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the First brigade in the battles at Spottsylvania court-house and was mustered out of service with his command on the 13th of June, 1864.

Major Peter A. Johns of the Eleventh regiment was honorably discharged on the 30th of March, and Adjutant Robert A. McCoy was promoted to the vacancy, and sub sequently was appointed assistant adjutant-general on the division staff: In the Twelfth regiment, Lieutenant-colone Peter Bald y, who, as major of the regiment, had com manded the left wing, and rendered distinguished service on the Peninsula and in Pope's campaign, finally broke down in health, and was honorably discharged on the 15t1 of February; Assistant-surgeon William Taylor, and Chap lain Obediah H. Miller, resigned; Dr. James M. Shearer eras appointed to the position of assistant-surgeon; Captain Thomas D. Horn of company D, was honorably discharge( in February, and Lieutenant Wi]iam H. Weaver was pro promoted to the vacancy. In the Bucktail regiment, change; were made necessary by the casualties that occurred in it: ranks in almost every skirmish and battle that took place be tween the Reserves and the enemy. Already the third Colo Colonel commanded the regiment, and he held life by but a narrow tenure; Lieutenant-colonel Edward A. Irvin, prostrated by a wound received at Fredericksburg, resigned on the 17th of March; Major Alanson E. Niles was promoted to the vacancy; Lieutenant William R. Hartshorn, a gallant soldier, was promoted to the majority, and on the 4th of May, Roger Sherman,* an accomplished young man and a

 

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* Adjutant Sherman kept a complete diary of the regiment, and wrote a full and complete history of the Bucktails. He presented his mane. script to the author of the History of the P. R. C., to whom it has beer, a constant and trustworthy source of information. Many of the thrill. in.- incidents recorded, are derived from this manuscript, and both the reader and the author are greatly indebted for many of the interesting facts contained in this volume, to the literary ability, and generous spirit of Roger Sherman, of Philadelphia. A statistical table compiled by this officer, shows that the Reserve Corps marched over twelve hundred miles, and that the Bucktails engaged the enemy in battle and skirmish twenty-nine times.

 

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brave soldier, who had long been performing the duties of  that office, was commissioned adjutant of the regiment; Captain John G. Hanower of company A, Captain John T. H. Jewett of company D, Captain Dennis McGee of company F, resigned in the spring of 1863. In the artillery,  Captain Fern had died of the wound received at Bull Run, and his successor Frank P. Amsden resigned in May. The gallant Bayard of the cavalry regiment, who left the Reserve corps at Fredericksburg in May, 1862, as a brigadier-general in command of a brigade of cavalry, after many brilliant and successful expeditions, rejoined the command at the same place in December, and on the 13th day of the month, was shot dead while leading a.charge on the left of the army. Colonel Owen Jones, who succeeded Bayard in the command of the cavalry regiment, resigned the colonelcy on the 29th of January, and on the following day lieutenant-colonel J. P. Taylor was promoted to the vacancy.

On the 3d of June, General S. W. Crawford, who had been assigned to the Pennsylvania Reserve Corp, arrived at Fairfax station, and assumed the command of the First and Third brigades. The Second brigade containing the Third, Fourth, Seventh and Eighth regiments, and commanded by Colonel Sickel, was detached from the division to guard  the Goverment property at Alexandria.

Samuel Wylie Crawford, was born in Franklin county,  Pennsylvania, on the 8th of November, 1829, and is the son of the late Dr. W. Crawford. of South Carolina, who removed to Pennsylvania and settled in Franklin county, where he resided but a short time, when he was called to Philadelphia to take charge of the academical department of the university. In this institution he educated his son, who graduated from the collegiate department in 1847. Soon after Samuel W. Crawford had completed his literary course, he entered upon the study of medicine and received the professional degree in April, 1850. He immediately reported to the Army Medical Board in New Fork, for examination; passed the Board at the head of his class, and

 

