, then
runs through the town to coincide with East Confederate Avenue. The
distance between the Union and Confederate lines is three-fourths of a
mile to a mile.
Military critics agree that General Meade held the stronger position.
Both flanks presented precipitous and rocky fronts, difficult to attack,
and it was possible to send reinforcements by short distances from point
to point.
Sickles’ Change of Line.
As already stated, General Sickles’ 3rd Corps was on the left of General
Hancock’s 2nd Corps on Cemetery Ridge, and Birney’s Division was near
the base of Little Round Top, replacing Geary’s Division after its
withdrawal to be posted on Culp’s Hill. Humphreys’ Division was on low
ground to the right between Cemetery Ridge and the Emmitsburg Road.
Anxious to know what was in his front, Sickles sent the Berdan
Sharpshooters and the 3rd Maine Infantry forward on a reconnaissance. On
reaching the Pitzer Woods, beyond the Emmitsburg Road, they found the
Confederates there in force, and after a sharp engagement with Wilcox’s
Brigade, withdrew and reported.
Believing that Lee planned a flank movement on his line, and that the
Emmitsburg Road afforded better positions for the artillery, Sickles
moved his Corps forward and posted Humphreys’ Division on the right
along the Emmitsburg Road and his left extending to the Peach Orchard.
Birney’s Division prolonged the line from the Peach Orchard across the
Wheatfield to Devil’s Den. This new line formed a salient at the Peach
Orchard and therefore presented two fronts, one to the west, the other
to the south.
About 3 P.M. Sickles was called to General Meade’s headquarters to a
conference of corps commanders. Upon the sound of artillery, the
conference adjourned, and Meade, Sickles, and Warren, Meade’s Chief
Engineer, rode to inspect Sickles’ change of line. The artillery was
already engaged, and believing it too late to make any changes since the
enemy was present, Meade decided to attempt to hold the new position by
sending in supports. After reviewing the new line, General Warren left
the other members of the party and rode up Little Round Top. He found
the height unoccupied except by the personnel of a signal station.
[Illustration: General Meade’s Statue.—General Meade viewed
Pickett’s Charge from the center of the Union line. This statue,
like those of Reynolds and Sedgwick, is the work of Henry K.
Bush-Brown.]
General Lee’s Plan.
Lee as well as Meade occupied the forenoon in the arrangement of his
line of battle. After a conference with Ewell, he decided to attack
Meade’s left. In his report, Lee says:
“_It was determined to make the principal attack upon the enemy’s
left, and endeavor to gain a position from which it was thought that
our artillery could be brought to bear with effect. Longstreet was
directed to place the division of McLaws and Hood on the right of
Hill, partially enveloping the enemy’s left, which he was to drive
in._
“_General Hill was ordered to threaten the enemy’s center to prevent
reinforcements being drawn to either wing, and coöperate with his
right division in Longstreet’s attack._
“_General Ewell was instructed to make a simultaneous demonstration
upon the enemy’s right, to be converted into a real attack should
opportunity offer._”
When General Lee arranged this plan of attack he believed Meade’s left
terminated at the Peach Orchard; he did not know that Sickles’ advance
line extended to the left from the salient at the Peach Orchard to
Devil’s Den. In plain view of the Union signal station on Little Round
Top, some of his forces were compelled to make a wide detour via the
Black Horse Tavern on the Fairfield Road in order to avoid observation.
Little Round Top.
Meanwhile, General Warren on Little Round Top saw the importance of the
hill as a tactical position on Meade’s left. The signal officers were
preparing to leave; he ordered them to remain and to keep waving their
flags so as to lead the Confederates to believe that the hill was
occupied. He dispatched a messenger to Devil’s Den, where a Union
battery was posted, with an order that a shot be fired to produce
confusion in the woods in front, through which Hood’s forces were
supposed to be advancing. Seeing the reflection of the sunlight from
Confederate muskets, he realized that if this important position were to
be held, it would be necessary to get troops there without delay.
Quickly he sent a member of his staff to Sickles for troops. Sickles
said none could be spared. Warren sent another staff officer to Meade,
who immediately ordered Sykes to move his Corps to Little Round Top.
Barnes’ Division of this Corps had already been called for by Sickles to
defend his line, and three brigades, Vincent’s, Tilton’s, and
Sweitzer’s, were moving toward the Wheatfield. Learning of the need of
troops on Little Round Top, Vincent moved back, skirted the east side of
Little Round Top, and went into position between Little and Big Round
Top, arriving just before the Confederates from Hood’s right advanced
over Big Round Top.
Having watched these movements, Warren rode down to the crossing of what
is now Sykes Avenue and the Wheatfield Road. There he met Colonel
O’Rorke, in command of the 140th New York, and ordered his regiment,
together with Hazlett’s battery, to the crest of the hill. With the
addition of Weed’s Brigade, the combined forces held the Round Tops.
There was a desperate engagement in which both contestants displayed
courage of a very high order. The Union soldiers were victorious, and
Meade’s left was secured against further attack.
The Peach Orchard and the Wheatfield.
After the struggle for the possession of Little Round Top, the other
Confederate brigades of Hood and McLaws advanced rapidly. A lack of
coordination in their movement allowed Meade to bring up supports. Three
brigades of Anderson’s Division of Hill’s Corps advanced against
Humphreys’ line, in the following order: Wilcox, Perry, Wright. Wounded,
General Pender was unable to direct Posey and Mahone in support of
Wright, and Wright was obliged to withdraw. Humphreys was compelled to
change front in order to meet the assault on his flanks. This maneuver
served to stay the Confederate attack for a brief time. The Valley of
Death between the Round Tops and the opposite height was now a seething
mass of opposing forces, enshrouded in clouds of smoke.
Meade had already depleted his right to support his left by withdrawing
all of Slocum’s 12th Corps except Greene’s Brigade. He now sent all of
the 5th Corps to the left and ordered Caldwell’s Division from the left
of Hancock’s 2nd Corps south of the Angle to the Wheatfield. Willard’s
Brigade on Hays’ line of the 2nd Corps was ordered to advance and oppose
the Confederate, Barksdale, who, after crossing the Emmitsburg Road
north of the Peach Orchard and the field beyond, reached Watson’s Union
battery posted on the Trostle farm. General Sickles was severely and
Barksdale mortally wounded.
[Illustration: Wheatfield.—Scene of carnage on the second day]
Wofford’s Brigade of McLaws’ Division broke through the salient at the
Peach Orchard and reached the valley between Devil’s Den and Little
Round Top, where they were met by a charge of the Pennsylvania Reserves
of Crawford’s Division, led by McCandless, some of whose men fought in
sight of their own homes. Wofford was obliged to withdraw to and beyond
the Wheatfield; the Reserves advanced across the valley from their
position on the north of Little Round Top and reached the stone wall on
the east side of the Wheatfield. Here they remained until after
Pickett’s charge on the 3rd, when they advanced against the Confederates
who had succeeded in regaining control of that part of the field.
About the time when Sickles was wounded, Meade directed Hancock to
assume command of Sickles’ Corps in addition to his own. Meade in person
led Lockwood’s brigade, brought from the extreme right, against the
Confederate advance. Newton, now in command of the 1st Corps, sent in
Doubleday’s Division. With these troops Hancock checked the advance of
the Confederate brigades of Barksdale, Wilcox, Perry, and Wright, while
Sykes checked the advance of Hood and McLaws. Brigades of the 6th Corps
reached the field toward the close of the engagement. Withdrawing from
the Wheatfield Road, Bigelow’s battery made a determined stand at the
Trostle buildings and succeeded in checking the Confederate advance
until the gap on Sickles’ first line was protected by a line of guns.
Most of the Confederate brigades got no farther than Plum Run, except
Wright’s, which actually reached the line of guns on Hancock’s front
before it was obliged to withdraw.
During the repulse of the Confederate advance, the 1st Minnesota
regiment of Harrow’s Brigade of Gibbon’s Division of Hancock’s Corps was
ordered by Hancock to oppose Wilcox’s and Perry’s Brigades, rapidly
advancing against Hancock’s left. The Minnesota regiment moved up at
once and succeeded in repelling the attack, but only after losing 82 per
cent of its men.
Though seriously threatened, Meade’s line held, and after the repulse of
Wright, the attack ended. During the night the line was prolonged to the
top of Big Round Top. The Confederates remained west of Plum Run, except
at Big Round Top, where they intrenched along the western slope.
Ewell’s Attack on Meade’s Right.
Ordered by Lee to begin his attack on Meade’s right at the same time as
Longstreet’s attack on Meade’s left, Ewell’s artillery on Benner’s Hill
opened fire on Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill where the Union forces were
posted and well protected with earthworks. On account of the destructive
fire from the Union batteries on East Cemetery Hill, Ewell lost most of
his guns, and no infantry advance was made until Longstreet’s assault
had ended. At sundown General Johnson’s infantry advanced against Culp’s
Hill, General Early against East Cemetery Hill. Rodes, who was directed
to move against West Cemetery Hill, was unable to obey instructions.
General Walker, who had been sent east to Brinkerhoff Ridge in the
forenoon, to guard Ewell’s flank, and who was expected to assist in this
attack, was prevented by meeting part of the Union cavalry of Gregg’s
Division that had arrived via Hanover on the forenoon of the 2nd. After
an engagement with Gregg, Walker moved up to assist Johnson, but too
late to be of service, as the attack on Culp’s Hill had ended.
The attack was conducted with the greatest dash and daring, in part up
rough slopes of woodland over heaped boulders. On East Cemetery Hill the
fight among the Union guns was hand to hand, and clubbed muskets,
stones, and rammers were used to drive back the assailants. After sunset
a bright moon illuminated the field. The Union troops stood firm, and at
10 o’clock the Confederates desisted, having captured only a few Union
entrenchments.
[Illustration: Monument of the Irish Brigade.—At the foot of the
Celtic Cross is the Irish wolfhound, symbolic of devotion.]
Situation at End of the Second Day.
Lee’s assaults on Meade’s left had failed to accomplish anything
decisive. While Sickles’ advance-line was driven back and most of the
field, including the Peach Orchard, the Wheatfield, Devil’s Den, and the
base of Big Round Top, was occupied by the Confederates, Meade’s line
was practically intact from the crest of Big Round Top on the left to
near Spangler’s Spring on the right. On the slopes of Round Top, on
Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill, the advantage of the defensive positions
multiplied the forces of the defenders in comparison with the attackers
at least three to one. Prodigious deeds of valor were performed by both
armies, and courage of the highest order was displayed in attack and in
the defense. Casualties were very heavy on both sides. Meade estimated
that his losses were 65 per cent of the total for the three days. At the
end of the day he made the following report:
“_July 2, 1863, 8_ P.M. _The enemy attacked me about 4_ P.M. _this
day, and, after one of the severest contests of the war, was repulsed
at all points. We have suffered considerably in killed and wounded.
Among the former are Brigadier Generals Paul and Zook, and among the
wounded are Generals Sickles, Barlow, Graham, and Warren slightly. We
have taken a large number of prisoners. I shall remain in my present
position tomorrow, but am not prepared to say, until better advised of
the condition of the army, whether my operations will be of an
offensive or defensive character._”
Later in the night, at a council of war held by Meade with his corps
commanders—Gibbon, Williams, Sykes, Newton, Howard, Hancock, Sedgwick
and Slocum—sentiment favored remaining and fighting a defensive battle.
As Lee attacked both wings of Meade’s line on the 2nd it was expected
that if another attack were made it would be on the center. This
expectation was correct—Wright’s attack on the 2nd, when he succeeded in
reaching Meade’s line south of the Angle, led Lee to believe that this
was the most vulnerable point.
General Lee had more definite plans:
“_The result of this day’s operations induced the belief that, with
proper concert of action, and with the increased support that the
positions gained on the right would enable the artillery to render the
assaulting column, we should ultimately succeed, and it was
accordingly determined to continue the attack._”
The general plan was unchanged. Longstreet, re-enforced by Pickett’s
three brigades, which arrived near the battlefield during the afternoon
of the 2nd, was ordered to attack the next morning, and General Ewell
was directed to assail the enemy’s right at the same time. The latter,
during the night, re-enforced General Johnson with three brigades from
Rodes’ and Early’s Divisions.
INCIDENTS OF THE SECOND DAY
The Roger House
The Roger House is located on the west side of the Emmitsburg Road,
about a mile south of Gettysburg, midway between Meade’s line of battle
on Cemetery Ridge and Lee’s line on Seminary Ridge. On the afternoon of
July 2nd, after Sickles advanced his corps from its first position to
the Emmitsburg Road, it was surrounded by the right of the new line. The
1st Massachusetts Regiment, whose monument stands adjacent to the house,
held this part of the line, and was hotly engaged when the brigades of
Wilcox and Wright advanced during the assault of Longstreet on the Union
left on the afternoon of the 2nd. During Pickett’s Charge, on the
afternoon of the 3rd, the house was again surrounded by fighting men.
While the battle raged on all sides, a granddaughter of the owner, Miss
Josephine Miller, remained, and, notwithstanding the great danger, baked
bread and biscuits for the hungry soldiers. In 1896, Miss Miller, then
Mrs. Slyder, paid a visit to her old home, and related the following
story of her experience to Mr. Wilfred Pearse, of Boston, Mass., a
visitor to Gettysburg at the same time. After his return he published
the following article.
