PENNSYLVANIA AT GETTYSBURG
THE SECOND AND THIRD DAYS—JULY 2 AND 3, 1863.
BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL HENRY
H. BINGHAM.
IN the great metropolis of the nation
but a few months ago. amid joy and thanksgiving, speech and song, peace and prosperity,
hallelujah and prayer, the official representatives of the people and assembled thousands
of the populace, celebrated the centennial of the inauguration of George Washington, first
President of the United States. A government of the people, by the people and for the
people, liberty for all, but exacting loyalty from all, the American Republic had lived
one hundred years. Our Declaration of Independence was a masterful reality, our
Constitution a matchless charter of freedom, and that God inspired utterance that three
millions of patriots gave to mankind and humanity: "We, the people of
41
the United
States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States," found at the incoming of the second century,
sixty-five millions of freemen, "a family at peace among ourselves," who could
with reverent acclaim send greeting to the generations to come and with bended knee and
uplifted eyes, in spirit humble, but voice firm and unwavering, declare, "We have
fought a good fight, we have kept the faith, glory to God in the highest, on earth peace,
good will toward men." We are today a happy people. A Constitution preserved, the
integrity of the Union maintained—liberty and law our cloud by day and pillar of fire
by night. But the path has been no easy one to follow; the roses that have lined the way
have had many thorns, and their colors have been darkly red, and on the hill side and in
the valley, the unnumbered and nameless graves with monumental shafts and simple stones,
cover all that remains of a patriot dead who sacrificed their all for human rights, that
here assembled to-day, we "May hail the coming century with hope and joy."
The limitations of the Constitution,
the integrity and independence of the states, the legislation enacted by the sovereign
Congress, the statutes enforced within the borders of the commonwealths, the discussions
in church and from the public rostrum upon the construction of our fundamental law, the
variety and diversity of interests in our industries and large communities; labor in its
many forms and conditions, all, all contributed to consummate, upon the election and
inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, that physical and moral climax of forces, known in our
history as the War of the Rebellion or the American Civil War of 1861-1865. It was the
greatest war of modern times. Its field of operation measured almost a continent in
territory; eight hundred millions of treasure—a people's toil, but paid its living
moving needs—its dead and dying reached six hundred thousand men and permanently
disabled and destroyed the health of over one million more—it covered a land with
widows and orphans—it begot suffering never to be estimated and privations countless;
it exhibited bravery unparalleled, courage and endurance unsurpassed; its
42
Pennsylvania at Gettysburg.
leadership
was magnificent, its soldiery heroic. such was the nation's tragedy of the nineteenth
century in which you played so well your
part. Greatest of all, in the fulness of time it came, because in the destiny of our
civilization and national life it had to come that American constitutional liberty might
live—"The Union, one and inseparable, now and forever."
Amen to the mighty
sacrifices—amen and all hail the mightier consummation!
The contending armies cover bodies of
men-in-action and battle, in suffering and slaughter, in camp and hospital almost beyond
human conception or understanding. The Union forces enrolled during the four years number
two millions seven hundred and seventy-two thousand four hundred and eight men (2,772,408)
and estimated upon a basis of three years' service, 2,320,272, or about two thousand
regiments.
The Confederate armies from the best
attainable sources are estimated at 700,000 for the period of the war, or 786 regiments
on the ten-company basis.
The military population of the states
on the Union side was 4,559,872, and from the eleven states of the Confederacy 1,064,193.
There were killed or died of wounds
on the Union side—
Officers,
.............................................…………….6,385
Enlisted Men,
...............…...................... ……...103,705
Aggregate,
....................................... ……110,070
Died of
disease on the Union side—
Officers,
...............................................………….. 2,712
Enlisted Men,
.......................................………. 197,008
Aggregate,
.....................................……. 199,720
Making the grand aggregate from all
causes during the war 359,528, or 15.4 of the entire army.
There were 275,175 wounded, but not
mortally,
The
estimated loss of the killed or mortally wounded in battle on the Confederate side was 94,000, and death from disease
59,297. The Union army embraced
volunteers from every condition
Pennsylvania
at Gettysburg. 43
of our
industrial life, but the grand measure of obligation belongs to that people who in every
contest for freedom have ever been foremost.