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received an appointment with orders to report to General Brooke, in the department of Teas. In January, 1851, Dr. Crawford sailed from New York for his post of duty, in charge of one hundred and sixty recruits for the Eighth regiment United States infantry, to which he had been assigned as surgeon; he remained on the southwestern border of Texas three years, during which period his regiment was frequently engaged in skirmishes with the Camanche Indians. In 1854, he accompanied a detachment of the regiment on an expedition to El Paso; in October, 1856, he left El Paso and traveled through Mexico in company with a train, going down to San Juan de los Sagos, to attend a great fair, held there in December of that year. Pr. Crawford, on this journey, passed through the beautiful province of Chihuahua del Trio, and reached the city of Mexico, on the 23d of October; he reported to Mr, Forsyth, the American minister, who, finding him familiar with the language and country of the Mexicans, detained him, with the permission of the War Department, as a member to the legation. Whilst in Mexico, he formed the acquaintance of a party of scientific gentlemen from Prussia, who were exploring the natural history of the country, and in January, joined them in a tour to the Popocatapetl volcano. The party started at dawn of day to ascend the mountain from Slamacos, a small ranche near its base; after climbing over great heaps of scoriae and wading through beds of ashes, the naturalists arrived at the snow line, where the ascent became more difficult; one after the other of the party wearied, broke down, and gave up the effort to gain the summit, and when Dr. Crawford reached the crater he was unattended except by the guide, who had led the way. At night the members of the party assembled at the ranche from which they had set out in the morning. Subsequently Dr. Crawford ascended the Iztachihault, and demonstrated the fact that no crater existed on its summit. He again ascended the Popocatapetl, spent a night in its crater, and in the morning descended into the cavity, about one hundred

 

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feet, where he procured specimens of sulphur, basalt end lava which he sent to the cabinet at West Point. He as chosen a member of the Geographical Society of Mexico, as a testimonial of respect for his ability as an explorer,

In February, 1857, he was sent to Washington as bearer of despatches to the State Department. Soon after his ;turn to the United States, he was ordered to Fort Adams, at Newport, in Rhode Island, and in the autumn of the same year, was sent to Kansas and became attached to the 'command of Captain Lyons, subsequently the lamented General Lyons, who fell at Wilson's creek. In the spring of 1858, he accompanied Major W. T. Sherman's expedition against the Indians on the Red River of the North; subsequently he was attached to another expedition that crossed the country to Fort Laramie, and in the following spring was ordered to the East. In August, 1860, he was ;assigned as surgeon to Fort Moultrie, in Charleston Harbor. Dr. Crawford remained on duty with the garrison at this point until it was surrendered in April, 1861 ; he rendered efficient services in transferring the command to Fort Sumter , and during the bombardment commanded a battery.

After the garrison from Fort Sumter reached New York, Crawford was promoted to a majority in the Third regiment United States Infantry, commanded by Colonel W. T. Sherman, and was ordered to report to General Rosecrans in Western Virginia, who made him inspector-general on his staff. In April,' 1862, he was promoted to a brigadier-generalship, and ordered to report to General Banks; he arrived at Strasburg the day before Bank's retreat down the valley, and when the corps reached Williamsport, ha was assigned to the command of the First brigade.

General Crawford marched up the valley in- pursuit of Jackson's forces, and subsequently became attached to the Army of Virginia, and rendered distinguished service in the battle of Cedar Mountain, where he received, on the

 

 

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field, the commendations of General Pope for conspicuous gallantry. In the retirement of Pope's army, Crawford commanded a division in Bank's corps, and hence was not again engaged with the enemy. He led his command in the Maryland campaign, and, in the battle of Antietam, was severely wounded while rallying his regiment to a charge. He was carried to Chambersburg and did not recover from his wound sufficiently to return to duty until February, 1863, when he was placed on a military commission in Washington, and in May was assigned to the command of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps.

Captain R. T. Auchmuty was appointed assistant adjutant-general on the division staff; and Captain Louis Livingston accompanied the general as an aid-de-camp. Both these officers were from New York, and served with distinction in the campaigns of the Reserves.

About the 25th of May, General Lee, who had continued. to occupy the line of the Rappahannock, began to move his forces up the river. General Hooker kept a close watch on his movements, so as not to allow the Confederate general to steal a march, or outmanoeuvre him. It was soon apparent to the commander of the Army of the Potomac, that General Lee contemplated an offensive campaign northward. Early in June the army was put in motion towards Warrenton and Centreville, for the purpose of keeping the forces between the National Capital and the rebel army, until the intentions of the enemy should become more fully developed.