“The veterans of the 1st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment will be glad to
learn that the only woman member of the 3rd Army Corps ‘Veterans’
Association,’ Mrs. Slyder, née Miss Josephine Miller, granddaughter of
farmer Roger, owner of the farm near which the 1st Massachusetts
monument stands, is visiting her old home on the battleground where she
stood from sunrise to sunset for two days of the battle making hot
biscuits for the Boys in Blue. She refused to take money for the bread,
and refused to stop her work even when Confederate shells were bursting
around the house. She told me the other day that when her stock of flour
was almost exhausted six members of the 1st Massachusetts kindly
volunteered to go out and steal three sacks of flour from General
Sickles’ commissary stores. In an hour’s time they returned with flour,
raisins, currants, and a whole sheep, with which a rattling good meal
was made.
“The old range still stands in the kitchen, and in it, at the last
reunion of the 3rd Corps, Mrs. Slyder cooked a dinner for General
Sickles.”
Spangler’s Spring
This spring, which takes its name from Abraham Spangler, its owner at
the time of the battle, is located at the southeast corner of Culp’s
Hill. Inasmuch as it was used by soldiers of both armies during the
battle, and since then by thousands of tourists, it is an interesting
feature of the field. Only during the drought of 1930 has it failed to
give forth a copious flow of cool, pure water. At the time of the battle
it was surrounded by a wall of flat stones with a flagstone cover over
the top. These were removed and a canopy top erected.
The 12th Corps of the Army of the Potomac occupied this part of Meade’s
line on the night of the first day and until the afternoon of the 2nd,
when the troops were ordered to the left to help repel Longstreet’s
assault. Until this time the spring was used only by the Union troops.
During their absence, the Confederates under Johnson moved up and took
possession of part of the vacated line. In the early morning of the
third day, the Union forces, who had returned from the left during the
night of the 2nd, attacked Johnson, drove him out and succeeded in
regaining possession of the line that had been vacated by them on the
afternoon of the 2nd, including the spring.
The story that a truce was entered into between the opposing forces on
the night of the 2nd and that they met in large numbers at the spring to
get water is a mistake. The captured and wounded of the Union forces
were allowed access to it along with the Confederates who were there at
the time, but there was no truce. When armies were encamped, pickets
from the opposing lines would sometimes get together, usually to trade
coffee and tobacco, but this was never done when a battle was in
progress.
[Illustration: Spangler’s Spring.—Spangler’s Spring was used first
by the Union, then by the Confederate troops, and since by thousands
of tourists]
The following extract from the address of Captain Joseph Matchett at the
dedication of the monument erected by the 46th Pennsylvania Infantry
Regiment, shows that there was no truce:
“Some time in the night (2nd), we were ordered to return to our works on
Culp’s Hill. It seems Captain Selfridge of Company H had taken some of
his men’s canteens and gone ahead to Spangler’s Spring to fill them,
when he discovered ‘Johnnies’ also filling their canteens. He backed out
with the best grace he could command, and reported it to the colonel.
Colonel McDougall, the brigade commander, did not believe it and got
very angry, but the colonel of the regiment insisted on deploying his
men, and sent a skirmish line, who found the enemy as stated and saved
many lives.”
Colonel Avery’s Lost Grave
Among those who faced death in the desperate charge on the Union right
on East Cemetery Hill, July 2nd, Colonel I. E. Avery, of North Carolina,
in command of Hoke’s brigade, bore a gallant part. At the head of the
column he led his men up the slope of Cemetery Hill and, a conspicuous
mark, fell mortally wounded.
Unable to speak, he drew a card from his pocket and wrote the following:
“Tell father that I died with my face toward the enemy.” In the retreat
from Gettysburg, his body was taken along to be delivered to his family,
but when the army reached Williamsport the Potomac was too high to
cross. There, in the cemetery overlooking the river, the remains were
interred in an oak coffin under a pine tree. He was buried in his
uniform by the men who saw him fall.
Thirty years after, Judge A. C. Avery, of the Supreme Court of North
Carolina, a resident of Morgantown, and Captain J. A. McPherson of
Fayette, N. C., both veterans of the Confederacy, came to Williamsport
with the object of locating Colonel Avery’s grave. Their search was
fruitless.
The Leister House
On his arrival, General Meade established his headquarters at the
Leister House, one of the oldest houses in the community, located at the
intersection of Meade Avenue and the Taneytown Road. At the time of the
battle it was the property of a widow, Mrs. Leister. It now belongs to
the Government, and a bronze plate marks it as Meade’s Headquarters. It
is built of logs, chinked and weatherboarded with rough pine boards,
pierced by bullet-holes and scarred by shells.
Inside there are two rooms, a small kitchen at the west, and a larger
room at the east. In the latter, Meade held a council of war after the
battle of the 2nd had ended, summoning his Corps commanders between 9
and 10 o’clock to consult them as to what action, if any, should be
taken on the 3rd. Generals Sedgwick, Slocum, Hancock, Howard, Sykes,
Newton, Birney, Williams, and Gibbon were present. The following
questions were asked:
(1) Under existing circumstances is it advisable for this army to remain
in its present position, or to retire to another nearer its base of
supplies?
(2) It being determined to remain in present position, shall the army
attack or wait the attack of the enemy?
(3) If we wait attack, how long?
_Replies_:
Gibbon: (1) Correct position of the army, but would not retreat. (2) In
no condition to attack, in his opinion. (3) Until he moves.
Williams: (1) Stay. (2) Wait attack. (3) One day.
Birney and Sykes: Same as General Williams.
Newton: (1) Correct position of the army, but would not retreat. (2) By
all means not attack. (3) If we wait it will give them a chance to cut
our line.
Howard: (1) Remain. (2) Wait attack until 4 P.M. tomorrow. (3) If don’t
attack, attack them.
Hancock: (1) Rectify position without moving so as to give up field. (2)
Not attack unless our communications are cut. (3) Can’t wait long; can’t
be idle.
Sedgwick: (1) Remain. (2) Wait attack. (3) At least one day.
Slocum: (1) Stay and fight it out.
The unanimous opinion of the council was to stay and await attack. Just
as the council broke up, General Meade said to Gibbon, “If Lee attacks
tomorrow, it will be on your front. He has made attacks on both our
flanks and failed, and if he concludes to try it again it will be on our
center.” The attack of Lee on the 3rd was made where Meade expected.
During the forenoon of the third day, conditions at headquarters were
generally quiet. In the afternoon, when the Confederate artillery on
Seminary Ridge opened fire as a prelude to Pickett’s Charge, it was
directed mainly against the left center of the Union line on Cemetery
Ridge. As the location of Meade’s headquarters was in the immediate
rear, just under the crest of the ridge, much damage was done by the
hail of shot and shell that crossed the ridge. A shell exploded in the
yard among the staff officers’ horses tied to the fence, and a number of
them were killed, while still other horses were killed in the rear of
the building. Several members of the headquarters’ guard were slightly
wounded.
George G. Meade, a grandson of General Meade, in his interesting
narrative “With Meade at Gettysburg,” tells the following story:
“During this rain of Confederate shell, and while Meade, deep in
thought, was walking up and down this little back yard between the house
and the Taneytown Road, he chanced to notice that some of his staff,
during the enforced inactivity while waiting the pleasure of their
general, were gradually and probably unconsciously edging around the
side of the house.
“‘Gentlemen,’ he said, stopping and smiling pleasantly, ‘Are you trying
to find a safer place? You remind me of the man who was driving the
ox-cart which took ammunition for the heavy guns on the field of Palo
Alto. Finding himself within range, he tilted up his cart and got behind
it. Just then General Taylor came along, and seeing the attempt at
shelter, shouted, “You damned fool; don’t you know you are no safer
there than anywhere else?” The driver replied, “I don’t suppose I am,
General, but it kind o’ feels so.”’”
As the firing still continued it was decided to move the headquarters
several hundred yards south on the Taneytown Road, to a barn on the
Cassatt property. There a Confederate shell exploded and wounded General
Butterfield, the chief of staff, who was obliged to leave the field and
was unable to return that day. After remaining a short time, General
Meade and staff removed to General Slocum’s headquarters at Powers’
Hill, along the Baltimore Pike, moving there by way of Granite Lane.
The Louisiana Tigers
Major Chatham R. Wheat’s battalion of Louisiana Infantry was organized
in New Orleans in May, 1861. Their first engagement was in the first
battle of Bull Run, where Major Wheat was shot through both lungs. After
his recovery, he re-entered the service and took an active part in
command of the battalion in the defense of Richmond in 1863 against the
advance of the Union forces under McClellan. During this campaign the
battalion became known as “The Louisiana Tigers” on account of their
desperate fighting qualities. At the battle of Gaines Mill, Major Wheat
and several other leading officers of the battalion were killed, and the
loss of the organization was very heavy. It was then broken up and the
survivors distributed among the other Louisiana regiments, of Hays’
brigade of Early’s Division, and Nicholls’ brigade of Johnson’s Division
of Ewell’s Corps. A number of them were in the battle of Gettysburg with
these brigades, but not as the separate organization originally known as
“The Louisiana Tigers.” This designation was given to all the Louisiana
troops after the original battalion was discontinued. The story
sometimes told, that 1,700 Louisiana Tigers attacked East Cemetery Hill
on July 2nd, that all but 300 were killed or captured, and that the
organization was unknown afterward, is not correct.
General Meade’s “Baldy”
In the first great battle of the Civil War, at Bull Run, there was a
bright bay horse with white face and feet. He, as well as his rider, was
seriously wounded and the horse was turned back to the quartermaster to
recover. In September General Meade bought him and named him “Baldy.”
Meade became deeply attached to the horse but his staff officers soon
began to complain of his peculiar racking gait which was hard to follow.
Faster than a walk and slow for a trot, it compelled the staff
alternately to trot and walk.
“Baldy” was wounded twice at the first battle of Bull Run; he was at the
battle of Drainsville; he took part in two of the seven days’ fighting
around Richmond in the summer of 1862; he carried his master at
Groveton, August 29th; at the second battle of Bull Run; at South
Mountain and at Antietam. In the last battle he was left on the field
for dead, but in the next Federal advance he was discovered quietly
grazing on the battleground with a deep wound in his neck. He was
tenderly cared for and soon was fit for duty. He bore the general at the
battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. For two days he was
present at Gettysburg, where he received his most grievous wound from a
bullet entering his body between the ribs and lodging there. Meade would
not part with him and kept him with the army until the following spring.
In the preparations of the Army of the Potomac for the last campaign,
“Baldy” was sent to pasture at Downingtown, Pa. After the surrender of
Lee at Appomattox, Meade hurried to Philadelphia where he again met his
faithful charger, fully recovered. For many years the horse and the
general were inseparable companions, and when Meade died in 1872,
“Baldy” followed the hearse. Ten years later he died, and his head and
two fore-hoofs were mounted and are now cherished relics of the George
G. Meade Post, Grand Army of the Republic, in Philadelphia.
General Lee’s “Traveller”
The most famous of the steeds in the stables of General Lee, was
“Traveller,” an iron-gray horse. He was raised in Greenbriar County,
Virginia, near Blue Sulphur Springs, and as a colt won first prize at a
fair in Lewisburg. When hostilities commenced, Traveller, then called
“Jeff Davis,” was owned by Major Thomas L. Broun, who had paid $175 in
gold for him. In the spring of 1862, Lee bought him for $200 and changed
his name to “Traveller.”
“Traveller” was the especial companion of the general. His fine
proportions attracted immediate attention. He was gray in color, with
black points, a long mane, and flowing tail. He stood sixteen hands
high, and was five years old in the spring of 1862. His figure was
muscular, with deep chest and short back, strong haunches, flat legs,
small head, quick eyes, broad forehead, and small feet. His rapid,
springy step and bold carriage made him conspicuous. On a long and
tedious march he easily carried Lee’s weight at five or six miles an
hour without faltering and at the end of the day’s march seemed to be as
fresh as at the beginning. The other horses broke down under the strain
and each in turn proved unequal to the rigors of war, but “Traveller”
sturdily withstood the hardships of the campaigns in Virginia, Maryland,
and Pennsylvania. When, in April, 1865, the last battle of the Army of
Northern Virginia had been fought and Lee rode to the McLean House at
Appomattox Court House, he was astride “Traveller” who carried him back
to his waiting army, and then to Richmond. When Lee became a private
citizen and retired to Washington and Lee University as its president,
the veteran war-horse was still with him, and as the years passed and
both master and servant neared life’s ending, they became more closely
attached. As the funeral cortege accompanied Lee to his last
resting-place, “Traveller” marched behind the hearse. After
“Traveller’s” death, his skeleton was mounted and is on exhibition in
the museum in the chapel on the campus of Washington and Lee University.
[Illustration: A Union Battery, in action on the afternoon of the
second day]
THE THIRD DAY
The first engagement on the third day was a continuation and conclusion
of the attack and defense of Meade’s right. His forces, returning from
the left, where they had been sent on the afternoon of the 2nd, found
part of their earthworks in possession of the enemy. At daybreak
preparations were made to recapture the lost entrenchments. By 10.30 the
effort was successful, and Meade’s line was once more intact from end to
end.
Second Battle at Culp’s Hill.
This action on the morning of the 3rd was one of the most hotly
contested of the battle. The Confederate losses in killed were almost
the same as those of Pickett’s Division in the attack on Meade’s left
center in the afternoon. Meade’s losses were comparatively light, as his
line was well protected by the line of earthworks. So intense was the
artillery and musketry fire that hundreds of trees were shattered. After
the repulse, Johnson’s forces were withdrawn, and this ended their
participation in the battle.
Meade’s Line of the Third Day.
After the engagement on the morning of the 2nd, the 12th Corps
reoccupied its original line, beginning on the right at Spangler’s Hill
and extending to and over Culp’s Hill. Wadsworth’s Division of the 1st
Corps retained its position of the 2nd, between Culp’s Hill and Barlow’s
Division under Ames of the 11th Corps, at the foot of East Cemetery
Hill. Barlow’s Division was strengthened by a brigade of the 2nd Corps.