Forty-eight per cent. were farmers,
twenty-four per cent. mechanics, sixteen per cent. laborers, five per cent. commercial
pursuits, three per cent. professional men, four per cent. miscellaneous.
Nationality formed a distinctive
feature. The great body of foreigners,
who from the days of our Revolution, have done so much to develop our industries and add
to our wealth, strength and vigor as a people, responded quickly to the call for troops,
and fought bravely through the long war.
Three-fourths of the army were native
American. Of the 500,000 soldiers of foreign birth, Germany furnished 175,000; Ireland, 150,000; England, 50,000;
British America, 50,000; other countries, 75,000.
Coming late into active warfare, but
when once a part of the army rendering valuable and distinguished service, we find the
enlistment of the black troops to have reached the large number of 178,975, and their
deaths from all causes to have been 36,847.
The Republic has remembered their
services and in the battles of the future they will enter at the commencement of every
struggle for freedom.
There were one hundred and twelve
battles in which one side or the other lost over five hundred men killed and wounded, and
in all there were one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two general engagements, battles,
skirmishes or affairs in which at least one regiment was engaged. Every state of the
United States and every territory sent volunteers to the Union Army.
Such briefly were the physical and
statistical conditions of the two great forces fighting for the supremacy of their
principles and moral ideas, accepting in the arbitrament of arms the final determination
of the issues involved. ,
This mighty host—these millions
who fought the fight, the "hundreds of thousands who fell, and the million who were
broken down in health and strength, came willingly—came for the war shouting,
"We are coming, father Abraham, five hundred thousand more." Yea they came and
brought final victory—not simply the applause of the multitude from all over
44
Pennsylvania at Gettysburg.
The
land---not alone the trophies of war---torn battle flags and smoking guns, but they
brought final victory full and complete.
Our
Constitutional Governmentruly saved---not only to the victors but also the vanquished. Saved to be loved and honored, revered, respected,
and obeyed by all. A quarter of a century has passed and truly can we say as Milton said
of Cromwell, “That made him great, peace greater.”
Throughout
the length and breadth of this great commonwealth a loud appealing voice rings
out---“Watchman, what of the night?” The nation wants help! And lo, the answer
comes from mountains and valleys, from the fields ripe with the waving golden grain; from
the centers of trade, commerce and manufacture; from the loom, the anvil and the workshop;
from the bench, the bar and the pulpit; from the schools and colleges of learning and
science---from youth and age, from every condition of American manhood---“All’s
well, Pennsylvania will give her bravest and best, the strongest and most faithful of her
son.
Call
the roll: 315,017 white soldiers, 8,612 black
soldiers, 14, 307 sailors and marines, aggregating
337,936!
Sixty-five
and nine-tenths of the military population, averaged upon the basis of three years’
service, they numbered 265,517, embraced in two hundred and fifteen regimental
organizations. Of the three hundred regiments
in the Union army that sustained the heaviest losses in battle, including every regiment
in service which lost over one hundred and thirty killed or died of wounds during the war,
fifty-three are grouped from Pennsylvania. Thirty-seven
Pennsylvania regiments lost in killed and died of wounds in battle over ten percent. of
their total enrollment.
Of
the forty-five regiments in the Union army that lost over two hundred men killed or
mortally wounded in action, eleven are from Pennsylvania.
Of
the twenty-two regiments in the Union army where the loss of killed or died of wounds
during the war reached 15 percent or upwards of their enrollment, five are from
Pennsylvania.
They
have the following order:
4th---One
hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, 17.4.
9th---One
Hundred and Forty-second Pennsylvania Volunteers, 16.5
10th---
One Hundred and Forty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers, 16.1
12th---
One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, 15.6
13th---Eighty-third
Pennsylvania Volunteers, 15.5
Thirty-three
thousand one hundred and eighty-three aggregate the number of deaths (wounds and disease)
from all causes---an average of 15.4 of the troops furnished.
The
percent of killed in action
Of the soldiers rom the Keystone State, based upon
the white troops, is greater than in the quota of any other northern state.
The
cavalry of Pennsylvania being especially distinguished, exceeding in losses that of the
cavalry of any other state.