 General Lee had already gained the valley of the Shenandoah, had pushed forward Ewell's corps to Williamsport, had sent a division into Maryland, and, finding no opposition, had advanced into the borders of Pennsylvania. He had hoped by this movement to deceive General Hooker, and to induce him to hurry his whole army across the Potomac to meet the invading force, and whilst the army would be marching into Pennsylvania, he intended, by a rapid movement, to march through Ashby's and

 

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Snicker's gaps, and to attack Washington from the south. side before Hooker could recross the river to defend it. General Hooker, however, was not the man to be easilv deceived; he pushed forward his cavalry corps, which was more than a match for Stuart's rebel forces, and ordered the troops to penetrate the gaps of the Blue ridge, and watch the movements of the enemy. In the meantime, the whole army of the Potomac was massed near Fairfax court-house, to await the further movements of the rebel general. After numerous attempts to defeat Hooker by strategy, Lee finally advanced boldly with his whole army, crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, marched through Hagerstown, and thence into the borders of Pennsylvania. His scouts penetrated as far as the line of the Susquehannah, which was defended by General Couch, commanding the Pennsylvania militia, and several regiments from the states of New York and New Jersey. The rebels sent out strong foraging parties, and Ewell's corps occupied Carlisle, York and the intervening country. A brigade of cavalry captured Wrightsville, on the Susquehannah, and attempted to cross the river into Lancaster county. A sharp skirmish occurred for the possession of the bridge at that point, and when the militia were driven across the river, Robert Crane, superintendent of the Reading and Columbia Railroad, with a party of men selected for the purpose, attempted to sever the bridge and blow up the span on the Wrightsville side, but, being hard pressed by the enemy, who had gained possession of that end of the bridge, Mr. Crane -vas ordered to apply the torch and destroy the bridge; the structure was old and every beam had become thoroughly seasoned, the flames therefore, spread rapidly, and in a few moments the river was spanned by a bridge of fire. The rebels rushed forward with water to extinguish the flames, but failed. They then attempted to shell the town of Columbia, on the northeast bank of the river, but it was soon demonstrated that their guns were of too short range to carry across the stream, which at that point is about a mile and a half in width.

 

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As soon as General Hooker learned that Lee had crossed into Maryland with his whole force, he put his army in motion, and, on the 24th of June, crossed the Potomac at Point of Rocks and Edward's Ferry, and concentrated his troops in the vicinity of Frederick, in the state of Maryland.

When the Pennsylvania Reserves learned that their native state had been invaded, they requested to be led against the enemy. Some of the regiments petitioned their commanding officers praying them to procure orders from Washington to march with the army of the Potomac into Maryland. Colonel McCandless, commanding the First brigade, received the following petition

" COLONEL:--We, the undersigned, officers of the Second regiment P. R. C., having learned that our native state has been invaded by a rebel force, respectfully ask that you will, if it be in your power, have us ordered within the borders of our state for her defence.

" Under McCall, Reynolds, Meade, Seymour and yourself we have more than once met and fought, the enemy where he was at home; now we wish to meet him again when he threatens our homes, our families and our firesides. Could our wish in this be realized, we feel that we could do some service to the state that sent us to the field, and not diminish, if we could not increase, the lustre that already attaches to our name."

Both General Reynolds, commanding the First, and General Meade, commanding the Fifth corps, had already applied to the War Department to have the Reserves attached to their commands. In response to these urgent appeals an order was issued, and on the 25th of June, two brigades, the First, commanded by Colonel McCandless, anti the Third, Colonel Fisher, marched towards Leesburg, and on Saturday, the 27th, crossed the Potomac on a pontoon bridge near Edward's Ferry, and encamped on the Monocacy. The division, commanded by General Crawford, had been assigned to Meade's corps, and early on Sunday morning moved up to Frederick to join their comrades,

 

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under their former commander. Before the brigades arrived at the camp of the Fifth corps, the report reached them that General Meade had assumed command of the army; it was enthusiastically received by all the men, who had learned to love and cherish the general as one of their own command. General Crawford therefore reported to General Sykes, who succeeded Meade in command of the Fifth corps.

Colonel Hardin, of the Twelfth regiment, had not yet recovered from the severe wound he had received in the; battle of Bull run, but as soon as he learned that the Reserves were moving northward with the great army of the Potomac, he threw aside the garb of an invalid, abandoned the doctor and his medicines, put on his uniform and hurried away to the field; he rejoined his regiment and command'*A it in the battle of Gettysburg and through the sub. sequent campaign.