Doubleday’s Division of the 1st Corps, which had taken the position of
Caldwell’s Division on the left of the 2nd Corps, remained. Caldwell was
posted so as to support the artillery reserve to the left of Doubleday.
The other divisions of the 1st and 2nd Corps remained in the positions
they occupied on the morning of the 2nd. The 5th Corps extended the line
from the left of the artillery reserve to Big Round Top. Some of the
brigades of the 6th Corps were put in position as local reserves and
others to protect the flanks of the line. The 3rd Corps was posted in
rear of the center as a general reserve. A detachment of cavalry was in
reserve in rear of the 2nd Corps at the Angle. Few changes were made in
the artillery positions. Beginning at Cemetery Hill and extending to
Little Round Top, about ninety guns, under General Hunt, were in
position to operate.
[Illustration: Meade’s Headquarters.—The Leister House, General
Meade’s headquarters until the artillery fire on the third day
compelled him to move]
Lee’s Line of the Third Day.
Beginning on the right, Longstreet’s Corps held the ground west of Plum
Run, including the base of Big Round Top, Devil’s Den, and the Peach
Orchard. Pickett’s Division, after its arrival on the field on the
morning of the 3rd, took the place of Anderson in reserve. Heth’s and
Pender’s Divisions extended the line to the left on Seminary Ridge,
connecting with part of Rodes’ Division in the western part of the town.
Early’s and Johnson’s Divisions, after the engagement on the morning of
the 3rd, held their positions of the 2nd. Changes in the positions of
the batteries of artillery were made on the morning of the 3rd. A total
of 138 guns were in position to operate. Those on the right were in
charge of Colonel E. P. Alexander; those on the left under Colonel R. L.
Walker.
The Bliss Buildings.
After the end of the engagement at Culp’s Hill at 10.30 A.M. there was a
short battle for the capture of the Bliss house and barn, midway between
the lines in front of Ziegler’s Grove. These buildings were occupied by
Confederate sharpshooters, who were causing considerable loss in Hays’
line of the 2nd Corps at the grove. Two regiments were sent forward, the
12th New Jersey and the 14th Connecticut, and the buildings were
captured and burned.
The Artillery Duel.
Until 1 o’clock there was comparative quiet. It was ended on the stroke
of the hour by two guns of Miller’s battery belonging to the Washington
artillery of New Orleans, posted near the Peach Orchard, and fired in
rapid succession as a signal to the Confederate artillery.
The Confederate Colonel Alexander says:
“_At exactly 1 o’clock by my watch the two signal guns were heard in
quick succession. In another minute every gun was at work. The enemy
was not slow in coming back at us, and the grand roar of nearly the
whole of both armies burst in on the silence._
“_The enemy’s position seemed to have broken out with guns everywhere,
and from Round Top to Cemetery Hill was blazing like a volcano._”
The artillery duel was but a preface, intended to clear the ground for
the infantry action to follow. The order had already been given by
Longstreet to Alexander:
“_Colonel: The intention is to advance the infantry if the artillery
has the desired effect of driving the enemy off, or having other
effect such as to warrant us in making the attack. When the moment
arrives advise General Pickett, and of course advance such artillery
as you can use in making the attack._”
General Wright, who was present when this order was received, expressed
doubt as to whether the attack could be successfully made. He said:
“_It is not so hard to go there as it looks; I was nearly there with
my brigade yesterday. The trouble is to stay there. The whole Yankee
army is there in a bunch._”
For one and a half hours the air was filled with screaming, whistling
shot and shell. An occasional Whitworth missile, from Oak Hill on the
north, made, on account of its peculiar form, a noise that could be
heard above the din of all others. The headquarters of General Meade at
the Leister House formed a concentric point continually swept with a
storm of shot and shell. Headquarters were therefore moved to Slocum’s
headquarters at Powers’ Hill, along the Baltimore Pike.
[Illustration: Locations, Buildings and Avenues as referred to in “The
Battle of Gettysburg”
High-resolution Map]
Batteries on the Union line, especially at the Angle, were badly
damaged, and General Hunt had others brought forward with additional
supplies of ammunition. On the whole the losses inflicted upon the Union
infantry were comparatively light. The stone wall and the undulations of
the ground afforded protection, as most of the men were lying down.
After the artillery had operated for about an hour and a half, Meade and
Hunt deemed it prudent to stop the fire, in order to cool the guns, save
ammunition, and allow the atmosphere between the lines to clear of the
dense cloud of smoke before the expected attack was made. This pause in
the fire led the Confederates to believe that the Union line was
demoralized, and that the opportune time had arrived for the onset of
the infantry. Accordingly, they moved forward and Pickett’s Charge was
on.
At the signal station on Little Round Top, General Warren and others saw
gray infantry moving out across the plain in front of the Spangler
Woods. Warren at once wig-wagged to General Hunt:
“_They are moving out to attack._”
This message was passed from man to man along the entire Union line.
[Illustration: Devil’s Den.—Hid among the rocks of Devil’s Den,
Confederate sharpshooters picked off officers and men occupying
Little Round Top]
Pickett’s Charge.
Pickett’s Division of Longstreet’s Corps was moved from the rear to the
ravine in front of the Spangler Woods and placed in line as follows:
Kemper on the right; Garnett on the left in the front line; Armistead in
the rear, overlapping Kemper’s left and Garnett’s right, in the second
line. On the left of Garnett was ranged Archer’s Brigade of Hill’s Corps
under Frye, then Pettigrew’s Brigade under Marshall. Next to Marshall
came Davis’ Brigade of Hill’s Corps, and on the extreme left
Brockenbrough’s Brigade, also of Hill’s Corps. In the rear of the right
of Pickett were the brigades of Wilcox and Perry of Hill’s Corps and in
the rear of Pettigrew were the brigades of Scales and Lane of Hill’s
Corps, in command of Trimble.
The column of assault consisted of 42 regiments—19 Virginia, 15 North
Carolina, 2 Alabama, 3 Tennessee, and 3 Mississippi—a total of about
15,000 men.
In addition to the artillery fire, they encountered 27 regiments—9 of
New York, 5 of Pennsylvania, 3 of Massachusetts, 3 of Vermont, 1 of
Michigan, 1 of Maine, 1 of Minnesota, 1 of New Jersey, 1 of Connecticut,
1 of Ohio, and 1 of Delaware—a total of 9,000 to 10,000 men.
In advance of the assaulting column a strong skirmish line was deployed.
A skirmish line was also deployed in front of Meade’s line, which fell
back as the assaulting column drew near.
The Advance.
General Longstreet ordered General Alexander, Chief of Artillery, to
watch the havoc wrought in the Union line and signify the moment for
advance.
General Alexander says:
“_Before the cannonade opened I made up my mind to give the order to
advance within fifteen or twenty minutes after it began. But when I
looked at the full development of the enemy’s batteries and knew that
his infantry was generally protected from fire by stone walls and
swells of the ground, I could not bring myself to give the word._
“_I let the 15 minutes pass, and 20, and 25, hoping vainly for
something to turn up. Then I wrote to Pickett: ‘If you are coming at
all, come at once, or I cannot give you proper support; but the
enemy’s fire has not slackened at all; at least eighteen guns are
still firing from the cemetery itself.’_
“_Five minutes after sending that message, the enemy’s fire suddenly
began to slacken, and the guns in the cemetery limbered up and vacated
the position._
“_Then I wrote to Pickett: ‘Come quick; eighteen guns are gone; unless
you advance quick, my ammunition won’t let me support you properly.’_
“_Pickett then rode forward, and on meeting Longstreet said: ‘General,
shall I advance?’ Longstreet nodded his assent and the column moved
forward._”
The column passed through the line of guns, fifteen or eighteen of which
had been ordered to follow. Meanwhile the eighteen Union guns that were
withdrawn were replaced by others. The Union line was once more intact,
and it opened a terrific fire against the rapidly moving columns of
assault. As the Confederates continued to advance, their courage
unaffected in face of the tremendous fire of both artillery and
infantry, their enemies were filled with admiration.
At the Emmitsburg Road, where post-and-rail fences had to be crossed,
the line was broken, but only for a moment. The musketry fire from the
Union line was so heavy that the attacking column was unable to maintain
a regular alignment, and when the Angle was reached the identity of the
different brigades was lost.
Armistead’s Brigade forged to the front at the Angle, and, reaching the
wall, Armistead raised his hat on his sword and said:
“_Give them the cold steel, boys!_”
With a few men he advanced to Cushing’s guns, where he fell, mortally
wounded. Cushing also was mortally wounded. Garnett, who was mounted,
was killed a short distance from the wall. Kemper was badly wounded.
Pickett lost all of his field officers but one. The Union Generals
Hancock and Gibbon were wounded at the same time. For a short time the
struggle was hand to hand.
To the right of the Angle most of the brigades on Pickett’s left reached
the stone wall on Hays’ front at Ziegler’s Grove, but were obliged to
retreat after meeting a withering fire both in front and on flank.
The brigades of Wilcox and Perry, in the rear of Pickett’s right, did
not move until after the advance lines were part way across. Because of
a misunderstanding, a gap was opened between Pickett’s right and
Wilcox’s left. At once Stannard’s Vermont Brigade of the 1st Corps
attacked both Pickett’s right and Wilcox’s left.
General Pickett, who had reached the Codori buildings, saw that the
assaulting forces were unable to accomplish the object of the charge,
and ordered a retreat. It was accomplished, but with heavy losses.
Both commanding officers witnessed the retreat: General Meade from where
his statue stands east of the Angle, and General Lee from the position
of his statue north of the Spangler Woods.
[Illustration: Whitworth Guns.—These two Whitworths, imported from
England by the Confederates, were the only breech-loading guns used
in the battle]
Engagements on the Union Left.
While Pickett’s Charge was under way, the Pennsylvania Reserves, under
McCandless, charged from the stone wall on the east side of the
Wheatfield and regained possession of Devil’s Den and adjacent territory
held by Longstreet’s forces since the engagement of the afternoon of the
2nd. Farther south, between Big Round Top and the line held by
Longstreet’s right, a cavalry charge was made by Farnsworth’s Brigade of
Kilpatrick’s Division. Farnsworth was killed. Merritt’s Brigade of
Buford’s Division, which reached the field on the 3rd, engaged some of
Longstreet’s troops along the Emmitsburg Road. The accomplished object
of these movements was to prevent Longstreet from giving assistance to
the charge of Pickett on Meade’s center.
The Cavalry Fight on the Right Flank.
As already noted, General Stuart in his movement in rear of the Army of
the Potomac with three brigades of cavalry—Fitzhugh Lee’s, Wade
Hampton’s, and Chambliss’—reached Hanover on June 30th, fought a battle
in the streets, and moved on to Carlisle on the afternoon of July 1st.
There he got in touch with the main Confederate Army, with which he had
been out of communication for seven days.
After an encounter with a portion of Kilpatrick’s forces at Hunterstown
on the afternoon of July 2nd, he moved up to a position between the
Hunterstown and Harrisburg roads on Ewell’s left, expecting to reach
Meade’s rear about the time of Pickett’s Charge on Meade’s front. He was
joined by Jenkins’ Confederate Brigade of mounted infantry armed with
Enfield rifles. Jenkins was wounded at Hunterstown, and the brigade and
the command fell to Colonel Ferguson.
General Gregg, in command of the 2nd Cavalry Division of the Union Army,
reached the field east of Gettysburg at the intersection of the Hanover
and Low Dutch roads at 11 A.M. on July 2nd. In the afternoon he halted a
movement of Walker’s brigade of Johnson’s Division, Ewell’s Corps, in
their movement from Brinkerhoff Ridge to assist in the attack on Meade’s
right at Culp’s Hill. He bivouacked for the night near the bridge across
White Run. On the morning of the 3rd he returned to the position of the
2nd, and took an active part in the cavalry fight on the right flank at
the time of Pickett’s Charge. In the afternoon, in the important
engagement on East Cavalry Field he successfully opposed General Stuart
in his efforts to get behind the Union line.
The Location.
East Cavalry Field is 3 miles east of Gettysburg and includes the
territory lying between the York Pike on the north and the Hanover Road
on the south. On the east it is bounded by the Low Dutch Road which
intersects the Baltimore Pike at its southern end, and the York Pike at
its northern end. Brinkerhoff Ridge, which crosses the Hanover Road at
right angles about 1½ miles east of the town, forms its boundary on the
west. Cress Ridge is formed by the elevation between Cress’s Run on the
west and Little’s Run on the east. Both ridges right angle across the
Hanover Road.
All the positions held by troops have been marked and the entire field
is readily accessible over well-built roads and avenues. Because of its
partial isolation from the principal fields, this important area is not
visited as frequently as it should be.
General Stuart’s Plan.
General Stuart did not wish to bring on a general engagement. He
expected his skirmishers to keep the Union Cavalry engaged while his
other forces were moving undiscovered toward the rear of Meade’s line.
He says in his report:
“_On the morning of July 3, pursuant to instructions from the
commanding general, I moved forward to a position to the left of Gen.
Ewell’s left, and in advance of it, where a commanding ridge (Cress
Ridge) completely controlled a wide plain of cultivated fields
stretching toward Hanover, on the left, and reaching to the base of
the mountain spurs, among which the enemy held position. My command
was increased by the addition of Jenkins’ Brigade, who here in the
presence of the enemy allowed themselves to be supplied with but 10
rounds of ammunition, although armed with approved Enfield muskets._
“_I moved this command and W. H. F. Lee’s secretly through the woods
to a position, and hoped to effect a surprise upon the enemy’s rear,
but Hampton’s and Fitz Lee’s Brigades, which had been ordered to
follow me, unfortunately debouched into the open ground, disclosing
the movement, and causing a corresponding movement of a large force of
the enemy’s cavalry._”
It was the advance of Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee which caused Stuart’s
plans to miscarry.