These
brave men who fought so gallantly were Pennsylvania’s sons. They are all around us here today where they fell. They are buried in the sleeping homes of the
nation’s dead, and the resting places where loving eyes can watch and loving tears
can ever water their graves. You, the living
soldiers here with us, equally brave, have quietly melted into the peaceful walks of life
ever performing full duty as American citizens.
Pennsylvania
gave you all to the nation, and when you wore the honored blue, however much you loved
your state, you became soldiers of the Union.
But
the time was near in the mighty contest when you , the living, and thousands dead, were to
be marshaled upon the hills and valleys of your loved state and in a death struggle, fight
the greatest battle of the war and contest in the most important strategic issue of the
age, for it was upon this field---this Gettysburg “that the star of the Confederacy
reaching the zenith turned by swift and head-long plunges toward the nadir of outer
darkness and collapse.”
Waterloo
and Gettysburg are marked as the two great battles of the age.
The
Union army numbered 82,000 men and 300 guns; the Confederate numbered 70,000 men and 250
guns; the battle lasted three days and the casualties upon the Union side were 23,003, and
upon the Confederate 27,525 mencause lost 3,063 killed, 14,492 wounded,
46
Pennsylvania at Gettysburg.
and 5,435
missing or captured; many of the wounded and many of the captured died. No authentic
details are available for the Confederate side.
Pennsylvania's bravery upon this
field embraces 26,628 men; in detail, sixty-eight regiments of infantry, eight regiments
of cavalry, and five batteries of artillery.
The killed and mortally wounded are
67 officers, and 964 men, 1,031 total.
The general casualties number 5,907.
We are glad to be here to-day to aid
in the serious and patriotic ceremonies that will contribute to make this hallowed ground
immortal. This large gathering of the living remnant of a brave soldiery; these
respresentatives of civil authority; these organizations of loyal devotion to comradeship;
this gathering of vast numbers upon the hillsides—the military display in blue, these
flags and guns and all the paraphernalia of war, these 'speechless mounds and numberless
graves, these monuments that proclaim a history, all attest the greatness and fitness of
this occasion. We are glad to be here. How the scene has changed! What is it now? Cemetery
Hill and the Ridge, Gulp's Hill, Round Top, Peach Orchard and Devil's Den—What it
was! No one man living or dead ever saw. You were here, but the fight was everywhere. No
pen can write, no tongue describe, no artist's brush or pencil picture. In the years to
come impartial history will place in imperishable record the best adjustment of all
controversies and conflicting statements. Let us hope that is best. Better that those of
us who were a part, shall hold its bloody record as a memory, and treasure the heroic
deeds of our comrades, as the needed sacrifices for "nobler modes of. life and purer
laws." But "with malice toward none, with charity for all," we can quickly
pass in review some of the fearful work of those never-to-be-forgotten days.
Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, was
the first determined advance to plant his standards and entire army upon free soil. and
passing over the Susquehanna to capture the capital of our state, and Philadelphia,
Baltimore and Washington, where great treasure could be demanded and exacted from these
cities of wealth. ,
Once having established a foothold,
recognition would quickly be accorded by foreign nations,
Pennsylvania
at Gettysburg. 47
He came upon
our fruitful borders and entered our rich domain, with banners flying and all the
surroundings of a conquering hero. His army marshaled a leadership experienced in.
warfare, possessed of the highest military capacity, and a soldiery ripe from the
victories of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, bold, aggressive, disciplined, and
feeling the spirit of invincibility. They came to do or die. To fight and to stay. The great loyal North knew their purpose of
invasion and trembled. The Army of the Potomac, strong in numbers, wearied and worn
with long marching, remembering the severe recent defeats and hard blows received in
Virginia, lacked that morale and enthusiastic confidence that had been its companion on
many a hard-fought field. But when the army knew the next clash of arms was to be on the
soil of Pennsylvania— their home and heritage—like a giant, conscious of
strength, and restive for a final struggle, they forgot defeat and weariness, and lifting
up their voices sang songs of victory as they moved in compact form on marches forced and
long.
The change in the command of the army
had just reached the men, and with unswerving judgment and soldierly instinct they knew
and felt that in General Meade the army could confidently trust and safely fight; a
confidence merited and deserved. The battle of the first of July is over, and along the
many roads converging upon these hills the Union Army is rapidly marching, lighted by the
full moon and cooled by the soft air of the summer night.
