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Anniversary of Gettysburg 1-3 July 1863\.
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America always seemed to have a huge problem with politicians turned solder screwing things up :-P. Anyway, glory to the Union for fighting like bears and a nod of respect to the rebs for fighting like lions.
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There had also been fighting on the Union Right on the 2nd. Two Southern Brigades from their II Corps had made an initial breakthrough, but without support had fallen back when counterattacked by the fine II Corps Brigade of Sam Carroll.
Lee planned for better coordination on the 3rd.Lee decided he had to attack the Union Centre today. This time it was to be preceded by a massive artillery barrage, using 135 guns from all 3 Corps. Lee chose a small clump of trees as the Infantry assault’s objective and placed the superb James Longstreet in overall command. Yesterday had undoubtedly been his finest day.
He would command fewer than 15000 men, of which only 5000 were fresh. These 5000 were Virginians to a man. Fifteen regiments in 3 Brigades. Their commander. George Pickett, who finished last at West Point, had every confidence his men would not fail General Lee.
The other 6 Brigades who went in that afternoon were a sorry looking lot. Two were under a Brigadier, because their fine Division commander was mortally wounded yesterday. His leadership would be missed. His name was Dorsey Pender; he was a North Carolinian and he had been slated as the next Stonewall Jackson. His four brigades had assisted Heth on July 1st, helping rout the Union forces that day. Today only two would attack, under a 61 year old Virginia born Marylander. Despite his age, he was a good replacement and the kind of aggressive commander Lee loved.
The other 4 Brigades slated to assault the centre were also from III Corps, though not engaged yesterday, they had been badly battered on July 1st. They were not full strength and as their Division commander, Heth, was also wounded, they were placed under their senior Brigadier. He was Johnston Pettigrew and was a North Carolinian and intellectual.
These 6 Brigades were going in under new commanders at all levels, therefore, and that was never an easy thing.
The rest of Lee’s army was under orders to demonstrate, so as to tie down Union troops so the assault on the centre succeeded. -
America always seemed to have a huge problem with politicians turned solder screwing things upÂ
U.S. Grant went in the opposite direction (a soldier turned politician) and his Presidency was similarly a problematic one.
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It was Meade, not Lee, who opened the attack on July 3rd. Meade wanted to stabilise the situation on his right, where Ewell had missed an opportunity to get his II Corps on his flank. It was an intelligent move and did not tie up many of his reserves, but took the Confederate II Corps right out of the battle and Lee’s grand plan. It ran from dawn until midday and involved as many as 20000 men. For the first time in the battle, the South suffered more casualties than the North: 1900 reported(probably more) to 1000.
The afternoon artillery barrage was not as long as planned, as the Southern commanders began to run low on ammo. It was decided as Ewell had not made a lodgement on the Union right, not to risk Hood’s and McClaws’ Divisions against the left. This was a sound decision as they would have been repulsed more easily than the attack on the centre was about to be.
The 5000 men of Pickett’s Division moved out in perfect alignment, Kemper(politician) and Garnett(professional) in the first line and Armistead(professional) behind them.
To their left advanced Pettigrew commanding Heth’s Division. Behind them as a second wave was Trimble with two Brigades. These six Brigades counted 7700 amongst them.
Two of Anderson’s Brigades, counting 1900 men, were to advance on heir left, but were ordered not to when it looked like the attack had failed.Of the nine Brigades that did advance, the furthest left, a small Virginia one was turned back by heavy skirmishing. This freed Union units to turn on the far left of the assaulting Brigade. Soon Union Regiments were doing the same on the right.
Both the left and right wing got to the Union barricades, but few made it over. Casualties were high as cannon after cannon blaster canister at the bravest of the brave. It was over in twenty minutes and the survivors streamed back to their starting positions. All ranks were affected, but the cost in Regimental and Brigade commanders was devastating.
Pickett’s Division would not be called upon again to attack for a year. But it was almost as bad for the six Brigades of the left wing.The Confederates braced for a counterattack that never came.
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@CWO:
America always seemed to have a huge problem with politicians turned solder screwing things up�
U.S. Grant went in the opposite direction (a soldier turned politician) and his Presidency was similarly a problematic one.
Historically speaking it actually turned out alright, modern historians think Grant’s presidency to be one of the more misunderstood ones. Not that it was a great success of course.
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@CWO:
America always seemed to have a huge problem with politicians turned solder screwing things up�Â
U.S. Grant went in the opposite direction (a soldier turned politician) and his Presidency was similarly a problematic one. Â
Historically speaking it actually turned out alright, modern historians think Grant’s presidency to be one of the more misunderstood ones. Not that it was a great success of course.
I don’t know much about the subject, but it was my impression that there was a fair bit of corruption amongst the people in his administration.
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@CWO:
@CWO:
America always seemed to have a huge problem with politicians turned solder screwing things up��
U.S. Grant went in the opposite direction (a soldier turned politician) and his Presidency was similarly a problematic one.� �
Historically speaking it actually turned out alright, modern historians think Grant’s presidency to be one of the more misunderstood ones. Not that it was a great success of course.
I don’t know much about the subject, but it was my impression that there was a fair bit of corruption amongst the people in his administration.
There certainly was, but not really more so in other administrations, these ones just almost all became public. Grant gets particularly high water marks for his foreign policy though, he avoided several wars and internal conflicts, including one with Spain. And the man himself stood in the end blameless. Certainly not a presidency worth remembering for it’s greatness, but certainly not one worth remembering for being terrible.
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I could camp out all day here. Thanks for posting, Wittmann.
Aye, perhaps ye could.
But could you hold the line against the union attack?
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Wittmann, I greatly enjoyed reading about the 3rd Day. Spot on. It’s the most misunderstood day of battle in all of American History. I just walked those grounds last week. Flying a Confederate flag every where. You’ve got to walk those grounds one day. I’d love to walk with you.
That would be my hope too.
Would love to see Worsham here too or at Mansfield, Chickamauga or, dare I say, Vicksburg! -
North Carolina and Virginia continue to clash and debate over who got the farthest at Gettysburg. It’s an interesting discussion, but I am more currently concerned about North Carolina freeing itself of foreign troops than who got the farthest at Gettysburg. Since I am a native North Carolinian, I do take a little pride in the subject.
The Gettysburg movie portrayed what is known as the Virginian school. The North Carolina story was largely left out, though that State lost the most troops at Gettysburg. Almost half and some say maybe more than half of Longstreet’s Assault on the 3rd day at Gettysburg were North Carolinians.
There are two “farthest to the front” monuments on Cemetery Ridge. One for the Virginians and one for the North Carolinians. The North Carolina Monument is located to the upper left of Armistead’s monument. Who got the farthest? Why does it matter? I leave those questions for the audience to discuss.
Those who know me on the internet world know I don’t post dissertations. I post brief thoughts and allow others to discover roads of truth. I’m not on here to be any one’s professor. Consider this post just a surface inquiry upon the subject. Feel free to investigate more on the subject. I am attaching a pic of the North Carolina Monument at Gettysburg that honors NC’s claim as the State farthest to the front on the 3rd day. The men who reached this point were led by CSA General Isaac Trimble.
Again, thank you Cromwell.
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