General Meade assumed the command of the army on the 28th of June, at Frederick. The several corps were then encamped in the country about that city, from the Monocacy on the east, to Middletown on the west. General Hooker left the camp a few hours after he had been relieved of the command, and without communicating to his successor any facts in relation to the whereabouts of the enemy, or submitting any plan for future operations. From information derived from newspaper reports, and from other sources, General Meade learned that General Lee had passed northward through Hagerstown, and was marching up the Cumberland valley, with an army estimated to number over one hundred thousand men; that large detachments had occupied Carlisle and York, and were threatening the Susquehanna's at Harrisburg and Columbia. The commanding general saw the necessity of at once forcing the enemy to loose his hold on the line of the Susquehannah. He therefore promptly moved his army on the direct line from Frederick toward Harrisburg, determined to march on that line until he either encountered the enemy, or had reason

 

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to believe that the enemy was about to attack him; to force the rebel army to retreat from the state of Pennsylvania, or to meet the army of the Potomac in battle. He advanced on parallel roads, so as to keep the forces well ill hand, and to be able to concentrate rapidly, either to resist, or to make an attack; for General Meade never for a moment departed from the resolution to give battle to the whole of the rebel army, or any portion of it, as soon as, and wherever he could find it. The army was put in motion on the 29th of June, and on the night of the 30th, after two days' marching, the headquarters of the army had arrived at Taneytown; the First corps was near Gettysburg, the Second at Taneytown, the Third at Emmettsburg, the Fifth at Hanover, the Sixth at Manchester, the Eleventh supporting the First near Gettysburg, and the Twelfth at the Two taverns. The cavalry was kept well to the front and on both flanks, where frequent encounters took place with the rebel cavalry, in all of which the National troops were successful.

Early on the morning of the 1st of .July, General Meade learned that the enemy had fallen back from the line the Susquehannah, and was concentrating his forces at soar; point on his front. General Reynolds, in command of his own and General Howard's corps, bad been sent forward on the evening of the 30th of June, with orders to occupy Gettysburg.

Up to that day, the main force of the rebel army was encamped near Chambersburg and Greencastle; but early on the morning of the 30th, Lee ordered General Hill's corps to march from Chambersburg through the South mountain, towards Gettysburg, by the Cashtown gap ; Longstreet's corps followed as soon as the road through the pass became cleared of Hill's troops. Lee's headquarters moved with Long street's corps. Ewell was called in from Carlisle, and somewhat later in the day General Early, who occupied York, was ordered to call in his detachments from Wrightsville and the line of the Northern Central

 

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railroad, and to march westward and join Ewell on the line of march towards Gettysburg.

General Reynolds moved forward at daylight on the morning of the 1st of July, and arriving near Gettysburg at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, found General Buford's cavalry division already skirmishing with the Confederate troops, who appeared two miles to the westward of the town. Reynolds, with his accustomed boldness to attack, did not hesitate as to his duty, or wait for instructions; he was an accomplished soldier, and knowing that it was Meade's determination to fight the enemy on the first advantageous ground in his front, immediately advanced to the support of Buford's cavalry, and engaged the enemy. The First corps pushed forward through the town to occupy a hill on the west side, near Pennsylvania College, where it encountered Heath's division of Hill's corps of Confederate troops. The battle opened with artillery, in which the enemy at first had the advantage. Reynolds rode forward to change the position of the batteries; the rebel infantry immediately advanced, pushing forward a heavy skirmish line, and charged upon the guns, expecting to capture them. General Reynolds ordered up Wadsworth's division to resist the charge, and rode at the head of the column to direct and encourage the troops ; but his gallantry made him a conspicuous mark for the deadly bullets of rebel skirmishers, and he was shot through the neck, and fell mortally wounded, dying before he could be removed from the field.

