In the name of Pennsylvania charge!" These words, attributed to General Samuel W. Crawford, launched his Pennsylvania Reserves--the Third Division of the Federal V Corps--at one of the most critical moments of the battle of Gettysburg, How the Reserves responded to his command to drive the Confederates from the slopes of Little Round Top on the second day of the battle would have a major impact on the outcome. The lumbermen from northern and western Pennsylvania saw some of the heaviest fighting on the left of the Union line, but rarely get the attention they deserve for their contribution .

The Pennsylvania Reserve "got their name when their state, like many others,raised more troops at the beginning of the war than the Federal government could handle. Instead of sending 25 regiments back home, they were at first equipped and supported by state funds,and dubbed "Reserves." Of these regiments, none was more colorful or better known than the 13th or the Bucktails, a rifle regiment that quickly became famous for exceptional markmenship.One of them was reputed to have dropped a Confederate officer from his horse at a distance of over a mile.

Most the the men, who had been from the northwestern counties of Pennsylvania, where lumbering was the dominant industry, had lived outdoors, and were accustomed to the rough life of the lumber camps, and were excellent hunters The boisterous, flannel-shirted lumbermen who went to war in 1861 had become, after three years of fighting, a seasoned fighting unit. Their trademark, a deer tail stuck jauntily in each cap, had become familiar and respected emblem. Identical to that adopted by the Bucktail Brigade, which was involved in the July 1 fight with Rodes's Division at Oak Hill.

In 1862, the Bucktails had been one of the few regiments issued the new Sharps Rifles, which gave These marksmen a decided advantage over their Confederate counterparts. The regiment was commanded by the youngest Colonel in the Army of the Potomac, Colonel Charles F.-Taylor, a handsome 23-year old who was well liked by his men and his superiors alike.A transplanted Bucktail from southern Pennsylvania, his cultured manner extended to fair' and just treatment of his men. General Crawford affectionately refered to him as that "gallant and brave leader of the Bucktail regiment."

After taking heavy losses at Fredericksburg, the Pennsylvania Reserves had been ordered to the defenses of Washington D.C. in the spring of 1863 while officers attempted to recruit men to replenish their decimated ranks. Many companies, theoretically composed of 100 men, were down to 30 or 40 due to casualties and the lack of replacements. The ranks of the Bucktails' ten companies included only 349 men, 30 of them officers. They, with the lst, 2nd, and 6th regiments of Pennsylvania Reserves, formed the First Brigade, commanded by Colonel William McCandless.

Hearing that Lee was heading, north toward Pennsylvania, the First and Third Brigades of Pennsylvania Reserves volunteered to march to the defense of their home state. At last, on the 25^th of June, 1863, they received orders and moved out, marching north from their camp at Fairfax Station, ~ Virginia, through Leesburg. Crossing the Potomac, one cavalryman recalled hearing the rugged lumbermen of the Bucktails lustily singing "Maryland, My Maryland," and the song was quickly taken up by the rest of the brigade.

The news that General Meade was now in command of the Army of the Potomac was received gladly by the Bucktails; Meade had been their division commander at Fredericksburg. And they were proud to be once again under his command. They pinned their blue Maltese-cross corps badges to their hats alongside the bucktails; the badges, inaugurated by Major General Joseph ("Fighting Joe") Hooker just before he was relieved of command and replaced by Meade, were intended to lift morale. The Maltese cross signified V Corps, to which the Pennsylvanians were now attached.

The Reserves entered Pennsylvania on July first, and went into camp just over the state line. That evening, they heard news of a battle near Gettysburg, during which the Federals had been driven south of the town. Only two corps had been involved in the action, and General Sykes knew he had to get V Corps there as fast as possible. The march to Gettysburg began immediately and continued all night with only a short rest near dawn. As soon as daylight broke, however, the men were on their feet again and moving toward the conflict as rapidly as possible in the July heat. Having marched 33 miles with only two hours' sleep, they approached Gettysburg from the east, on the Hanover road.   Swinging well to the south of the Confederate-occupied town, the reserves joined the rest of V Corps about noon on July 2. They were massed in reserve far behind the Union line, listening to the pop of muskets and the heavier boom of artillery, wondering when they would be called in to help.  The hot sun beat down upon them as they waited in their wool uniforms all afternoon. They watched the First Division of their corps move out as it was ordered into the action, and soon the Second followed. At last, around 4:00 p.m., General Crawford advanced his Third Division-the Reserves-toward the southern end of the battlefield. There, at the extreme left of the Union line, near a steep rise covered with brush and boulders known as Little Round Top, the first brigade halted. The men saw wounded men staggering back from the field toward the hospitals in the rear, and watched white smoke, rising from the next ridge westward, marking the Confederate line.