[Illustration: Reaching East Cemetery Hill on the afternoon of the
first day, General Hancock took command of the Union troops. On the
second day the guns pointed downward to meet the onslaught of the
Confederates]
[Illustration: Little Round Top.—Its strategic importance was seen
by General Warren who commanded it to be fortified and held]
General Gregg’s Report.
On the Union side, General D. McM. Gregg had under his command three
brigades of cavalry—one in command of General George A. Custer, who
later was responsible for “Custer’s Last Charge” in Indian warfare.
General Gregg’s report gives a brief description of the many charges and
countercharges:
“_A strong line of skirmishers displayed by the enemy was evidence
that the enemy’s cavalry had gained our right, and were about to
attack, with the view of gaining the rear of our line of battle. The
importance of successfully resisting an attack at this point, which,
if succeeded in by the enemy, would have been productive of the most
serious consequences, determined me to retain the brigade of the Third
Division until the enemy were driven back. General Custer, commanding
the brigade, fully satisfied of the intended attack, was well pleased
to remain with his brigade. The First New Jersey Cavalry was posted as
mounted skirmishers to the right and front in a wood. The Third
Pennsylvania Cavalry deployed as dismounted skirmishers to the left
and front in open fields, and the First Maryland on the Hanover
turnpike, in position to protect the right of my line._
“_The very superior force of dismounted skirmishers of the enemy
advanced on our left and front required the line to be re-enforced by
one of General Custer’s regiments. At this time the skirmishing became
very brisk on both sides, and the artillery fire was begun by the
enemy and ourselves. During the skirmish of the dismounted men, the
enemy brought upon the field a column for a charge. The charge of this
column was met by the Seventh Michigan Cavalry, of the First (Second)
Brigade, Third Division, but not successfully. The advantage gained in
this charge was soon wrested from the enemy by the gallant charge of
the First Michigan, of the same brigade. This regiment drove the enemy
back to his starting point, the enemy withdrew to his left, and on
passing the wood in which the First New Jersey Cavalry was posted,
that regiment gallantly and successfully charged the flank of his
column. Heavy skirmishing was still maintained by the Third
Pennsylvania Cavalry with the enemy, and was continued until
nightfall. During the engagement, a portion of this regiment made a
very handsome and successful charge upon one of the enemy’s regiments.
The enemy retired his column behind his artillery, and at dark
withdrew from his former position. The fire of the artillery during
this engagement was the most accurate that I have ever seen._”
Stuart’s forces numbered about 7,000, and Gregg and Custer’s about
5,000.
Lee’s Retreat.
On the night of the 3rd, Lee withdrew all his forces to Seminary and
Snyder ridges. Orders were issued and instructions given for the retreat
to the Potomac River at Williamsport and Falling Waters. The effectives
moved to Fairfield over the Hagerstown or Fairfield Road. The
wagon-train, 17 miles long, with the wounded, was moved by way of the
Cashtown Road (Chambersburg Pike), under the command of
Brigadier-General John D. Imboden, who has described his interview with
General Lee at his headquarters, which were still located in an orchard
in the rear of the Seminary buildings, as follows:
“_He invited me into his tent, and as soon as we were seated he
remarked: ‘We must now return to Virginia. As many of our poor wounded
as possible must be taken home. I have sent for you because your men
and horses are fresh and in good condition, to guard and conduct our
train back to Virginia. The duty will be arduous, responsible, and
dangerous, for I am afraid you will be harassed by the enemy’s
cavalry. I can spare you as much artillery as you may require but no
other troops, as I shall need all I have to return safely by a
different and shorter route than yours. The batteries are generally
short of ammunition, but you will probably meet a supply I have
ordered from Winchester to Williamsport._”
On account of a terrific rainstorm shortly after noon on the 4th there
was considerable delay in getting the Confederate train started. Well
guarded in front and rear, the head of the column near Cashtown was put
in motion and began the ascent of the mountain. The wounded suffered
indescribable hardships. Many had been without food for thirty-six
hours, and had received no medical attention since the battle. Among the
wounded officers were General Pender and General Scales. The trip cost
Pender his life. General Imboden said:
“_During this retreat I witnessed the most heartrending scenes of the
War._”
As a military movement the retreat was a success. Though harassed by
pursuing forces, the train reached the Potomac with comparatively little
loss.
The main Confederate Army crossed the mountain, principally at the
Fairfield gap. On account of the heavy rain, Ewell’s Corps, which
brought up the rear did not leave Gettysburg until the forenoon of the
5th. Somewhat delayed, but not seriously impeded, Lee arrived at the
Potomac on July 12, finding it too high to cross. There he entrenched
his army. The next day, the waters having fallen, he got safely away.
No Pursuit by Meade.
Because of Lee’s strong position, Meade made no countercharge. He had
won a notable victory, and believed it unwise to risk undoing his work.
His army had suffered heavily. Both armies moved south. The Confederate
cause had received a severe blow. The defeat at Gettysburg and the
surrender of Vicksburg on July 4th to Grant ended all hope of foreign
recognition. Yet, for almost two years the desperate struggle was to
continue!
[Illustration: The boulder-strewn face of Little Round Top,
assaulted by brave Confederates and held by brave Unionists]
The Gettysburg Carnage.
The War records estimate the Union casualties, killed, wounded, and
missing, at 23,000 of the 84,000 engaged. The Confederate casualties are
estimated at over 20,000 of the 75,000 engaged. Approximately 10,000
bodies were left at Gettysburg for burial, and 21,000 living men to be
healed of their wounds.
No words can picture the desolation of the little town. As the soldiers
marched away, their places were taken by physicians and surgeons, nurses
and orderlies, civilian as well as military, and the ministrations of
mercy began. In these the citizens of Gettysburg, especially the women,
took an important part. Hither came also a new army of parents and wives
and brothers and sisters, seeking, sometimes with success, sometimes
with grievous disappointment, for their beloved.
HAPPENINGS ON THE THIRD DAY
A Medal for Disobedience
On the afternoon of July 3rd, Captain William E. Miller, of Company H,
2nd Brigade, of Gregg’s Division of Union Cavalry, made a charge against
the Confederate Cavalry, in command of Major-General J. E. B. Stuart, in
their movement from Cress Ridge, East Cavalry Field, to reach the rear
of Meade’s line at the time of Pickett’s Charge.
The incident is described by Captain William Brooke Rawle, a participant
in the charge, in his “History of the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry.”
“When the cavalry fighting began, Captain Miller’s squadron was
stationed in Lott’s woods to the west of the Low Dutch Road, beyond the
Hanover Road, and was deployed, mounted as skirmishers, along the
western edge of the woods. There was considerable long-range firing
before the climax of the fighting came. About 3 o’clock in the afternoon
... a large body of cavalry, which proved to be Hampton’s and Fitzhugh
Lee’s brigades, was seen approaching in magnificent order, mounted, from
the northern side of the field. Captain Miller and I rode out a few
yards in front of our position to a slight rise in the ground to get a
good view. The enemy quickened his pace, first to a trot, then to a
gallop, and then the charge was sounded. The nearest available compact
body of Union Cavalry at hand to meet the enemy was the 1st Michigan
Cavalry of General Custer’s brigade, which was serving temporarily under
General Gregg. It was ordered to meet the enemy’s charge by a
counter-charge, although the Confederate brigade greatly outnumbered the
Michigan regiment. Captain Miller and I saw at once that unless more men
were sent against the enemy the Michigan regiment would be swept from
the field. He said to me, ‘I have been ordered to hold this position at
all hazards, but if you will back me up if I get into trouble for
exceeding my orders, I will make a charge with the squadron.’ This was
in order to make a diversion in favor of our troops, and help the
Michigan men. I assured him in an emphatic manner that I would stand by
him through thick and thin. He then ordered me to rally the left wing of
the squadron while he did the same with the right. When this was done
the squadron fired a volley into the Confederate column, which was
within easy range. The men were very impatient to begin their charge,
and the right wing, headed by Captain Miller, started off at a gallop.
“A stone and rail fence divided the line of the squadron front, running
at right angles to it, and I had to make a slight detour to get around
it with the left wing of the squadron. This, and the fact that the head
of the squadron was headed to the right oblique, caused a gap of some
thirty yards or so between the rear of the portion of the squadron under
Captain Miller and myself with the left of the left portion. Meanwhile
the two opposing columns had met, and the head of the Confederate column
was fast becoming jammed, and the men on the flanks were beginning to
turn back. Captain Miller, with his men struck the left flank of the
enemy’s column pretty well towards the rear, about two-thirds or
three-fourths of the way down, and as the impetus of the latter had
stopped while his men had full headway on, he drove well into the column
and cut off its rear and forced it back in the direction whence it came,
and the captain and some of his men got as far as the Rummel house. As
to this last, I learned from the men engaged. Captain Miller was wounded
in the arm during the fight.
“I myself with the rear portion of Captain Miller’s squadron did not
succeed in getting all the way through. Just as I and my men reached the
flank of the enemy many of the latter were getting to the rear and we
were swept along with the current and scattered, some of us, including
myself, though narrowly escaping capture, succeeding in working our way
in one’s and two’s to the right, where we got back into our lines again.
“The gallant conduct and dashing charge made by Captain Miller and his
men were commented upon by all who saw it. A fact that made it all the
more commendable was that it was done upon his own responsibility,
without orders from a superior officer.”
In July, 1897, a Congressional Medal of Honor was bestowed upon Captain
Miller by direction of President McKinley, through the Secretary of War,
General Russell A. Alger. The conferring of this tribute was especially
appropriate, inasmuch as General Alger himself had participated on the
right flank as the Colonel of the 5th Michigan, and was therefore
eminently competent to decide.
The Wentz House
The Wentz house, which stands at the intersection of the Emmitsburg and
Wheatfield roads, is now a Government-owned property, and is marked with
an iron tablet with the inscription “Wentz House.” It is not the house
that was there at the time of the battle; the original building was
dismantled and the present building erected on the same site.
At the time of the battle the house was owned and occupied by John
Wentz, who cultivated the small tract of land belonging to it. He was
twice married, and at this time was living with his second wife, who was
the mother of Henry Wentz, the principal actor in an interesting
incident of the battle of Gettysburg.
For many years before the beginning of the Civil War, carriage and
coach-building was one of the leading industries of Gettysburg. Henry
Wentz served an apprenticeship with the Ziegler firm of Gettysburg. He
was frequently sent to deliver the products of the firm, and thereby
became well acquainted with the different sections where sales were
made.
In the early ’50’s he decided to move to Martinsburg, Va. (now W. Va.),
and establish a carriage-building shop of his own. When a local military
organization was formed and designated the “Martinsburg Blues,” Henry
became a member. Equipped with uniforms and arms, the members were
drilled from time to time. Similar organizations were formed throughout
the North as well as the South. Most of the members of the Martinsburg
Blues, including Henry Wentz, decided to cast their lot with the
Southern cause, and were assigned to places in the armies of the South.
But, by the irony of fate, he was destined to get back to his old home
and command a battery posted back of the house on his father’s land.
During the first day the Wentz property was not in danger, but when
General Lee extended his line of battle south along the line of Seminary
Ridge, and General Meade prolonged his line opposite on Cemetery Ridge
in preparation for the battle of the second day, the Wentz family, with
the exception of the father, decided to seek a safer location. On the
night of the second day, after Sickles’ advanced line at the Wentz house
had been repulsed and occupied by the forces under General Lee, Henry
Wentz visited his old home and was greatly surprised to find his father
still there.
Early in the morning of the third day, 75 guns, in command of Colonel E.
P. Alexander, were moved forward from Lee’s first line to the line held
by Sickles’ advanced line on the second day. The battery in charge of
Henry Wentz, who held the rank of lieutenant, was posted back of his old
home, and he took an active part in the terrific artillery engagement
prior to Pickett’s Charge that ended on that part of the field. Henry’s
father kept to the cellar and, singularly, passed through it all
unharmed and unhurt.
After the repulse of Pickett’s Charge, the guns were withdrawn to their
first line. During the night of the third day, Henry was anxious to know
whether or not his father was still safe. He therefore went over to the
house and found him fast asleep and unhurt in a corner of the cellar.
Not wishing to disturb his much-needed rest, he found the stump of a
candle, lit it, and wrote, “Good-bye and God bless you!” This message he
pinned on the lapel of his father’s coat and returned to his command
preparatory to the retreat to Virginia.
Early on the morning of the 4th, the father awoke from his much-needed
sleep and found that all the soldiers had departed. He then walked back
to the ridge and saw Lee’s army making hurried preparations for the
retreat.
Fought with a Hatchet
At the battle of Gettysburg the 13th Vermont was a part of General
Stannard’s Vermont command. The 2nd Vermont brigade had been left on
outpost duty in Virginia until the third day after the Army of the
Potomac had passed in pursuit of Lee’s troops into Maryland and
Pennsylvania. Then the brigade got orders to proceed by forced marches
to join the Army of the Potomac. The latter was also on a forced march,
but in six days’ time the Vermonters had overtaken the main body. Just
before the first day’s battle, Captain Brown’s command came up to a
well, at which was an armed guard. “You can’t get water here,” said the
guard. “’Gainst orders.” “Damn your orders!” said Captain Brown, and
then with all the canteens of the men, and with only one man to help
him, he thrust the guard aside and filled the canteens. His arrest
followed, and he was deprived of his sword.
