Battle of Gettysburg--July 2d.
When the troops were aroused from their slumbers on that beautiful
clear morning of the 2d of July, the sun had long since shot its rays
over the quaint old, now historic, town of Gettysburg, sleeping down
among the hills and spurs of the Blue Ridge. After an all-night's
march, and a hard day's work before them, the troops were allowed all
the rest and repose possible. I will here state that Longstreet had
with him only two divisions of his corps, with four brigades to a
division. Pickett was left near Chambersburg to protect the numerous
supply trains. Jenkins' South Carolina brigade of his division had
been left in Virginia to guard the mountain passes against a possible
cavalry raid, and thus had not the opportunity of sharing with the
other South Carolinians in the glories that will forever cluster
around Gettysburg. They would, too, had they been present, have
enjoyed and deserved the halo that will for all time surround the
"charge of Pickett," a charge that will go down in history with
Balaclava and Hohenlinden.
A.P. Hill, aided by part of Ewell's corps, had fought a winning fight
the day before, and had driven the enemy from the field through the
streets of the sleepy old town of Gettysburg to the high ground on
the east. But this was only the advance guard of General Meade, thrown
forward to gain time in order to bring up his main army. He was now
concentrating it with all haste, and forming in rear of the rugged
ridge running south of Gettysburg and culminating in the promontories
at the Round Top. Behind this ridge was soon to assemble an army, if
not the largest, yet the grandest, best disciplined, best equipped of
all time, with an incentive to do successful battle as seldom falls to
the lot of an army, and on its success or defeat depended the fate of
two nations.
There was a kind of intuition, an apparent settled fact, among the
soldiers of Longstreet's corps, that after all the other troops had
made their long marches, tugged at the flanks of the enemy, threatened
his rear, and all the display of strategy and generalship had been
exhausted in the dislodgement of the foe, and all these failed, then
when the hard, stubborn, decisive blow was to be struck, the troops of
the first corps were called upon to strike it. Longstreet had informed
Lee at the outset, "My corps is as solid as a rock--a great rock. I
will strike the blow, and win, if the other troops gather the fruits
of victory." How confident the old "War Horse," as General Lee called
him, was in the solidity and courage of his troops. Little did he know
when he made the assertion that so soon his seventeen thousand men
were to be pitted against the whole army of the Potomac. Still, no
battle was ever considered decisive until Longstreet, with his
cool, steady head, his heart of steel and troops who acknowledged no
superior, or scarcely equal, in ancient or modern times, in endurance
and courage, had measured strength with the enemy. This I give, not
as a personal view, but as the feelings, the confidence and pardonable
pride of the troops of the 1st corps.
As A.P. Hill and Ewell had had their bout the day before, it was a
foregone conclusion that Longstreet's time to measure strength was
near at hand, and the men braced themselves accordingly for the
ordeal.
A ridge running parallel with that behind which the enemy stood, but
not near so precipitous or rugged, and about a mile distant, with a
gentle decline towards the base of the opposite ridge, was to be
the base of the battle ground of the day. This plain or gentle slope
between the two armies, a mile in extent, was mostly open fields
covered with grain or other crops, with here and there a farm house,
orchard and garden. It seems from reports since made that Lee had not
matured his plan of battle until late in the forenoon. He called
a council of war of his principal Lieutenant to discuss plans and
feasibilities. It was a long time undecided whether Ewell should lead
the battle on the right, or allow Longstreet to throw his whole corps
on the Round Top and break away these strongholds, the very citadel
to Meade's whole line. The latter was agreed upon, much against the
judgment of General Longstreet but Lee's orders were imperative,
and obeyed with alacrity. At ten o'clock the movement began for the
formation of the columns of assault. Along and in rear of the ridge
we marched at a slow and halting gait. The Washington artillery had
preceded us, and soon afterwards Alexander's battery passed to select
positions. We marched and countermarched, first to the right, then to
the left. As we thus marched we had little opportunity as yet to view
the strongholds of the enemy on the opposite ridge, nor the incline
between, which was soon to be strewn with the dead and dying.
Occasionally a General would ride to the crest and take a survey of
the surroundings. No cannon had yet been fired on either side, and
everything was quiet and still save the tread of the thousands in
motion, as if preparing for a great review.
Longstreet passed us once or twice, but he had his eyes cast to the
ground, as if in a deep study, his mind disturbed, and had more the
look of gloom than I had ever noticed before. Well might the great
chieftain look cast down with the weight of this great responsibility
resting upon him. There seemed to be an air of heaviness hanging
around all. The soldiers trod with a firm but seeming heavy tread. Not
that there was any want of confidence or doubt of ultimate success,
but each felt within himself that this was to be the decisive battle
of the war, and as a consequence it would be stubborn and bloody.