The loss of their brave leader, personally the most popular officer of his rank in the army, might well have seriously affected the behavior of the men ; but the spirit with which his presence had inspired them did not perish at his death; his corps led by the senior officer, General Doubleday, repulsed the enemy in a gallant charge, while the fighting, for a time, became a hand-to-hand struggle, during which the rebel General Archer and his whole brigade were captured and sent to the rear. Doubleday's success

 

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was however but momentary; for Hill had by this time arrived on the ground, and had deployed his whole command in front of the First corps. After a brief resistance to these overwhelming forces, Doubleday's troops fell back on General Howard's corps, which had come up and taken a position on the right and rear of the First corps, Here the troops made a stand against Hill, and completely checked his advance after a furious contest; but the fate of the day was most decidedly settled by the arrival of Ewell's corps. These troops approached on two country roads lying near each other, and leading directly on the right flank of Howard's corps; Rhode's division of Ewell's corps came rapidly forward, and vigorously engaged General Barlow's division of the Eleventh corps, and before these troops and General Shurz's division, which supported them, had time to face to the right, on a new line, Early's division came pressing forward on their front and turned the battle into a retreat. General Howard was now in command of all the troops in the front, and perceiving that his forces were greatly out-numbered, retired his troops in as good order as was possible with the haste that was necessary to save his command, and to secure the position held by General Von Steinwehr's division on Cemetery Hill, south of Gettysburg.

As soon as General Reynolds had arrived in the front and found the enemy, he despatched a messenger to General Meade, and instructed the officer going back to headquarters, to direct General Howard to move forward his corps to the field; he also sent word to corps commanders between Gettysburg and Meade's headquarters, informing them of his engagement, and requesting that they would come forward as rapidly as possible. When General Howard arrived on the hill on the Baltimore turnpike, east of the town, he was met by a courier who informed him that Reynolds had fallen, and that the enemy were collecting in great numbers in front of the First corps. Taking a survey of the surrounding country,

 

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Howard, with the quick and accurate judgment of a great soldier, saw that the point on which he then stood was the key to the position, and that the range of hills reaching to the right and left possessed great advantages as a line of defence; he therefore directed General Von Steinwehr to post the reserve artillery on the heights, and to place his division in position to hold the hill. This was a most fortunate precaution, for when the troops on the west of the town, later in the day, outflanked on both right and left, and hard pressed on the front, broke and were driven through the streets of Gettysburg in haste and confusion, they were easily formed in support of Steinwehr's division, and took up a strong position on both sides of the turnpike. General Lee now had fifty thousand troops on the field, but did not deem it prudent to attack Howard in his new position.

During the battle in the afternoon, when his troops were outnumbered and sorely pressed, General Howard sent to Slocum, who was within five miles, to come to his relief. He sent again and again, but received no reply; finally he sent his brother, Major Howard, to urge upon General Slocum to come up in person if he would not send troops. Slocum replied that he did not wish to take the responsibility of the fight. He continued his onward march so slowly, that he spent the whole afternoon on the five miles of wide turnpike road that intervened between himself and General Howard. He arrived in person just before dark, followed closely by the head of Sickles' column, whose corps, although at midday several miles further off than the Twelfth, had been hurried on by its more impetuous leader, and was arriving in advance of Slocum's; but all were too late to succor Howard, who had already fallen back to the cemetery, and the battle of the 1st of July was ended.

General Lee feared the consequences of an unsuccessful assault on Howard's line; the impetuosity of Reynolds' attack led him to suppose that the First corps was but the ad-

 

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vance column, acting not far from its supports. The rebel commander therefore determined to recall his troops, who were already advancing up the slopes, and to await the arri. val of the remainder of his army. Lee believed that he was confronted by the whole force of Meade's army, and hence committed the blunder so fatal to his cause, of not outflanking Howard's corps and driving it from its strong position.

Sickles' and Slocum's corps arriving at dusk, took up positions respectively on the left and right of Howard's command.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, General Meade received a report from the front that his advance had encountered the enemy, and that an engagement was then going on beyond Gettysburg. General Hancock was at this time at the headquarters of the army, and the commanding general had just communicated to him very fully his plans of operation, and therefore, as soon as he learned of the situation at Gettysburg, and of the death of Reynolds, he despatched, to the front, General Hancock, who thoroughly understood his intentions in reference to future movements; he directed him to examine the grounds, and if he found a good position to hold it, but if not, then to withdraw the troops to a position on Pipeclay creek, where the whole army could easily be concentrated. Hancock agreed with General Howard in the choice of position, and reported the facts to the commanding general.