When the battle began, Captain Brown was a prisoner. He begged for a
chance to rejoin his company, and was allowed to go. His men were far
away at the front, and he had no weapons. He picked up a camp hatchet
and ran all the way to the firing-line, reached it, rushed into the
fray, and singling out a Rebel officer 50 yards away, penetrated the
Rebel ranks, collared the officer, wresting from him his sword and
pistol, after which he dropped the hatchet, while his men cheered him
amid the storm of bullets and smoke.
When the design for the 13th Vermont monument was made, it was the
desire of the committee to have the statue represent Captain Brown,
hatchet in hand. Accordingly, a model was prepared, but the Federal
Government would not permit its erection. A second model was approved,
showing Captain Brown holding a sabre and belt in his hand, the hatchet
lying at his feet as though just dropped. The sabre depicted in the
statue is an exact reproduction of the one captured.
This monument is on the east side of Hancock Avenue, near the large
Stannard monument.
After the Battle
This is an extract from “Four Years with the Army of the Potomac,” by
Brigadier-General Regis de Trobriand, who commanded a brigade of
Birney’s Division of the 3rd Corps during the battle of Gettysburg:
“Between eight and nine o’clock in the evening of the 3rd, as the last
glimmers of daylight disappeared behind us, I received an order to go
down into the flat, and occupy the field of battle with two brigades in
line. That of Colonel Madill was added to mine for that purpose. General
Ward, who temporarily commanded the Division, remained in reserve with
the 3rd.
“The most profound calm reigned now, where a few hours before so furious
a tempest had raged. The moon, with her smiling face, mounted up in the
starry heavens as at Chancellorsville. Her pale light shone equally upon
the living and the dead, the little flowers blooming in the grass as
well as upon the torn bodies lying in the pools of clotted blood. Dead
bodies were everywhere. On no field of battle have I ever seen them in
such numbers. The greater part of my line was strewn with them, and,
when the arms were stacked and the men asleep, one was unable to say, in
that mingling of living and dead, which would awake the next morning and
which would not.
“Beyond the line of advanced sentinels, the wounded still lay where they
had fallen, calling for assistance or asking for water. Their cries died
away without any reply in the silence of the night, for the enemy was
close by, and it was a dangerous undertaking to risk advancing into the
space which separated us. In making an attempt, an officer of my staff
drew three shots, which whistled unpleasantly near his ears. All labors
of charity were necessarily put off till the next morning. It is sad to
think that this was a sentence of death to numbers of the unfortunate.
Mournful thoughts did not hinder the tired soldiers from sleeping.
Everything was soon forgotten in a dreamless slumber.
“At dawn of day, when I awakened, the first object which struck my eyes
was a young sergeant stretched out on his back, his head resting on a
flat stone, serving for a pillow. His position was natural, even
graceful. One knee slightly raised, his hands crossed on his breast, a
smile on his lips, caused by a dream, perhaps, of her who awaited his
return in the distant Green Mountains. He was dead. Wounded, he had
sought out this spot in which to die. His haversack was near him. He had
taken out of it a little book on which his last looks had been cast, for
the book was still open in his stiffened fingers. It was the New
Testament; on the first leaf a light hand had traced in pencil, some
letters, rubbed out, which one might think were a name. I have kept the
volume, and on the white space, to the unknown name I have added, ‘Died
at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.’
“During the night, the enemy had drawn back his pickets to the other
side of the Emmitsburg Road, and left us free access to assist the
wounded. The appearance of litters and ambulance wagons strengthened
them, by giving them hope. They related their engagements of the evening
before, and their sufferings during the night. One of them, pointing out
the dead lying around him, said: ‘This one lived only till sundown; that
one lasted until about midnight. There is one who was still groaning but
an hour ago.’
“Continuing my walk, I came near a large isolated rock. It might have
been eight or ten feet high, and fifteen or twenty feet broad. Rounding
on the side towards the enemy, but flat as a wall on the opposite side,
it had served as an advanced post for one of our companies, probably
belonging to Stannard’s brigade. What had happened there? Had they been
surprised by the rapid advance of the enemy? Had they tried to shelter
themselves behind that stone during the fight? Had the firing of
canister by our guns rendered retreat impossible? Had they refused to
surrender? No one, to my knowledge, escaped to tell. Whatever was the
cause, there were twenty lying there cut down by lead and steel, and
amongst the pile I recognized the uniform of an officer and the chevrons
of a sergeant.
“When I returned to the center of my line, the ambulances were at work,
and squads detailed from each regiment picked up the arms which were
scattered by thousands over the field. A little later my command was
relieved, and again took its position of the evening before.
“Some reconnaissances sent out to look for the enemy had not far to go
to find him. His pickets were still on the edge of the woods in front of
the Seminary Heights. We afterwards learned that he expected, during the
whole day, that we would attack, hoping to get revenge. But General
Meade, content with his victory, would not take the risk of compromising
it by leaving his position before Lee had abandoned his, in which he
acted wisely, whatever may have been said to the contrary.
“The afternoon was thus spent in first picking up our wounded and
afterwards those of the enemy. The ambulance wagons were hardly enough
for the work. The litter-bearers placed the wounded along our lines,
where they had to await their turn to be taken to the rear. We did what
we could to make the delay as short as possible, for many of them were
brave Southern boys, some having enlisted because they honestly believed
it was their duty, others torn by force from their families, to be
embodied in the Rebel army by the inexorable conscription. After the
defeat, they were resigned, without boasting, and expressed but one
wish: that the war would terminate as soon as possible, since the
triumph of the North appeared to be but a question of time.
“I recall to mind a young man from Florida who told me his history. His
name was Perkins, and he was scarcely twenty years old. The only son of
aged parents, he had in vain endeavored to escape service. Tracked
everywhere by the agents of the Richmond government, he had been forced
to take up the musket, and had done his duty so well that he had been
rapidly promoted to sergeant. In the last charge of the day before, he
had had his left heel carried away by a piece of shell, and his right
hand shattered by a canister shot. One amputation, at least, probably
two, was what he had to expect; and yet he did not complain. But when he
spoke of his aged parents awaiting his return, and of the sad condition
in which he would re-enter the paternal home, his smile was more
heart-breaking than any complaint. In order that his wounds might be
sooner dressed, one of my aids, Lieutenant Houghton, let him have his
horse, at the risk of marching on foot if we moved before he was
returned.
“The next night we passed in the rain. It always rains on the day after
a great battle. On the morning following we discovered the enemy to be
in full retreat. Seeing that the attack he expected did not come off,
and fearing for the safety of his communications with the Potomac,
General Lee could do nothing else but retire through the mountains,
which he did during the night of the 4th and 5th of July. Then only
began that disorder in his columns, and that confusion, the picture of
which has been somewhat exaggerated; an almost inevitable consequence,
besides, to that kind of a movement. Our cavalry began to harass him on
the flanks, while the 6th Corps, having remained intact, pressed on his
rear-guard.
“The difficulties that General Sedgwick met in the Fairfield pass, where
the enemy had intrenched, probably made General Meade fear that a direct
pursuit would entail too great loss of time in the mountains. So,
instead of following Lee in the valley of the Cumberland, he decided to
march on a parallel line, to the east of the South Mountains.”
An Honest Man
General E. P. Alexander, Chief of Artillery of Longstreet’s Corps, tells
of a trade that occurred during the retreat from Gettysburg:
“Near Hagerstown I had an experience with an old Dunkard which gave me a
high and lasting respect for the people of that faith. My scouts had had
a horse transaction with this old gentleman, and he came to see me about
it. He made no complaint, but said it was his only horse, and as the
scouts had told him we had some hoof-sore horses we should have to leave
behind, he came to ask if I would trade him one of those for his horse,
as without one his crop would be lost.
“I recognized the old man at once as a born gentleman in his delicate
characterization of the transaction as a trade. I was anxious to make
the trade as square as circumstances would permit. So I assented to his
taking a foot-sore horse, and offered him besides payment in Confederate
money. This he respectfully declined. Considering how the recent battle
had gone, I waived argument on the point of its value but tried another
suggestion. I told him that we were in Maryland as the guests of the
United States; that after our departure the Government would pay all
bills left behind; and that I would give him an order on the United
States for the value of his horse and have it approved by General
Longstreet. To my surprise he declined this also. I supposed then that
he was simply ignorant of the bonanza in a claim against the Government,
and I explained that; and, telling him that money was no object to us
under the circumstances, I offered to include the value of his whole
farm. He again said he wanted nothing but the foot-sore horse. Still
anxious that the war should not grind this poor old fellow in his
poverty, I suggested that he take two or three foot-sore horses which we
would have to leave anyhow, when we marched. Then he said, ‘Well, sir, I
am a Dunkard, and the rule of our church is an eye for an eye, and a
tooth for a tooth, and a horse for a horse, and I can’t break the rule.’
“I replied that the Lord, who made all horses, knew that a good horse
was worth a dozen old battery scrubs; and after some time prevailed on
him to take two, by calling one of them a gift. But that night we were
awakened about midnight by approaching hoofs, and turned out expecting
to receive some order. It was my old Dunkard leading one of his
foot-sores. ‘Well, sir,’ he said, ‘you made it look all right to me
today when you were talking; but after I went to bed tonight I got to
thinking it all over, and I don’t think I can explain it to the church,
and I would rather not try.’ With that he tied old foot-sore to a fence
and rode off abruptly. Even at this late day it is a relief to my
conscience to tender to his sect this recognition of their integrity and
honesty, in lieu of the extra horse which I vainly endeavored to throw
into the trade. Their virtues should commend them to all financial
institutions in search of incorruptible employees.”
Extracts from the Diary of Colonel Fremantle
Colonel Fremantle, a member of the Cold Stream Guards, was a guest of
the Army of Northern Virginia during the Gettysburg campaign. After the
battle of Gettysburg, he returned to England and published “Three Months
in the Southern States.” The following is a vivid extract, describing a
part of the battle from the Confederate lines.
“_July 1st (Wednesday)._ At 4.30 P.M. we came in sight of Gettysburg,
and joined General Lee and General Hill, who were on the top of one of
the ridges which form a peculiar feature of the country round
Gettysburg. We could see the enemy retreating up one of the opposite
ridges, pursued by the Confederates with loud yells. The position into
which the enemy had been driven was evidently a strong one. His right
appeared to rest on a cemetery, on the top of a high ridge to the right
of Gettysburg, as we looked at it.
“General Hill now came up and told me he had been very unwell all day,
and in fact he looks very delicate. He said he had two divisions
engaged, and had driven the enemy four miles into the present position,
capturing a great many prisoners, some cannon, and some colors. He said,
however, that the Yankees had fought with a determination unusual to
them.
“_July 2nd (Thursday)._ At 2 P.M. General Longstreet advised me, if I
wished to have a good view of the battle, to return to my tree of
yesterday. I did so and remained there with Lawley and Captain
Schreibert during the rest of the afternoon. But until 4.45 P.M. all was
profoundly quiet, and we began to doubt whether a fight was coming off
today at all. At that time, however, Longstreet suddenly commenced a
heavy cannonade on the right. Ewell immediately took it up on the left.
The enemy replied with equal fury, and in a few moments the firing along
the whole line was as heavy as it is possible to conceive. A dense smoke
arose for six miles; there was little wind to drive it away, and the air
seemed full of shells—each of which appeared to have a different style
of going, and made a different noise from the others. The ordnance on
both sides is of a very varied description. Every now and then a caisson
would blow up—if a Federal one, a Confederate yell would immediately
follow. The Southern troops, when charging, or to express their delight,
always yell in a manner peculiar to themselves. The Yankee cheer is much
like ours, but the Confederate officers declare that the Rebel yell has
a particular merit, and always produces a salutary effect upon their
adversaries. A corps is sometimes spoken of as ‘a good yelling
regiment.’
“As soon as the firing began, General Lee joined Hill just below our
tree, and he remained there nearly all the time, looking through his
field-glasses, sometimes talking to Hill and sometimes to Colonel Long
of his staff. But generally he sat quite alone on the stump of a tree.
What I remarked especially was, that during the whole time the firing
continued, he sent only one message, and received only one report. It
evidently is his system to arrange the plan thoroughly with the three
commanders, and then leave to them the duty of modifying and carrying it
out to the best of their abilities.
“When the cannonade was at its height, a Confederate band of music,
between the cemetery and ourselves, began to play polkas and waltzes,
which sounded very curious, accompanied by the hissing and bursting of
the shells.
“At 5.45 all became comparatively quiet on our left and in the cemetery;
but volleys of musketry on the right told us that Longstreet’s infantry
were advancing, and the onward progress of the smoke showed that he was
progressing favorably; but about 6.30 there seemed to be a check, and
even a slight retrograde movement.... A little before dark the firing
dropped off in every direction, and soon ceased altogether. We then
received intelligence that Longstreet had carried everything before him
for some time, capturing several batteries and driving the enemy from
his positions; but when Hill’s Florida brigade and some other troops
gave way, he was forced to abandon a small portion of the ground he had
won, together with all the captured guns, except three. His troops,
however, bivouacked during the night on ground occupied by the enemy in
the morning.
“_July 3rd (Friday)._ At 2.30 P.M., after passing General Lee and his
staff, I rode on through the woods in the direction in which I had left
Longstreet. I soon began to meet many wounded men returning from the
front; many of them asked in piteous tones the way to a doctor or an
ambulance. The further I got, the greater became the number of the
wounded. At last I came to a perfect stream of them flocking through the
woods in numbers as great as the crowd in Oxford Street in the middle of
the day. Some were walking alone on crutches composed of two rifles,
others were supported by men less badly wounded than themselves, and
others carried on stretchers by the ambulance corps, but in no case did
I see a sound man helping the wounded to the rear unless he carried the
red badge of the ambulance corps. They were still under heavy fire, the
shells bringing down great limbs of trees, and carrying further
destruction amongst this melancholy procession. I saw all this in much
less time than it takes to write it, and although astonished to meet
such vast numbers of wounded, I had not seen enough to give me any idea
of the real extent of the mischief.