Soldiers looked in the faces of their fellow-soldiers with a silent
sympathy that spoke more eloquently than words an exhibition of
brotherly love never before witnessed in the 1st corps. They felt
a sympathy for those whom they knew, before the setting of the sun,
would feel touch of the elbow for the last time, and who must fall
upon this distant field and in an enemy's country.
About noon we were moved over the crest and halted behind a stone wall
that ran parallel to a county road, our center being near a gateway
in the wall. As soon as the halt was made the soldiers fell down, and
soon the most of them were fast asleep. While here, it was necessary
for some troops of Hill's to pass over up and through the gate. The
head of the column was lead by a doughty General clad in a brilliant
new uniform, a crimson sash encircling his waist, its deep, heavy
hanging down to his sword scabbard, while great golden curls hung in
maiden ringlets to his very shoulders. His movement was superb and he
sat his horse in true Knightly manner. On the whole, such a turn-out
was a sight seldom witnessed by the staid soldiers of the First Corps.
As he was passing a man in Company D, 3d South Carolina, roused up
from his broken sleep, saw for the first time the soldier wonder with
the long curls. He called out to him, not knowing he was an officer of
such rank, "Say, Mister, come right down out of that hair," a foolish
and unnecessary expression that was common throughout the army when
anything unusual hove in sight.
This hail roused all the ire in the flashy General, he became as
"mad as a March hare," and wheeling his horse, dashed up to where the
challenge appeared to have come from and demanded in an angry tone,
"Who was that spoke? Who commands this company?" And as no reply was
given he turned away, saying, "D----d if I only knew who it was
that insulted me, I would put a ball in him." But as he rode off the
soldier gave him a Parthian shot by calling after him, "Say, Mister,
don't get so mad about it, I thought you were some d----n wagon
master."
Slowly again our column began moving to the right. The center of the
division was halted in front of little Round Top. Kershaw was then on
the right, Barksdale with his Mississippians on his left, Wofford and
Semmes with their Georgians in rear as support. Everything was quiet
in our front, as if the enemy had put his house in order and awaited
our coming. Kershaw took position behind a tumbled down wall to await
Hood's movements on our right, and who was to open the battle by the
assault on Round Top. The country on our right, through which Hood had
to manoeuver, was very much broken and thickly studded with trees and
mountain undergrowth, which delayed that General in getting in battle
line. Anderson's Georgians, with Hood's old Texas Brigade under
Robertson, was on McLaws' immediate right, next to Kershaw. Law's
Alabama Brigade was on the extreme right, and made the first advance.
On McLaws' left was Wilcox, of General "Tige" Anderson's Division of
the 3d Corps, with Posey and other troops to his left, these to act
more as a brace to Longstreet as he advanced to the assault; however,
most of them were drawn into the vortex of battle before the close of
the day. In Kershaw's Brigade, the 2d under Colonel John D. Kennedy
and Lieutenant Colonel Frank Gilliard, the 15th under Colonel W.D.
Dessausure and Major Wm. Gist, the 3d under Colonel James D. Nance
and Major R.C. Maffett, the 7th under Colonel D. Wyatt Aiken and
Lieutenant Colonel Elbert Bland, the 3d Battallion under Lieutenant
Colonel W.G. Rice, the 8th under Colonel John W. Henagan, Lieutenant
Colonel Hool and Major McLeod, went into battle in the order named, as
far as I remember. Major Wm. Wallace of the 2d commanded the brigade
skirmish line or sharpshooters, now some distance in our front. A
battery of ten guns was immediately in our rear, in a grove of oaks,
and drew on us a heavy fire when the artillery duel began. All troops
in line, the batteries in position, nothing was wanting but the signal
gun to put these mighty forces in motion. Ewell had been engaged
during the morning in a desultory battle far to our left and beyond
the town, but had now quieted down. A blue puff of smoke, a deafening
report from one of the guns of the Washington Artillery of New
Orleans, followed in quick succession by others, gave the signal to
both armies--the battle was now on.
It was the plan of action for Hood to move forward first and engage
the enemy, and when once the combat was well under way on the right,
McLaws to press his columns to the front. Law, with his Alabamians,
was closing around the southern base of greater Round Top, while
Robertson, with his three Texas regiments and one Arkansas, and
Anderson with his Georgians, were pushing their way through thickets
and over boulders to the front base of the Round Tops and the gorges
between the two. We could easily determine their progress by the
"rebel yell" as it rang out in triumph along the mountain sides.