As soon as General Meade received Hancock's report, he ordered the whole army to advance rapidly, and to concentrate in front of Gettysburg. He rode forward himself to Howard's headquarters, and with that officer carefully examined the position, and gave directions for the posting of troops, and before daylight on Thursday morning, the 2d of July, the whole army, with the exception of the Sixth corps, was in line of battle on the heights to the right and left of the Baltimore pike, with the centre held by Howard's corps, on Cemetery hill, the left resting on Roundtop mountain, and the right deflecting back-towards Rock creek; the line

 

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presented to the enemy was in the form of the sides of a horse-shoe, with the left wing longer than the right, and rested on the crest of an irregular ridge, whose slopes were broken by ravines, and in some places steep, rugged and rocky.

The morning of the 2d was spent in bringing up the artillery and in organizing for an attack, which General Meade had determined to make as soon as Sedgwick's corps, which had been marching all night, should arrive within supporting distance. When Sedgwick received the order to march to Gettysburg his corps was in camp thirty-two miles from that place, but General John Sedgwick was one of the greatest of soldiers, and when the report reached him that there was an engagement already begun, he promptly put his troops in motion, encouraged them and urged them forward, and without bivouac, almost without rest, this gallant officer brought his veteran heroes, who loved their general next to their country, most dearly, rapidly forward. At three o'clock in the afternoon General Meade received a report from Sedgwick that his corps was approaching the field; the army was now posted in line, with the Twelfth corps, commanded by General Slocum, on the right; the First, commanded by General Newton, on the right centre; the Eleventh, commanded by General Howard, in the centre; the Second, commanded by General Hancock on the left centre; the Third, commanded by General Sickles, on the left; the Fifth, commanded by General Sykes, was held in reserve, and the Sixth corps, commanded by General Sedgwick, was moving up towards the left.

During the night and morning, General Meade had directed his troops to erect such defensive works as were possible before the opening of the battle ; wherever, therefore, the ground was sufficiently open, musketry trenches and rifle pits were dug; cover for the artillery was thrown up wherever it was practicable; trees were felled, stones piled up, and every possible means of protection was provided. Before the hour of attack arrived, Meade's army held a position, by nature, extremely defensible, and by the addition

 

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of such works as the energetic citizen soldiery, directed by a. great engineer, could erect in a few hours of diligent labor it was made too strong to be carried by direct assault.

The original position taken up by General Howard on the 1st, on the steep hill southeast of Gettysburg, had now become the centre of the line of battle; the ridge on the right sweeps back in a horseshoe from towards the southeast and southwest, forming a curve about three miles long, Rising much more at some points than at others, it everywhere commands the valley around its north and west sides into which it falls, in many places too abruptly for artillery to sweep the plain at its base. About the cemetery there is much open ground, but the men occupying this part of the field had provided for themselves considerable cover by hastily constructed trenches. The right wing of the ridge, extending somewhat eastward from the cemetery, was high, and curved sharply to the south, in a line nearly perpendicular to the front and left wing; this flank, held by Slocum, was well protected by the nature of the slope, which was rocky and ended abruptly at Rock creek. On the left of the cemetery the slope was more gradual and the position less protected, but Hancock's men had greatly strengthened their front by the construction of earthworks; farther to the left there was more timber along the crest, and the men had employed their axes to good purpose by felling trees and erecting breastworks. On the extreme left, Roundtop was high, rocky, rough and rugged presenting an insurmountable obstacle to an attacking party, and, with artillery, commanded a sweep of the whole position. The valley in front of the centre and left, where the hill in its western bend becomes less sharply defined, was open cultivated land for a distance of three-quarters of a mile, and was effectually swept by the National batteries. The line of these hills had everywhere a good slope to the rear, which afforded excellent protection for the reserves, and secure cover for the ammunition and supply trains, close in the rear of the army. Though Meade's lines were

 

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about five miles in length, the opposite flanks were, in a direct line across the rear, separated by a distance of less an three miles. It was, therefore, easy to throw reforcements rapidly from every portion of the line to any point that was hard pressed.

General Meade, thoroughly understanding the strength end advantages of his position, and knowing that General

Lee could not afford to remain quietly in the midst of hostile troops, who would sever his communications and obstruct his line of retreat to the Confederate territory, determined to act wholly on the defensive.