“When I got close up to General Longstreet, I saw one of his regiments
advancing through the woods in good order; so, thinking I was just in
time to see the attack, I remarked to the General that ‘I wouldn’t have
missed this for anything.’ Longstreet was seated at the top of a snake
fence at the edge of the woods (Spangler Woods), and looking perfectly
calm and unperturbed. He replied, laughing, ‘The devil you wouldn’t! I
would like to have missed it very much; we’ve attacked and been
repulsed: look there!’
“For the first time I then had a view of the open space between the two
positions, and saw it covered with Confederates slowly and sulkily
returning towards us in small broken parties, under a heavy fire of
artillery. But the fire where we were was not so bad as further to the
rear; for although the air seemed alive with shells, yet the greater
number burst behind us. The General told me that Pickett’s Division had
succeeded in carrying the enemy’s position and captured his guns, but
after remaining there twenty minutes, it had been forced to retire on
the retreat of Heth and Pettigrew on his left....
“Major Walton was the only officer with him (Longstreet) when I came
up—all the rest had been put in the charge. In a few minutes Major
Latrobe arrived on foot, carrying his saddle, having just had his horse
killed. Colonel Sorrell was also in the same predicament, and Captain
Goree’s horse was wounded in the mouth....
“Soon after I joined General Lee, who had in the meanwhile come to that
part of the field on becoming aware of the disaster. If Longstreet’s
conduct was admirable, that of General Lee was perfectly sublime. He was
engaged in rallying and in encouraging the broken troops, and was riding
about a little in front of the woods, quite alone—the whole of his staff
being engaged in a similar manner further to the rear. His face, which
is always placid and cheerful, did not show signs of the slightest
disappointment, or annoyance; and he was addressing to every soldier he
met a few words of encouragement, such as, ‘All this will come right in
the end: we’ll talk it over afterwards; but, in the meantime, all good
men must rally. We want all good and true men just now.’ He spoke to all
the wounded men that passed him, and the slightly wounded he exhorted
‘to bind up their hurts and take up a musket’ in this emergency. Very
few failed to answer his appeal, and I saw many badly wounded men take
off their hats and cheer him. He said to me, ‘This has been a sad day
for us, Colonel—a sad day; but we can’t expect always to gain
victories.’ He was also kind enough to advise me to get into some more
sheltered position as the shells were bursting round us with
considerable frequency....
“I saw General Wilcox come up to him, and explain, almost crying, the
state of his brigade. General Lee immediately shook hands with him and
said cheerfully, ‘Never mind, General, all this has been _my_ fault—it
is I that have lost this fight, and you must help me out of it in the
best way you can.’ In this manner I saw General Lee encourage and
reanimate his somewhat dispirited troops, and magnanimously take upon
his own shoulders the whole weight of the repulse.”
GETTYSBURG AND ITS MILITARY PARK
The Gettysburg National Military Park lies entirely within the limits of
Adams County, Pennsylvania. Gettysburg, the county-seat, is situated
about 8 miles from the Mason and Dixon’s line, the southern boundary of
the State. It was founded in 1780, and named for its founder, James
Gettys.
At the time of the battle the town had a population of about 2,000.
Little did the quiet inhabitants expect that its peaceful environs—Oak
Hill, Seminary Ridge, Culp’s Hill, Cemetery Hill, the Round Tops, and
Devil’s Den—would witness the most sanguinary struggle of the Civil War,
and that Gettysburg would gain a lasting fame, unequaled by the most
noted battlefields of the Old World. Not even the commanders, Meade and
Lee, knew where they would meet in battle array. Like two giant
stormclouds, the two armies neared each other for days, neither
foreseeing where they would mingle their lightnings in the storm of
battle. Advance forces met and clashed while making reconnaissances—and
Gettysburg and its vicinity was selected by accident rather than by
design.
What fame Gettysburg enjoyed was due chiefly to its College, then called
Pennsylvania, now Gettysburg, and to its Lutheran Theological Seminary.
The town had been the home for some years of Thaddeus Stevens, the
“Great Commoner,” life-long champion of human rights, savior of the free
school system of Pennsylvania, and after his removal to Lancaster, in
1842, a brilliant leader in the House of Representatives during the war.
The vicinity furnished its full quota of soldiers, though none of its
companies except one, Company K, First Pennsylvania Reserves,
participated in the battle, the rest being on duty elsewhere.
The population of Gettysburg has increased to 5,500. The College and
Seminary are still flourishing. The College has an enrollment of over
600 students. A Reserve Officers Training Corps has been added to the
course, and students are being instructed in military tactics by United
States Army officers.
The area of Gettysburg National Military Park, including East Cavalry
Field 15 miles east of the town, and South Cavalry Field 3 miles south,
is nearly 40 square miles. The part surrounding Gettysburg covers about
24 square miles, and was the scene of the principal engagements on July
1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 1863. The Government owns a total of 2,441 acres; the
remainder is held by private owners.
The first organization in charge of the battlefield was the Gettysburg
Battlefield Memorial Association, upon which the Legislature of
Pennsylvania, on April 30th, 1864, conferred the rights of a
corporation. In 1867-68 the Legislature appropriated $6,000 to be
applied to the purchase of portions of the battlegrounds and the general
purposes for which the Association was incorporated. The money was used
to secure the portion of Culp’s Hill upon which the breastworks were
still standing; the section of East Cemetery Hill where Stewart’s,
Reynolds’, Ricketts’, Cooper’s and Weidrick’s batteries were posted,
where the lunettes still remain; and also a small piece of ground on the
slope and summit of Little Round Top. This purchase was the nucleus of
what became, by additional purchases of the Association and later of the
Gettysburg National Park Commission, the present Gettysburg National
Military Park.
[Illustration: View from Culp’s Hill.—Gettysburg’s fine trees. In
the distance is the Phillipoteaux Cyclorama with its vivid
representation of Pickett’s Charge]
The Legislatures of the Northern States represented in the battle
contributed various sums for the prosecution of the work, and from time
to time new members of the Association were appointed. As the
appropriations were received, additional land was acquired and avenues
were laid out. The erection of monuments to the different regiments was
begun by the State of Massachusetts in 1879. In 1894, the whole
property, about 600 acres of land, with 17 miles of avenues, giving
access to 320 monuments, was transferred to the United States
Government. The Gettysburg National Military Park was established by Act
of Congress, approved February 11th, 1895, and the Secretary of War
appointed the Gettysburg National Park Commission: Colonel John P.
Nicholson, Pennsylvania, Chairman, John B. Bachelder, Massachusetts, and
Brigadier General William H. Forney, Alabama. Colonel E. B. Cope was
selected as topographical engineer.
Upon the death of General Forney, Major William M. Robbins, of North
Carolina, was appointed to fill the vacancy. John B. Bachelder was
succeeded by Major Charles A. Richardson, of New York. On the death of
Major Robbins, General L. L. Lomax, of Virginia, was appointed. General
Lomax died May 28th, 1913, and Major Richardson on January 24th, 1917.
Colonel Nicholson, the last surviving member of the Commission, died on
March 8th, 1922. All Commissioners, with the exception of John B.
Bachelder, served in the Battle of Gettysburg, and he reached the field
immediately after the battle, continuing his interest and his historical
researches until his death. On the death of Colonel Nicholson, Colonel
E. B. Cope was appointed Superintendent.
The Park is a monument to the devotion of this Commission, in active
operation for thirty years. Colonel Cope was succeeded (1931) by Colonel
E. E. Davis, a native of Iowa, commissioned Major Quartermaster Reserve
Corps, March 6th, 1917, who served overseas in the World War. Colonel
Davis retired on July 16th, 1932. James R. McConaghie, native of Iowa, a
graduate of Harvard College, 1st Lieutenant, 4th Infantry, 3rd Division
in the World War, was appointed Superintendent February 8th, 1933.
The development begun by the Association included laying out of avenues
and erecting of regimental monuments, but nothing was done toward
converting the avenues into permanent roads. The different lines of
battle were not accurately marked, and important sections of land
remained in private hands. By the end of the year the new Commission had
made preliminary survey of 20 miles of avenues and proposed avenues,
and, the following year, began construction. Gradually the whole field
was made accessible by almost 35 miles of telford and macadam avenues.
These avenues show the important positions occupied by the contending
forces. Stone bridges were built across the streams. Miles of
pipe-fencing and post-and-rail fencing were constructed, the former
along the avenues indicating the battle-lines and the latter to enclose
the Government land. Five steel observation towers were erected on
prominent points, affording views in all directions.
[Illustration: Jennie Wade House.—Here Jennie Wade was killed while
baking bread. The house is practically unchanged: bullet-marks and
other injuries have been preserved]
An important task of the Commission was the accurate marking of the
lines of battle of the opposing forces. Prominent commanders of both
armies visited the field and assisted in locating the positions of the
corps, divisions, and brigades. Suitable monuments and markers were then
erected, with bronze tablets inscribed with an account of the operations
of each corps, division, and brigade.
Markers also show the locations of the headquarters of the
Commander-in-Chief, as well as of the corps commanders of both armies.
Six equestrian statues have been erected by States; also, imposing State
monuments by New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and
Alabama. There are many smaller markers, placed by States and other
organizations. Bronze statues of division and brigade commanders have
been erected. There are a number of National Monuments; one in the
National Cemetery, where Lincoln stood when making his immortal address
at the dedication of the cemetery, November 19th, 1863; also one in the
south end of the cemetery bearing a bust of Lincoln, and another on
Hancock Avenue in memory of the troops of the Regular Army. All the
positions held by the Regulars have been marked. The total number of
monuments to date is 845. Four hundred and fifteen guns indicate the
positions of the artillery brigades and battalions.
The relief maps of the Gettysburg National Military Park, on exhibition
at the office in the Federal Building, in Gettysburg, were designed by
the Engineer of the Commission, Colonel E. B. Cope, and built under his
supervision. The largest reproduces 24 square miles and correctly
delineates all the topographical features of the Park. Many of the
monuments and markers erected by the Commission were also designed by
Colonel Cope. The imposing stone gateway at the entrance to Hancock
Avenue was proposed by the Chairman, Colonel Nicholson, and designed by
the Engineer. This gateway is built of native granite taken from the
battlefield.
Celebrations, reunions, dedications, and campfires almost without number
have been held at Gettysburg, bringing to the field those who
participated in the battle, their families and friends, and many other
visitors. For many years, until a permanent camp was established at Mt.
Gretna, the National Guard of Pennsylvania encamped on the field. The
two greatest occasions were the Twenty-fifth Anniversary in 1888, and
the Fiftieth Anniversary in 1913. The latter was attended by almost
55,000 survivors of the two armies. Ample accommodations were provided
for their comfort and enjoyment. The time extended over a period of
eight days, June 29th to July 6th, and every State in the Union was
represented. The men who had met as mortal enemies fifty years before
now met as brothers. The American soldier is not only a good fighter but
also a good friend. Many donned their uniforms of ’63, some of Blue and
some of Gray, but in the wearers great changes had been wrought. The
sturdy veterans who in the vigor of their youth met fifty years before
in battle, returned grizzled with age and the ravages of war, many
bearing scars. With keen interest, in pairs and groups, they moved from
place to place relating to each other their experiences. In startling
contrast to the 45,000 casualties of ’63 there were only seven deaths,
and these from the infirmities of age and natural causes. The President
of the United States and many able speakers from all sections of the
country made addresses to large audiences. It was an event never to be
forgotten and did much finally to heal the animosities engendered by the
war.
On July 3, 1922, Marines from Quantico, Va., under the command of
Brigadier-General Smedley D. Butler, repeated Pickett’s Charge as it was
made in 1863, and on July 4th conducted it as such a charge would be
made under present warfare conditions with modern equipment and
maneuvers. President Harding, General Pershing, and many others
prominent in the State and Nation enjoyed the display.
[Illustration: Culp’s Hill.—Here the Union troops held their line
late in the afternoon of the second day.]
For many years the West Point Military Academy seniors visited the
field, usually in the month of May, remaining several days in order to
study the strategical and tactical features of the battle in preparation
for a required thesis. These visits have been discontinued since the
World War.
In May, 1917, a training-camp for World War soldiers was established
within the limits of the Park. The 4th, 7th and 58th Regiments of U. S.
Infantry were transferred from El Paso, Texas, augmented by recruits,
and divided into six United States Regular Regiments, viz.: 4th, 7th,
58th, 59th, 60th, and 61st. After being trained they were sent either to
other camps or to the battlefields of France. During the year 1918 a
unit of Tank Service was trained on the battlefield.
The fortifications remaining within the park include a line of
earthworks on Culp’s Hill, which was thrown up by the Union troops of
the 12th Corps. On East Cemetery Hill there are a number of lunettes at
the position held by the Union batteries. The stone wall along the west
side of Hancock Avenue, extending from the Taneytown Road to some
distance south of the Angle, where Armistead crossed it in Pickett’s
Charge, is well preserved, and practically the same as at the time of
the battle. There are some stone walls on the south side of Little Round
Top that were erected and used by the Union forces. At the base of Big
Round Top and along Seminary Ridge are long stone walls, erected and
used by the Confederates. The boulders in the vicinity of Devil’s Den
and the Round Tops afforded natural defences for both armies. A line of
earthworks on South Hancock Avenue is still in good condition.
[Illustration: The Virginia Memorial.—The bronze group represents
the various arms of the Confederate service. Above is a portrait
statue of General Lee. The Memorial is the work of F. W. Sievers.]