General Meade reaches the field about
midnight; conferences with Hancock, Howard and others follow, then an immediate inspection
of the field, to be renewed at four (4) a. m., when the first rays of daylight appear.
There has been no delay, no evidence of uncertainty, the battle is to be fought here and
the troops are all marching on.
A supreme struggle known to soldiers
and general. The troops arrive and by 9 a. m., with the exception of the Sixth Army Corps,
not far away, the dispositions are made—great expedition creditable to Meade and his
soldiers.
On the Union side, the right wing
composed of the Twelfth Corps
with Wadsworth's Division of the First Corps, based itself on the rough and wooded
eminence of Gulp's Hill. The Eleventh Corps with Robinson's; and Doubleday's Divisions of
the First Corps held Cemetery Hill The prolongation of the
48
Pennsylvania at Gettysburg.
line to the
left along the crest of Cemetery Ridge was occupied by Hancock's Second Corps; the Third
Corps, under Sickles, formed the left wing running from Hancock's flank to Round Top. The
Fifth Corps had upon its arrival taken position on the right, in reserve. On the
Confederate side Longstreet held the right, (opposite Sickles) his troops drawn along the
well-wooded line of Seminary Ridge; Hill's Corps continued the line along the same ridge
to the Seminary, opposite the Union center, and Ewell's Corps, the Confederate left,
stretched from the Seminary through the town and enveloped the base of Culp's Hill.
Thus face the two giants that are to
meet in a deadly contest —a grapple that will know no yielding save in defeat.
There seems to be some
misunderstanding about the line General Sickles has taken. His troops are seen advancing,
and as he moves forward they are leaving Hancock's left and a large gap is plainly
visible, and Sickles' left is in advance of Round Top and an angle is made with Hancock's
line instead of a compact prolongation. Is the army to change its left line, or are all to
move further forward? is the inquiry of men and commanders. The sight was a grand one,
that marching mass of trained brave men; they looked invincible, although something seemed
not right, for many horsemen were riding rapidly in all directions, while the movement
afforded a large part of the army the opportunity to see the power of a compact force.
Meade rides rapidly up to the ridge
accompanied by Sickles; an
earnest conversation follows concerning the advanced position of the troops. Meade, before
the Committee on the Conduct of War, states: "I told him it was not the position I
had expected him to take; that he had advanced his line beyond the support of my army, and
I was very fearful he would be attacked and lose the artillery which he had put so far to
the front, before I could support it. General Sickles expressed regret that he should have
occupied a position which did not meet with my approval, and he very promptly said that he
would withdraw his forces to the line which I had intended him to take. He could see the
ridge by turning around which I had intended him to take, but I told him I was fearful
that the enemy would not allow him to withdraw, and that there was no time for any further
change or movement. Before I
Pennsylvania
at Gettysburg. 49
had finished
that remark the enemy's batteries opened upon him and the action commenced."
Lee had resolved to attack the Union
line—his own words are as follows: "It was determined to make the principal
attack upon the enemy's left, and endeavor to be in a position from which it was thought
that our artillery could be brought to bear with effect. Longstreet was directed to place
the divisions of Hood and McLaws on 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 from being drawn to either wing, and co-operate 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."
The battle has opened, and as
Longstreet has been observed by the troops posted in the orchard, our artillery opens and
ere long the musketry fire grows fiercer.
The attack
falls upon Sickles' line, the left front, just where it recedes from Sherfy's Peach
Orchard on the Emmitsburg road.
DeTrobriand's and Ward's Brigades, of
Birney's Division, hold this line. The attack is boldly made, and the struggle becomes
close and unyielding. The enemy's line laps the left flank of the Third Corps by about two
brigades, and at once it is apparent the effort will be to scale the sides of Bound Top
and gain possession of this, the key to our line. As the battle grows in fierceness and
intensity, additional troops are continually arriving. Meade, upon leaving Sickles, had
ordered to the left Caldwell's brave division of the Second Corps, and troops of the Fifth
Corps are already arriving on the field.
Brigade upon brigade go in and come
out—all around Round Top, Peach Orchard, Devil's Den, Plum Run, Emmitsburg road and
the Wheat Field.