The Army of the Potomac had taken a position along, Cemetery Ridge, south of Gettysburg, on the right of July 1. The line ran from the Round Tops in the south along the ridge crest to Cemetery Hill in the north, where it curved around nearby Culp's Hill to form a fish hook shape. Meade was worried about an attack on his right, where a turning movement would threaten his lines of communications. But the fighting on July 2 opened late in the afternoon with an attack by Longstreet on The Federal left, where Sickles' III Corps was out of position--far ahead of where Meade had placed it, spread out too far and vulnerable on its left flank; the Union troops were being forcefully driven back.

Because of Meade's concern with the right flank, on the strategically important Little Round Top to the left there were only a few Union signalmen. Confederates were swarming up the higher Round Top, to the south. Now the Union’s chief of engineers, Brigadier General Gouverner K. Warren, recognized the significance of the height overlooking the Federal line and bypassed the customary channels of command in his impatience to send all the troops he could find, first among them a brigade under the command of Brigadier General Strong Vincent, charging up the slope of Little Round Top. TheThird Brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves (less the 11th Reserves) was sent to Vincent's aid, and together they held off the assault on the hill for a time. B u t it soon became apparentthat there were just too many Con federates for them to handle.

As the Bucktails' brigade started up Little Round Top, the situation changed suddenly for the worse. Ayres' division which had been sent forward to help Sickles, was driven back from its position in the famous Wheat Field. Ayres men headed back toward Little Round Top, many wounded, all retreating as fast as they could with the enemy in hot pursuit. The Confederates were about to overrun little Round Top. Just then the troops of the Pennsylvania Reserves' First Brigade gained the summit, the position of the enemy was now marked not by distant puffs of gun smoke, but by masses of troops charging up the hill right in front of them.

Years later, at the dedication of the Bucktail monument at Gettysburg, Captain John P. Bard would remark in his address, "The Pennsylvania Reserves arrived on the ground at the supreme moment. If Longstreet had obtained possession of Little Round Top, Meade’s position would have been turned. From this point the guns of the enemy would have raked our center and left-center and from this position he could strike the right wing on the flank and rear. It was of the utmost importance that the advance of Longstreet's exultant troops should be checked before they reached the crest of Little Round Top’ which was, at the moment when we arrived upon the ground, almost within their grasp." McCandless quickly formed his brigade---and the 11th regiment of Fisher's brigade---into two lines to meet the assault. He put the 11th in the center of the front line with the 1st on its left and the 6th on its right. The rear line consisted of the 2n d on the right and the Bucktails on the left.

Before the formations could be completed, the fleeing Federals burst upon the Pennsylvanians, with the Confederates right behind. The first line opened fire, the 11th shattering the Confederate ranks with buckshot. For a few minutes there was complete confusion as the lines clashed and became mixed with fierce hand-to-hand fighting

Lieutenant Charles E. Hazlett's Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery, rushed to the summit of Little Round Top at Warren’s request Now the gunners saw the enemy closing in and got ready to spike their guns and get away. But despite the chaos, McCandless was getting his lines straightened out and was preparing a counter attack. The cannoneers heard the Reserves shouting at them not to spike their guns, so they hesitated watching anxiously as the Federals moved.

Exactly who ordered a charge at this point was a subject of later debate; some said it was Colonel Jackson of the 11^th, others insist it was Crawford, urging the Reserves to charge in the name of their home state. Either way, the seasoned troops saw what they had to do. Yelling ferociously, the first Brigade charged down the slope at the double-quick. The weary Confederates who had been fighting all day were no match for the fresh troops. They fell back off Little Round Top and across the little stream at its base, Plum Run. Here, the Bucktails' second-in-command Lieutenant Colonel Niles, fell severely wounded. The Reserves continued, driving the Confederates across the valley toward a stone wall in front of some woods on the other side.

The heaviest firing now was coming from the Pennsylvanians' left in the vicinity of Confederate-held Devil's Den so the Bucktails veered left to face the threat. The 2nd formed to their right and the brigade's five regiments swept across the valley in a single line, forming a full brigade front.  The retreating Confederates stopped at the stone wall and turned around to fight from its cover. It was a short, deperate struggle, but before long the Reserves leaped over the stone fence to chase the Confederates even farther back. Upon reaching the Wheat fieldhowever, the brigade was ordered to halt, since it was now far ahead of the rest of the Union line---in fact, the Reserves were now occupying some of the ground recently lost by Sickles-and there was no support nearby.