The physical features of the Park are both varied and interesting.
Standing in bold relief in the background at a distance of about 8 miles
is a continuation of the Blue Ridge, designated locally as the South
Mountain. This range, bounding the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the
Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania, screened the advance of the
Confederate Army, and it was at the Cashtown Gap that General Lee
ordered a concentration of his forces before his advance on Gettysburg.
The entire surface of the Park consists of low ridges and intervening
valleys, beginning on the north in Herr’s Ridge, upon which Heth’s
Division was deployed at the opening of the battle on July 1st. Opposite
this ridge, and extending in the same direction, is McPherson Ridge,
where the Union cavalry forces under Buford were deployed. Along
Willoughby Run, which flows between these ridges, the battle opened on
July 1, 1863. The next elevation, immediately north and west of the
town, is known as Oak Ridge at its northern extremity and as far south
as the Chambersburg Pike; from this point to its southern extremity it
is called Seminary Ridge, taking its name from the yet existing Lutheran
Theological Seminary. It was held by the Union Army on the first day of
the battle and formed its principal line of defence. On the second and
third days it was the principal Confederate line.
Seminary Ridge at its southern extremity drops off to a small ravine
beyond which is Warfield Ridge, which extends in a southerly direction
opposite Big Round Top; this formed the right of the Confederate line of
battle on the second and third days.
South and southwest of the town is Cemetery Ridge, of which Big Round
Top and Little Round Top are spurs, named from the Evergreen Cemetery
and the site of the National Cemetery after the battle.
[Illustration: Ricketts’ Battery.—Ricketts’ Battery on East Cemetery
Hill was remanned four times. Owing to the slope, the guns could not
be sufficiently depressed, and the defenders fought with sticks and
stones]
Cemetery Ridge formed the main line of battle of the Union Army during
the battles of the 2nd and 3rd. A short distance east of the cemetery it
bends sharply to the right, forming two rocky and wooded prominences,
Culp’s Hill and Spangler’s Hill. Between Seminary Ridge on the west and
Cemetery Ridge on the east, a low ridge along the line of the Emmitsburg
Road is designated Emmitsburg Road Ridge. This extends to the Peach
Orchard. It was crossed on the afternoon of the 3rd by the assaulting
column of Pickett’s Charge, and is one of the interesting points of the
battle. Another ridge on the west front of Little Round Top contains
Devil’s Den, a mass of enormous granite rocks, apparently tossed in
confusion by some giant hand. In this picturesque spot Longstreet made
his famous assault against the Union left on the afternoon of July 2nd.
The trend of these various ridges conforms generally to that of the Blue
Ridge.
[Illustration: Guns Supporting Pickett’s Charge.—These guns took
part in the great artillery duel which preceded Pickett’s Charge]
There are no large streams on the battlefield. The largest is Marsh
Creek, only a small part of which is within the Park area. On the east
is Rock Creek, extending the whole length of the Park, so named on
account of the immense boulders within the channel and along the
borders. On the north and west of Gettysburg is Willoughby Run, also
extending the entire length of the Park and flowing south to Marsh
Creek. Another small stream is Plum Run, near the center, beginning on
the Codori farm and running south through the gorge at the Round Tops;
this was crossed and recrossed by both armies during the second and
third days. Lying wholly within the Potomac basin, all the streams flow
south.
The highest point within the Park is Big Round Top on the south, which
rises to an elevation of 786 feet, and is visible for miles in all
directions. From Big Round Top, Little Round Top, Culp’s Hill, Cemetery
Hill, and Oak Hill there are extensive panoramic views. Aside from the
historic association there is much in the magnificent and beautiful
scenery to interest the visitor. In the woods and meadows, in the glens
and vales of the battlefield there are romantic and charming bits of
landscape. The prospect from the National Cemetery as the sun disappears
behind the South Mountain is one of great beauty and impressiveness.
A large portion of the Park is covered with timber, chiefly the
different varieties of oak, hickory, ash, poplar, elm, gum, cedar, and
pine. Many of the groves are forests primeval, and in the fall the lofty
pines of Big Round Top, contrasting with the crimson of the gigantic
oaks covering it from base to summit and the gray-lichened surface of
the massive boulders, form a striking and beautiful picture. Much care
is given to the protection of the groves, in order to preserve the
original condition of the field. Tree-surgery has prolonged the lives of
trees of special historic interest. Visitors return year after year in
spring to see the glorious masses of dogwood and redbud.
[Illustration: Center of Union Line.—The center of the Union line,
showing the Angle and the rounded clump of trees toward which
Pickett directed his charge]
[Illustration: High-Water Mark.—This monument, erected close to the
rounded clump of trees toward which Pickett directed his charge,
marks the turning-point of the conflict]
East Cavalry Field, 3 miles east of Gettysburg, is the point from which
Stuart’s Cavalry started to move round the right wing of the Union Army
in order to reach the rear of Meade’s line at the time of Pickett’s
Charge. South Cavalry Field, 3 miles south of Gettysburg, was held by
Farnsworth’s Brigade of Kilpatrick’s Division, and Merritt’s Brigade of
Buford’s Division. All these positions have been marked with suitable
tablets. The Cavalry Fields, though not contiguous to the main field,
are important parts of the National Military Park.
Gettysburg has two railroads: the Philadelphia & Reading, and the
Western Maryland, affording service from all points. Ten roads radiate
from the town like the spokes of a wheel, and these provide ample
approaches. The Lincoln Highway, entering via the Chambersburg Pike and
continuing on the York Pike, gives a through route from west to east,
and the Harrisburg Road leads directly to the State Capital. The
Emmitsburg Road runs southwest to Emmitsburg, and thence to Frederick
and Washington. The Baltimore Pike is a through route to Baltimore and
the South. The Hanover Road runs to Hanover on the east. There are also
the Taneytown and Hagerstown roads, the latter the line of General Lee’s
retreat.
A uniformed guide service with an established schedule of rates was
authorized by the Secretary of War in 1916. No person is allowed to act
as guide for pay without being examined and licensed by the
Superintendent of the Park. There are interesting collections of Civil
War relics at the Jennie Wade House, the Lee Museum, and other places. A
single year has brought 800,000 visitors to the field. The average
yearly number is 700,000.
THE SOLDIERS’ NATIONAL CEMETERY
Of the eighty-three cemeteries in the United States dedicated
exclusively to the burial of soldiers, that at Gettysburg was the first.
A few days after the battle, Governor A. G. Curtin, of Pennsylvania,
solicitous for the welfare of the soldiers, came to Gettysburg and
appointed David Wills, a leading attorney, to act as his agent in the
work of establishing a cemetery. Correspondence with the governors of
other States was begun. Grounds were selected by Mr. Wills, and by the
direction of Governor Curtin purchased for the State of Pennsylvania, to
provide a burial-place for soldiers who fell in the battle.
Lots in the cemetery were tendered without cost to each State having
dead upon the field. The expense of removing the bodies, laying out,
ornamenting and enclosing the grounds, erecting a lodge for the keeper,
and erecting a suitable monument to the memory of the dead, was to be
borne by the several States, assessed in proportion to their population.
The seventeen acres of land which were purchased lie on Cemetery Hill
adjoining the Citizens’ Cemetery, at the apex of what had been the
triangular battle-line of the Union Army, and an important tactical
position on July 2nd and 3rd. At the time of the battle this land was a
cornfield, divided by stone fences which were used to great advantage by
the infantry of the Union Army. The most elevated portions had been
points of vantage for many batteries of artillery.
The land was surrounded on the west, east, and north by a substantial,
well-built wall of native granite, topped by a heavy dressed coping. A
division fence of iron was erected between the Soldiers’ National
Cemetery and the Citizens’ Cemetery.
The plans and designs for the laying out of the cemetery were prepared
by William Saunders, an able landscape gardener of the Department of
Agriculture, Washington, D. C. A semi-circular plan for the arrangement
of the graves was adopted. The ground allotted to each State converges
upon a central point. The size of each plot was determined by the number
of graves belonging to each State. The bodies were placed side by side
in parallel trenches with a space of twelve feet to each parallel and
with a grass path between the rows of graves. The outer section is
lettered A, and so on in alphabetical order. Two feet of space was
allowed to each body, and a person standing in the center of the
semi-circle and facing the circumference reads the names from left to
right. The bodies are laid with the heads towards the center. The
headstones are uniform in size and contain the name, regiment and
company of each soldier so far as it was possible to obtain them.
Another lot was set apart for the soldiers of the Regular Army. The
graves of the unknown dead are located at each end of the semi-circle.
On the 27th of October, 1863, the work of exhumation was begun under the
supervision of Samuel Weaver, a citizen of Gettysburg. It was completed
on March 18th, 1864. The number of bodies exhumed and interred in the
cemetery was 3,512, including 158 taken up by the authorities of Boston.
Of the total number, 979 were unknown. Later other bodies were
discovered and added, and the total interred was 3,734. Many other Union
dead were sent to their family burial places. The Confederate bodies
remained in the original trenches until 1870-73, when 3,320 were
transferred to southern cemeteries.
The central point of the semi-circle from which Lincoln delivered his
address is now occupied by the National Monument, one of the finest on
the field. It is 60 feet in height; the pedestal, 25 feet square at the
base, is crowned by a colossal statue representing the Genius of
Liberty. Projecting from the angles are four buttresses, each supporting
an allegorical statue. War is personified by an American soldier.
History, a figure with stylus and pen, records the achievements and
names of the dead. Peace is typified by a statue of an American
mechanic; Plenty by a female figure with a sheaf of wheat. The main die
of the pedestal is panelled. Upon one of the panels is inscribed an
extract from Lincoln’s Address.
From the point where this monument stands, a magnificent view is
presented to the beholder. Sloping gradually toward the north and the
west, the entire cemetery is spread out as a beautiful panorama, showing
on a carpet of green the semi-circle of graves, the driveways lined with
rows of splendid maples, spruces, birches, magnolias, and many other
trees, as well as many clumps of shrubbery filling the intervals
between. A view from this point as the sun sinks behind the distant
range of the South Mountain is one long to be remembered.
Standing at the upper end of the cemetery is a lesser monument in the
form of an exedra, the center of which contains a bust of Lincoln. Two
panels, one to the left, the other to the right, contain inscriptions;
one giving David Wills’ letter of invitation to President Lincoln to
attend the dedicatory exercises on November 19th, 1863; the other,
Lincoln’s immortal address in its entirety.
Opposite this monument is the Rostrum from which the memorial addresses
are now delivered. The first memorial exercise was held on May 30th,
1868, establishing a custom continued until this day. Among the speakers
of recent years, either in the cemetery or on adjoining sections of the
Park, have been Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Coolidge, and
Hoover; Vice-President Curtis; Pennsylvania Governors Sproul and
Pinchot, and Honorable James J. Davis.
[Illustration: Airplane View.—The National Cemetery with its curving
rows of headstones]
LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG
No action of the battle itself has been more variously reported than the
visit of President Lincoln at the time of the dedication of the National
Cemetery on November 19, 1863. A wise collector and judge among many
conflicting accounts is Dr. William E. Barton, noted Lincoln scholar,
who in his “Lincoln at Gettysburg” has assembled all available material.
Dr. Barton gives various interesting reasons why Lincoln chose to come
to Gettysburg, though his presence was not very earnestly desired by the
committee of arrangements. His ability as anything but a political
speaker had not been demonstrated, and it was feared that he might spoil
the occasion. Until two weeks before the dedication, the only invitation
sent him was one of the printed circulars mailed to all national
officials, congressmen, and others.
[Illustration: National Monument.—On the site of National Monument
stood the platform from which Abraham Lincoln delivered his immortal
address]
He was eager, Dr. Barton thinks, to see the field of Gettysburg. He had
rejoiced in the victory, and had deplored with equal earnestness Meade’s
cautious policy in making no pursuit. He wished to urge the people to
renewed devotion to the cause which at that moment did not look
altogether promising. He wished also, Dr. Barton believes, to counteract
the impression made by a cruel slander which had wide circulation. Again
and again newspapers inimical to him had published an account of his
visit to the Antietam battlefield a year earlier, asserting that he had
asked his friend Ward Hill Lamon to sing a ribald song as they drove
about among the unburied dead.
[Illustration: Lincoln Memorial.—Memorial in honor of Lincoln’s
Address
Henry K. Bush-Brown, Sculptor]
Lincoln turned a deaf ear to most slanders, but this touched him to the
quick. It was not unlikely that he longed to prove the libel false by a
visit to another battlefield. The story continued to be told, however,
throughout his life.
Following is Ward Hill Lamon’s account of the visit to Gettysburg, from
his “Recollections of Lincoln.” It is the opinion of the author of this
book, an eye-witness, that the reception which Lamon describes had other
causes than failure to value Lincoln’s words. The address was intended
to be merely a simple dedication which would not naturally be followed
by applause. The audience had stood through the address of Edward
Everett which occupied two hours, and through a prayer and musical
numbers in addition. Many of the crowd were turning away—they turned
back and listened earnestly, but with no impulse to applaud.
At the time of the dedication, Mr. Lamon was chief marshal of the parade
and was with Lincoln on the platform when the address was delivered.
Lamon writes:
... A day or two before the dedication of the National Cemetery at
Gettysburg, Mr. Lincoln told me that he would be expected to make a
speech on the occasion; that he was extremely busy, and had no time
for preparation; and that he greatly feared he would not be able to
acquit himself with credit, much less to fill the measure of public
expectation. From his hat (the usual receptacle for his private notes
and memoranda) he drew a sheet of foolscap, one side of which was
closely written with what he informed me was a memorandum of his
intended address. This he read to me, first remarking that it was not
at all satisfactory to him. It proved to be in substance, if not the
exact words, what was afterwards printed as his famous Gettysburg
speech.