The battle opening at four o'clock p.
m., on the extreme left, had extended towards the town, until by six o'clock every
Confederate brigade had advanced from the line of battle on Seminary Ridge, including that
of Law's on the extreme right of General Lee's line, opposite Round Top, to Wright's
Brigade, which had attacked Gibbon's Division on Hancock's center, and the whole
intervening country from the Devil's Den, on
50
Pennsylvania at Gettysburg.
the base of
Round Top, to and above Codori's house; on the Emmitsburg road, was filled with a
struggling mass of armed men.
The demons of war have been at their
terrible work. Hour seems to follow hour, but there is no cessation to the booming cannon
and the rolling of musketry. Wounded men are continually coming back, yet the lines hold
their own only to break and reform and again attack. Birney's Graham's and Humphreys'
troops have fought hard, and Caldwell's Division of four brigades have, under a scathing
fire, struggled long and valiantly. Sykes, of the Fifth Corps, has brought into action
four of his brigades, and others, under Barnes, Ayres and Crawford, are soon to follow and
do good work. Williams has been ordered from the right, and closely follows the Fifth
Corps. A mass of troops are on the left, and our line is now strong where it was once so
weak.
Our losses are appalling. Graham
falls wounded, and is in the hands of the enemy. The brave Sickles has received a ball in
the leg, and he has been carried off the field. Hancock is assigned to the command of the
corps. Cross and Zook of Caldwell's Division,
are killed, and Willard dies bravely. Thousands of men are hors-de-combat. Brave Humphreys, in obedience to Birney, completes
his movement to fall back from his advanced position, and displays that cool intrepidity
and courage that has ever marked his able generalship. He reaches his line at last, but
half of his gallant force have fallen. Crawford's Pennsylvania Reserves, and a part of
Hays' Division do good work; and Hunt, intelligent and watchful soldier with his reserve
artillery has strengthened the line. Men are worn out with the fury of the fight; the dead
are everywhere; the wounded legion. Night at last comes and around the Devil's Den, Peach
Orchard, Bound Top and the Wheat Field and woods where the battle boiled and bubbled like
a seething cauldron, the worn-out and exhausted soldiers slept side by side with their
comrades dead.
The battle on the left for the day is
over. The blazing sun has sunk to rest and night takes pity and shadows all, that the
fearful slaughter may cease. Errors of judgment may have been committed—other
disposition of troops, may have been wiser, and our lines may have been located giving us
greater strength and greater resistance. But that is passed;
Pennsylvania
at Gettysburg. 51
battle of
the war exhibited greater bravery on the part of officers and men, than that which
clustered around and upon Little Round Top and the now famous fields and woods upon our
left.
The losses of the Third Corps were
very great. The men fought and died, and then seemed to rise up and strike again. Brave
Warren, whose rare military judgment and quickness of action saved Round Top, and Weed,
Vincent, O'Rorke and Hazlett who, after heroic and magnificent work, yielded up their
lives to hold this important citadel, will ever be held in special honor and love. Brave
men; none braver on that memorable field. Round Top will yet be crowned with their monuments in bronze and stone.
Up to a late hour the entire right of
our line, extending from Cemetery Hill to and over Gulp's Hill, had remained unassaulted
except by the sharp artillery fire from batteries on Benner's Hill, but they were
eventually silenced by the splendid practice of Union guns on East Cemetery Hill.
Wadsworth's Division of the First
Corps, had occupied the northern face of Gulp's Hill the night before, and early on the
morning of the second, Geary's Division of the Twelfth Corps had moved over from its
position, north of Little Round Top, and had formed on Wadsworth's right, extending down
the southeastern face of the hill; and a little later Williams' Division, commanded by
General Ruger, marched over from Wolf's Hill where it had spent the night, and formed on
Geary's right, extending the line in a zig-zag course to Spangler's meadow at the base of
the hill.
Nothwithstanding these troops had not
been molested during the day, they had not been idle. Immediately on taking that position,
a line of breastworks had been commenced, which by nightfall were sufficient to afford the
troops ample protection. When, however, the condition of the battle on the left assumed
such threatening proportion, General Meade called on General Slocum, commanding the right
center, for troops to go to the distance of the left, and General Williams, temporarily
commanding the corps, was ordered to send his own division, commanded by General Ruger.