The fighting was so intense that four companies of Bucktails had dropped behind some rocks to cover the flank The other six companies took cover behind the stone wall. The ranks were so confused by this time that a round from a Confederate cannon killed and wounded men from four different companies. In the midst of the fray, Lieutenant Kratzer of Company K and Captain Mack of Company E took Corporal Brookins and two men and went forward into the rocks to investigate the strength of the enemy. They ran into a very strong force of Confederates and hurriedly took cover behind trees and rocks.

As they were debating what to do, Colonel Taylor dashed up to them. He had left his horse behind the lines, choosing to lead his charging regiment on foot, and was now trying to rally his men for decisive action. 'Why don't you fire?" he demanded of Kratzer's little party, all set to lead another attack. The men explained that they were greatly outnumbered, and the colonel decided to go back and order more Men forward. The men urged Taylor to get under cover, as the enemy was just behind some nearby rocks. Just then a Confederate sharpshooter took aim at Taylor. Brookins saw him and whipped his rifle to his shoulder. With a harmless click, his weapon misfired. Colonel Taylor fell, shot through theheart, into Lieutenant Kratzer's arms. Stunned by the death of their belovedcolonel, several of the men carried his body back through the lines to safety.

With Taylor dead and Lieutenant Colonel Niles wounded, Major Hartshorne, a veteran Bucktail, became their new commander. It was getting dark, so he ordered pickets forward all around the line, and told the rest of the men to get what rest they could behind the stone wall. The pickets kept up a steady exchange of shots with the enemy in Devil's Den until around 9 p.m. when both sides ceased firing. General Crawford and his staff slept near the stone wall with his brigade, which was exposed far ahead of the main line, with the Confederates on their left and somewhere behind the trees in front of them.

Early the next morning, a cannoneer from the battery that had been preparing, to spike its guns when the Reserves charged came up to the stone wall. The German announced, the Pennsylvania Reserves saved mine pattery, py God. I gets you all drunk." The tired soldiers applauded the man as he returned to his guns.

That day, July 3, most of the brigade remained in thevicinity of the stone wall, skirmishing with the enemy. Captains Bell and Wolff took a skirmish line to the left, toward the Devil's Den, to test the strength of the enemy force there. Finding that they were strong, the Bucktails hid behind rocks arid trees, picking the Confederates off each time one of them showed himself. The Bucktails, with their breech-loading rifles, never had to expose any part of their bodies while loading but the Confederates with their muzzle-loaders did not have this luxury. Before long, the Rebels realized that they were being methodically picked off without inflicting any damage in return, and in retaliation launched a ferocious charge. The small force of Bucktails had, to withdraw hastily to the cover of the stonewall to avoid being captured. They sustained heavy losses in this charge, with Bell suffering a hip wound that necessitated the later amputation of his leg. The Confederates did not follow up, on their advantage, for some reason, so Lieutenant Kratzer rushed back out with thirty volunteers. A volley from the Den caused ten casualties, one-third of the little party, but Kratzer refused to retreat Instead, he took cover and busied himself with picking off more of the enemy among the rocks.

Later that day the firing ceased and a deadly calm ensued. The confederates were preparing a massive infantry assault which would become famous as Pickett's Charge. At 1 p.m. the artillery barrage opened, and the deafening explosions continued for two hours, then suddenly and ominously ceased. From their vantage point at the left of the line, the Pennsylvania Reserves had a good view of Pickett's charge as it streamed past to their right, toward the center  of the Federal line. Although they had been ordered to stay where they were, men from every unit sneaked away and formed a line of sharpshooters where they could fire at the flank of the Confederate advance. 0fficers were sent to bring the errant Reserves back, but many of the men faked death or injury in order to stay where they were and provide some assistance to the rest of the line.

When Pickett's Charge had been repulsed and the Battle of Gettysburg had been decided, McCandless's brigade still had work to do. When the defeated Confederates had streamed back to Seminary Ridge, there was a lull, and then Longstreet's sharpshooters opened fire again, on the left of the Union line. Up on little Round Top, several generals including Meade, Sykes, and Crawford were conferring. Meade noticed the firing and ordered Crawford to go clean out the woods in his front. Crawford galloped to the stone wall to order his men forward again.

McCandless formed his brigade into line of battle and the Reserves charged southwest over the Wheat Field. The Bucktalls ran into the 15th Georgia Infantry, taking them by surprise, and captured their flag as well as a number of prisoners. The charge ended near Slyder's stone house, where they surprised and routed another Confederate brigade. This at last, ended the fighting at Gettysburg for the Pennsylvania Reserves.