General Lee had rapidly concentrated his army at Gettysburg, and spent the morning of the 2d of July in reconnoitring Meade's position, and in holding earnest consultation as to the course to be pursued. He formed his line on the crest of an outer parallel ridge, which enveloped the ridge occupied by the National army. Ewell was posted on the left, opposite Slocum; Hill took post in the centre, and  Longstreet on the right, opposite Sickles' position. After General Lee had carefully examined the position, he felt loath to attack; fearing the consequences of a defeat in the  enemy's country, he preferred rather to withdraw to the passes of South mountain or to the line of the. Antietam, where his communications would be more secure and his line of retreat open. But whilst Lee was doubtful as to the wisdom of attacking, the younger and more ardent Confederate officers were eager to be led forward, and in the council their impetuous spirits prevailed against the calmer and more prudent judgment of Lee and Longstreet. Lee, therefore, gave the orders to his corps commanders to prepare their troops for attack. The rebel chieftain has since deeply regretted that he thus yielded to the judgment of others, less responsible for the consequences that followed.

At four o'clock, the Confederate army was ready for the attack, all the troops were in position, the infantry standing

 

 

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in line and the gunners at their pieces, all in nervous anxiety waiting orders to begin the work of death.

On the opposite range of hills was an army equal to this in numbers, holding a strong position on their own soil, and in defence of their. homes, their families and their honor. On the left of the line, General Sickles fell into an error in posting his corps that well nigh proved disastrous to the whole army. He had been ordered to form on the left of Hancock's line, joining the right of the Third with the left of the Second corps. Sickles, however, most unfortunately took a position on a slight ridge three-quarters of a mile in advance of the prolongation of Hancock's line, and wholly disconnected, by an intervening ravine, from the proper line of the army. From reports received at headquarters General Meade was led to believe that Sickles may have made some mistake in posting his troops; he therefore mounted his horse and rode to the left to inspect the line; as soon as he arrived on the ground on which he had directed Sickles to post his corps he discovered the error of that officer, and that by his false position the line of his army was broken and untenable. General Meade sent forward for Sickles and pointed out the position he had expected the Third corps to occupy. General Sickles proposed immediately to withdraw his corps to the proper position; but General Meade bad already discovered, from the movements of the enemy, that he was about to advance to the attack, and therefore directed General Sickles to return quickly to his command, saying, " The enemy will not now allow you to withdraw." Whilst Meade was still speaking the enemy's batteries opened a furious fire on the Third corps, and Longstreet's troops began to emerge from the woods in massive columns and advanced against the front and right flank of Sickles' command. There was but one alternative, either the Third corps must be driven back to the ridge occupied by the main army, or Meade must order forward supports, abandon his strong position, and fight the enemy in the open valley.

 

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The calm judgment of the commanding general quickly and very properly adopted the former alternative; lie urged forward the Fifth corps, troops he had but a few days before commanded in person, among them the Pennsylvania Reserves, and the division of regulars; he directed General Sykes to form in line on the left of Hancock, and to resist the enemy now screaming and yelling in pursuit of Sickles'' corps.

General Sickles galloped across the valley at the first sound of battle, and exerted himself with conspicuous gallantry to preserve his lines, and steady his troops, as they fell back across the ravine; but early in the onset he was severely wounded in the thigh, and was carried from the field. General Humphreys, an eminent soldier, who commanded the advance division, made heroic efforts to retire the troops in order; every staff officer, even to his last orderly, was shot down at his side, his last horse fell under him; but still, at the head of his command, he encouraged his troops, and fell back steadily to the line of Sykes' corps, and took post in the rear. As Sickles' corps, commanded by General Birney, was pressed back, the rebel column came under the fire of Hancock's guns, which opened a terrific discharge of shell and canister, that was carrying dreadful havoc through the Confederate masses struggling up the bill; but defiant of death on they came to the very muzzles of the guns, driving the artillerymen from them at the point of the bayonet. In the instant of supposed victory, two reserve batteries, that had been posted by General Warren of Meade's staff, opened an enfilading fire at short range, with such accurate aim that it swept the Confederate troops from the hill with a destructiveness appalling to behold; at the same time the infantry of the Second corps plied all the power of their deadly volleys of musketry, recaptured their guns, which again opened a most vengeful raking fire that added to the fearful carnage. The right wing of the attacking columns, broken and disordered, fell back to the ravine beyond the range of the artillery.