These troops moved out of their works accompanied by Lockwood's Brigade, and were led by
General Williams in person to the scene of action, arriving, however, after the severe
fighting was over, and only Lock-
52
Pennsylvania at Gettysburg.
wood's
Brigade was temporarily engaged. In the meantime General Slocum had ordered Geary to send
two brigades of his division to the same destination; and Candy's and Kane's Brigades,
under the personal command of General Geary, started for the same destination, but through
some unexplained error they marched down the Baltimore pike to and beyond Rock creek, when
they threw out pickets, leaving only Greene's Brigade to hold the long line of works built
and occupied by the entire corps. As these brigades moved out General Greene commenced to
deploy the One Hundred and Thirty- seventh New York Volunteers in that portion of the
works vacated by Kane's Brigade. At the same time that the Twelfth Corps troops were being
withdrawn, Johnson's Division of Ewell's Corps advancing from beyond Benner's Hill, moved
to attack the Twelfth Corps' position on Culp's Hill, Stuart's Brigade assaulting Kane's
position at the moment when the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh New York was being deployed
in the works, and although stoutly resisted, Stuart occupied the position and his brigade
spent the night inside the Union works. Although Greene's position was previously
assaulted, he successfully repulsed every attack, assisted by several First and Eleventh
Corps regiments sent to him by General Wadsworth, and by ten o'clock at night the battle
ended. In the meantime General Kane, hearing the sound of battle, returned with his
command, and although fired upon by Stuart's men when he attempted to go to his old
position, he eventually reached it by a circuitous route and occupied a strong position
among the rocks on Greene's right, and by midnight Col. Candy's Brigade also returned and
extended General Kane's line. When Ruger's Division and Lockwood's Brigade returned on
finding their works occupied by the enemy they took up a position on the open fields
facing the woods, except Colgrove's Brigade, which moved over to the east side of
Spangler's meadows. While this contest was taking place, Generals Slocum and Williams were
attending a council of war at General Meade's headquarters.
On returning and learning the state
of affairs General Slocum at once ordered his artillery in position to command the works
occupied by the enemy, and at 4.30 a. m. it opened fire.
In the meantime General Johnson had
been reinforced by General Walker's Brigade of his own division, and Daniel's
Pennsylvania
at Gettysburg. 53
and O'Neal's
Brigades of Major-General Rodes' Division, and when Slocum's artillery opened fire,
Johnson having no artillery in position with which to reply, ordered an attack by his
infantry all along the line. A counter-attack was made by General Williams, and the battle
raged with varied success until near eleven o'clock, by which time the enemy was driven
out and the original line restored.
Almost simultaneously with Johnson's
attack on Culp's Hill, Hays' and Hoke's Brigades of Early's Division charged Barlow's
division, Adelbert Ames in command, in position on East Cemetery Hill. The crest of the
hill was occupied by Wiedrich's, Ricketts' and Reynolds' Batteries, while Stewart's
Battery, also on the hill, was trained on Baltimore street leading from the town. But the
most important position, a shoulder on the west side of Culp's Hill, since called Stevens'
Knoll, was occupied by the Fifth Maine Battery commanded by Lieutenant Whittier.
The assault was made at the dusk of
evening and was not observed until the enemy was far advanced. Colonel Wainbright, chief
of First Corps artillery, directed his batteries to open fire, but unfortunately the guns
were so placed that they could not be depressed, and, notwithstanding the terrible flank
fire by the Fifth Maine Battery, the infantry giving way, the enemy was soon among the
guns. Wiedrich's Battery was captured and one or two of Ricketts' guns were spiked. At
this juncture General Hancock dispatched the brave and fearless General Carroll with his
gallant brigade to the scene of action. General Carroll immediately led his troops
forward, attacked the enemy, and, assisted by some Eleventh Corps troops, quickly restored
the line and recaptured the guns, when the battle ended for the night.
Before the firing had ceased on the
Union right, on the second of July, General Meade hastened to his headquarters and called
his council of war—a gathering of the ablest and greatest leaders that had ever
commanded the corps of the Potomac Army. Slocum, Sedgwick, Hancock, Howard, Newton, Sykes,
Birney, Williams, Gibbon, Butterfield, were all present. The conclusion was soon reached.