After its delivery on the day of commemoration, he expressed deep
regret that he had not prepared it with greater care. He said to me on
the stand, immediately after concluding the speech: “Lamon, that
speech won’t scour! It is a flat failure, and the people are
disappointed.” (The word “scour” he often used in expressing his
conviction that a thing lacked merit, or would not stand the test of
close criticism or the wear of time.) He seemed deeply concerned about
what the people might think of his address; more deeply, in fact, than
I had ever seen him on any public occasion. His frank and regretful
condemnation of his effort, and more especially his manner of
expressing that regret, struck me as somewhat remarkable; and my own
impression was deepened by the fact that the orator of the day, Mr.
Everett, and Secretary Seward both coincided with Mr. Lincoln in his
unfavorable view of its merits.
[Illustration: The Rostrum.—From the vine-draped Rostrum many famous
speakers have addressed the throngs that visit Gettysburg on
Memorial Day]
The occasion was solemn, impressive, and grandly historic. The people,
it is true, stood apparently spellbound; and the vast throng was
hushed and awed into profound silence while Mr. Lincoln delivered his
brief speech. But it seemed to him that this silence and attention to
his words arose more from the solemnity of the ceremonies and the
awful scenes which gave rise to them, than anything he had said. He
believed that the speech was a failure. He thought so at the time, and
he never referred to it afterwards, in conversation with me, without
some expression of unqualified regret that he had not made the speech
better in every way.
On the platform from which Mr. Lincoln delivered his address, and only
a moment after it was concluded, Mr. Seward turned to Mr. Everett and
asked him what he thought of the President’s speech. Mr. Everett
replied, “It is not what I expected from him. I am disappointed.” Then
in his turn Mr. Everett asked, “What do you think of it, Mr. Seward?”
The response was, “He has made a failure, and I am sorry for it. His
speech is not equal to him.” Mr. Seward then turned to me and asked,
“Mr. Marshal, what do you think of it?” I answered, “I am sorry to say
that it does not impress me as one of his great speeches.”
In the face of these facts it has been repeatedly published that this
speech was received by the audience with loud demonstrations of
approval; that “amid the tears, sobs, and cheers it produced in the
excited throng, the orator of the day, Mr. Everett, turned to Lincoln,
grasped his hand and exclaimed, ‘I congratulate you on your success!’
adding in a transport of heated enthusiasm, ‘Ah, Mr. President, how
gladly would I give my hundred pages to be the author of your twenty
lines!’” Nothing of the kind occurred. It is a slander on Mr. Everett,
an injustice to Mr. Lincoln, and a falsification of history. Mr.
Everett would not have used the words attributed to him, in the face
of his own condemnation of the speech uttered a moment before, without
subjecting himself to the charge of being a toady and a hypocrite; and
he was neither one or the other.
As a matter of fact, the silence during the delivery of the speech,
and the lack of hearty demonstrations of approval immediately after
its close, were taken by Mr. Lincoln as certain proof that it was not
well received. In that opinion we all shared. If any person then
present saw, or thought he saw, the marvelous beauties of that
wonderful speech, as intelligent men in all lands now see and
acknowledge them, his superabundant caution closed his lips and stayed
his pen. Mr. Lincoln said to me after our return to Washington, “I
tell you, Hill, that speech fell on the audience like a wet blanket. I
am distressed about it. I ought to have prepared it with more care.”
Such continued to be his opinion of that most wonderful of all his
platform addresses up to the time of his death.
HARVEST
Only the seasons and the years invade
These quiet wheatfields where the Armies crashed.
And mockingbirds and quail fly unafraid
Within the forest where the rifles flashed.
Here where the bladed wings of death have mown
And gleaned their harvestry of golden lives,
The fruitful seeds of corn and wheat are sown,
And where the cannon smoked, an orchard thrives.
Long are the war years over, with their pain,
Their passionate tears and fury, and the sun
Lies hot and yellow on the heavy grain,
And all the fighting on these fields is done.
But in their peace, the quivering heart recalls
The youth that bled beside these old stone walls.
—Agnes Kendrick Gray.
_By Permission of the Author._
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The principal source of data for this work is the “War of the Rebellion
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.” The appended list
of other sources has been made for those who wish to make an extended
study.
Annals of the War McClure
Attack and Defense of Little Round Top Norton
Abraham Lincoln Charnwood
Abraham Lincoln, Life of Barton
Battles and Leaders, 4 vols. Century Co.
Battle of Gettysburg Young
Battle of Gettysburg Comte de Paris
Battle of Gettysburg Haskell
Barlow, Major-General, at Gettysburg N. Y. Mon. Com.
Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg Fiebeger
Campaigns of the Civil War Geer
Civil War Papers Mass. O. L. L.
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg Doubleday
Confederate Portraits Bradford
Four Years with the Army of the Potomac de Trobriand
From Manassas to Appomattox Longstreet
Gettysburg Then and Now Vanderslice
Gregg’s Cavalry Fight at Gettysburg Rawle
Hays, Gen. Alexander, Life and Letters Fleming
Lee, Gen. R. E., Recollections and Letters of Capt. R. E. Lee
Lee, Gen. R. E., Personal Reminiscences of Jones
Lee, Gen. R. E., Memoirs of Long
Lincoln and His Generals Macartney
Maine at Gettysburg Maine Com.
Meade, Maj.-Gen., Life of Bache
Meade at Gettysburg, With George G. Meade
Meade, General George Gordon Pennypacker
Military Memoirs of a Confederate Alexander
Numbers and Losses in the Civil War Livermore
New York at Gettysburg, 3 vols. N. Y. Mon. Com.
Pennsylvania at Gettysburg Pa. Mon. Com.
Recollections of Lincoln Lamon
Regimental Losses in the Civil War Fox
The War between the States Stevens
The War between the Union and the Confederacy Oates
Reminiscences of the Civil War Gordon
Stuart’s Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign Mosby
In addition to the many histories and biographies which include the
battle among their subjects, there are novels, short stories, and poems
whose authors have made a careful study of Gettysburg as a background.
Among them are the following:
John Brown’s Body—Benet
Cease Firing—Johnston
Gettysburg: Stories of the Red Harvest and the Aftermath—Singmaster
_For Young People_
Emmeline—Singmaster
A Boy at Gettysburg—Singmaster
Sewing Susie—Singmaster
ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
Major-General George G. Meade
First Corps
John F. Reynolds, Major General
John Newton, Major General
Divisions Brigades
1. James S. Wadsworth 1. Solomon Meredith, Brig. Gen.
Brigadier General 2. Lysander Cutler, Brig. Gen.
2. John C. Robinson 1. Gabriel R. Paul, Brig. Gen.
Brigadier General 2. Henry Baxter, Brig. Gen.
3. Abner Doubleday 1. Thomas Rowley, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. Roy Stone, Col.
3. George J. Stannard, Brig. Gen.
Second Corps
Winfield S. Hancock, Major General
Divisions Brigades
1. John C. Caldwell 1. Edward E. Cross, Col.
Brigadier General 2. Patrick Kelly, Col.
3. Samuel K. Zook, Brig. Gen.
4. John R. Brooke, Col.
2. John Gibbon 1. William Harrow, Brig. Gen.
Brigadier General 2. Alexander Webb, Brig. Gen.
3. Norman J. Hall, Col.
3. Alexander Hays 1. Samuel S. Carroll, Col.
Brigadier General 2. Thomas A. Smyth, Col.
3. George L. Willard, Col.
Third Corps
Daniel E. Sickles, Major General
Divisions Brigades
1. David D. Birney 1. Charles K. Graham, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. J. H. Hobart Ward, Brig. Gen.
3. Regis de Trobriand, Col.
2. Andrew A. Humphreys 1. Joseph B. Carr, Brig. Gen.
Brigadier General 2. Wm. R. Brewster, Col.
3. George C. Burling, Col.
Fifth Corps
George Sykes, Major General
Divisions Brigades
1. James Barnes 1. William S. Tilton, Col.
Brigadier General 2. Jacob B. Sweitzer, Col.
3. Strong Vincent, Col.
2. George Sykes 1. Hannibal Day, Col.
Major General 2. Sidney Burbank, Col.
Romeyne B. Ayres 3. Stephen Weed, Brig. Gen.
Brigadier General
3. Samuel W. Crawford 1. William McCandless, Col.
Brigadier General 2. Joseph W. Fisher, Col.
Sixth Corps
John Sedgwick, Major General
Divisions Brigades
1. Horatio G. Wright 1. Alfred T. A. Torbet, Brig. Gen.
Brigadier General 2. Joseph J. Bartlett, Brig. Gen.
3. David A. Russell, Brig. Gen.
2. Albion P. Howe 1. Lewis A. Grant, Col.
Brigadier General 2. Thomas H. Neill, Brig. Gen.
3. John Newton 1. Alexander Shaler, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. Henry L. Eustis, Col.
Frank Wheaton 3. Frank Wheaton, Brig. Gen.
Brigadier General
Eleventh Corps
Oliver O. Howard, Major General
Divisions Brigades
1. Francis C. Barlow 1. Leopold von Gilsa, Col.
Brigadier General 2. Adelbert Ames, Brig. Gen.
2. Adolph von Steinwehr 1. Charles Coster, Col.
Brigadier General 2. Orlando Smith, Col.
3. Carl Schurz 1. Alexander Schimmelfennig, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. W. Krzyzanowski, Col.
Twelfth Corps
Henry W. Slocum, Major General
Divisions Brigades
1. Alpheus S. Williams 1. Archibald L. McDougal, Col.
Brigadier General 2. Henry H. Lockwood, Brig. Gen.
3. Thomas H. Huger, Brig. Gen.
2. John W. Geary 1. Charles Candy, Col.
Brigadier General 2. George A. Cobham, Col.
Cavalry
Alfred Pleasanton, Major General
Divisions Brigades
1. John Buford 1. William Gamble, Col.
Brigadier General 2. Thomas C. Devin, Col.
3. Wesley Merritt, Brig. Gen.
2. David McM. Gregg 1. John B. McIntosh, Col.
Brigadier General 2. Pennock Ruey, Col.
3. J. Irvin Gregg, Col.
3. Judson Kilpatrick 1. Elon J. Farnsworth, Brig. Gen.
Brigadier General 2. George A. Custer, Brig. Gen.
Chief of Artillery, Brigadier-General Henry J. Hunt
Number of guns belonging to the Artillery, 362
Number of guns at Gettysburg, 354
ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA
General Robert E. Lee
First Corps
James E. Longstreet, Lieutenant General
Divisions Brigades
1. Lafayette McLaws 1. John B. Kershaw, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. William Barksdale, Brig. Gen.
3. Paul J. Semmes, Brig. Gen.
4. William T. Wofford, Brig. Gen.
2. George E. Pickett 1. Richard B. Garnett, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. James L. Kemper, Brig. Gen.
3. Lewis A. Armistead, Brig. Gen.
3. John B. Hood 1. Evander Law, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. Jerome B. Robertson, Brig. Gen.
3. George T. Anderson, Brig. Gen.
4. Henry L. Benning, Brig. Gen.
Second Corps
Richard S. Ewell, Lieutenant General
Divisions Brigades
1. Jubal A. Early 1. Harry T. Hays, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. Robert F. Hoke (Isaac E. Avery), Brig. Gen.
3. William Smith, Brig. Gen.
4. John B. Gordon, Brig. Gen.
2. Edward Johnson 1. George H. Steuart, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. James A. Walker, Brig. Gen.
3. Francis T. Nicholls (J. M. Williams), Brig.
Gen.
4. John M. Jones, Brig. Gen.
3. Robert E. Rodes 1. Junius Daniel, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. Alfred Iverson, Brig. Gen.
3. George Doles, Brig. Gen.
4. Stephen D. Ramseur, Brig. Gen.
5. Edward A. O’Neil, Brig. Gen.
Third Corps
Ambrose P. Hill, Lieutenant General
Divisions Brigades
1. Richard H. Anderson 1. Cadmus M. Wilcox, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. Ambrose R. Wright, Brig. Gen.
3. William Mahone, Brig. Gen.
4. Edward A. Perry (David Lang), Brig. Gen.
5. Garnet Posey, Brig. Gen.
2. Henry Heth 1. James J. Pettigrew, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. John M. Brockenbrough, Col.
3. James J. Archer, Brig. Gen.
4. Joseph R. Davis, Brig. Gen.
3. William D. Pender 1. James H. Lane, Brig. Gen.
Major General 2. Edward L. Thomas, Brig. Gen.
3. Alfred M. Scales, Brig. Gen.
4. Samuel McGowan (Abner Perrin), Brig. Gen.
4. James E. B. Stuart 1. Wade Hampton, Brig. Gen.
Major General (Cavalry) 2. Beverly H. Robertson, Brig. Gen.
3. Fitzhugh Lee, Brig. Gen.
4. Wm. H. F. Lee (John R. Chambliss), Brig. Gen.
5. William E. Jones, Brig. Gen.
Valley District and
Department of Western
Virginia (Cavalry and
mounted Infantry).
1. Albert G. Jenkins, Brig. Gen.
2. John D. Imboden, Brig. Gen.
Chief of Artillery, William N. Pendleton
Number of guns, 272
[Illustration: NORTH CAROLINA MONUMENT
Gutzon Borglum, Sculptor]
Transcriber’s Notes
—Silently corrected a few typographical errors.
—Retained copyright information from the printed edition (which has
entered the public domain in the U.S.)
—In the text versions, enclosed italicized text within _underscore
characters_.
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