"Remain in the present position and await the enemy's attack." Out of 52
infantry brigades, 42 had been engaged and 36 seriously. The corps commanders reported
about 58,000 men for the next day's fight.
54
Pennsylvania at Gettysburg.
The losses during the day crippled,
perhaps, the Union side the least, but the enemy had gained great advantages. On their
right the Confederates had secured a lodgment on the bases of the Round Top, possession of
Devil's Den, and the ridges on the Emmitsburg road, a valuable position for artillery.
On the left an occupation of part of
the intrenchments of the Twelfth Corps with an outlet to the Baltimore pike, by which all
of our lines could be taken in reverse. At the center; partial success, effecting no
lodgment because they lacked proper support. Lee recognized the value and importance of
the advantages he had secured, and having had engaged but seventeen out of his
thirty-seven brigades of infantry, he felt confident a great victory could have been
gained, if his orders had been obeyed and his generals had co-operated.
The morale and discipline of
his men were excellent—they wanted to fight and looked forward to a victory on the
morrow. Lee's language is as follows: "The operations of the second of July induced
the belief that with proper concert of action, and with the increased support which the
positions gained on the right would enable the artillery to render the assaulting columns,
we should ultimately succeed, and it was, accordingly, determined to continue the
attack."
The same bright moon that had lighted
the way of the thousands of brave soldiers, gayly singing their songs of triumph as they
marched, July first, to these memorable fields, shone out again with equal brilliancy,
upon scenes of activity and unceasing labor. The wounded were carried to the rear and the
lines reformed among the dead, too numerous to be cared for. Sleep came to the eyes of
few. It required the vigor of youth to withstand the strain.
Throughout the loyal states
consternation was in the minds and fear in the eyes of men. The Army of the Potomac had
suffered reverses on the first and second of July, and nothing save that shattered and
worn army stood between the march of Lee's victorious legions and the great cities of the
North.
The Sixth Corps supplies reserves to
various parts of the line. The Fifth Corps, on the left, extends itself so as to occupy
the acclivities of Great Round Top, and protect the flank from surprise. The Third Corps,
worn out and disabled, is in reserve.
Pennsylvania
at Gettysburg. 55
At early dawn the fight commences on
the right, for orders have been sent to dislodge the enemy. Slocum commands the right
wing, and he voted last night at the council, "stay and fight it out." It is
most important that our line be maintained and for almost five hours a determined and
courageous struggle continues. Finally the enemy are compelled to move back, and our
troops regain their position. This is an unexpected loss to Lee.
Pending the formation of Longstreet's
column on the 3d, General Lee directed General Stuart to move with his cavalry beyond the
left of his infantry, and endeavor to secure a position from which to co-operate with the
attack about, to be made by General Longstreet. This movement was made, but was met by a
counter-movement by General Pleasonton who, under orders from General Meade, had taken up
a position to meet any flank attack by the enemy, and protect the Union flank and rear.
Simultaneous with the great cannonade Stuart's command, consisting of Hampton's, Fitzhugh
Lee's, W. H. F. Lee's and Jenkins' Brigades, advanced to the attack. They were met by
Mclntosh's Brigade and Custer's Brigade, of Kilpatrick's Division, and, after a desperate
hand to hand engagement, were repulsed.
Later in the day General Meade
ordered General Kilpatrick to take up a position to threaten the Confederate right.
General Kilpatrick moved with Farnsworth's Brigade, and was subsequently joined by
Merritt's Brigade, of Buford's Division. A demonstration was made by General Kilpatrick's
order, during which General Farnsworth was killed.
The whole cavalry movement of the 2d
and 3d of July, exhibited on the part of officers and men, not only bravery and courage,
but able leadership, making memorable their record as indispensable adjuncts to the great
battle and victory. Pennsylvania's contribution to the corps embraced many troops, and
under the fighting qualities of fearless Pleasonton, the names of Generals John Buford,
David McM. Gregg and Colonel J. Irvin Gregg, will ever be cherished and loved.
It is now eleven o'clock, and our
lines are firmer and stronger than on the 2d of July. The men have had rest and food, the
ground is better understood and the troops are resolute, knowing that another disaster may
or will be complete defeat. Extreme quiet reigns, and behind the low earthworks