The battery in our rear was drawing a fearful fire upon us, as we lay
behind the stone fence, and all were but too anxious to be ordered
forward. Barksdale, on our left, moved out first, just in front of the
famous Peach Orchard. A heavy battery was posted there, supported by
McCandless' and Willard's Divisions, and began raking Barksdale from
the start. The brave old Mississippian, who was so soon to lose
his life, asked permission to charge and take the battery, but was
refused. Kershaw next gave the command, "forward," and the men sprang
to their work with a will and determination and spread their steps to
the right and left as they advanced. Kershaw was on foot, prepared to
follow the line of battle immediately in rear, looking cool, composed
and grand, his steel-gray eyes flashing the fire he felt in his soul.
The shelling from the enemy on the ridge in front had, up to this
time, been mostly confined to replying to our batteries, but as soon
as this long array of bristling bayonets moved over the crest and
burst out suddenly in the open, in full view of the cannon-crowned
battlements, all guns were turned upon us. The shelling from Round
Top was terrific enough to make the stoutest hearts quake, while the
battery down at the base of the ridge, in the orchard, was raking
Barksdale and Kershaw right and left with grape and shrapnell. Semmes'
Georgians soon moved up on our right and between Kershaw and Hood's
left, but its brave commander fell mortally wounded at the very
commencement of the attack. Kershaw advanced directly against little
Round Top, the strongest point in the enemy's line, and defended by
Ayer's Regulars, the best disciplined and most stubborn fighters in
the Federal army. The battery in the orchard began grapeing Kershaw's
left as soon as it came in range, the right being protected by a
depression in the ground over which they marched. Not a gun was
allowed to be fired either at sharpshooters that were firing on our
front from behind boulders and trees in a grove we were nearing, or
at the cannoneers who were raking our flank on the left. Men fell here
and there from the deadly minnie-balls, while great gaps or swaths
were swept away in our ranks by shells from the batteries on the
hills, or by the destructive grape and canister from the orchard. On
marched the determined men across this open expanse, closing together
as their comrades fell out. Barksdale had fallen, but his troops were
still moving to the front and over the battery that was making such
havoc in their ranks. Semmes, too, had fallen, but his Georgians never
wavered nor faltered, but moved like a huge machine in the face of
these myriads of death-dealing missiles. Just as we entered the woods
the infantry opened upon us a withering fire, especially from up
the gorge that ran in the direction of Round Top. Firing now became
general along the whole line on both sides. The Fifteenth Regiment
met a heavy obstruction, a mock-orange hedge, and it was just after
passing this obstacle that Colonel Dessausure fell. The center of the
Third Regiment and some parts of the other regiments, were partially
protected by boulders and large trees, but the greater part fought
in the open field or in sparsely timbered groves of small trees. The
fight now waged fast and furious.
Captain Malloy writes thus of the 8th: "We occupied the extreme left
of the brigade, just fronting the celebrated 'Peach Orchard.' The
order was given. We began the fatal charge, and soon had driven the
enemy from their guns in the orchard, when a command was given to
'move to the right,' which fatal order was obeyed under a terrible
fire, this leaving the 'Peach Orchard' partly uncovered. The enemy
soon rallied to their guns and turned them on the flank of our
brigade. Amid a storm of shot and shell from flank and front, our
gallant old brigade pushed towards the Round Top, driving all before
them, till night put an end to the awful slaughter. The regiment went
in action with 215 in ranks, and lost more than half its number. We
lost many gallant officers, among whom were Major McLeod, Captain
Thomas E. Powe, Captain John McIver, and others." The move to the
right was to let Wofford in between Barksdale and Kershaw.
Barksdale was pressing up the gorge that lay between little Round
Top and the ridge, was making successful battle and in all likelihood
would have succeeded had it not been for General Warren. General
Meade's Chief Engineer being on the ground and seeing the danger,
grasped the situation at once, called up all the available force and
lined the stone walls that led along the gorge with infantry. Brigade
after brigade of Federal infantry was now rushed to this citadel,
while the crown of little Round Top was literally covered with
artillery. Ayer's Regulars were found to be a stubborn set by
Kershaw's troops. The Federal volunteers on our right and left gave
way to Southern valor, but the regulars stood firm, protected as they
were by the great boulders along their lines. Barksdale had passed
beyond us as the enemy's line bent backward at this point, and was
receiving the whole shock of battle in his front, while a terrific
fire was coming from down the gorge and from behind hedges on the
hillside. But the Mississippians held on like grim death till Wofford,
with his Georgians, who was moving in majestic style across the open
field in the rear, came to his support.
General Wofford was a splendid officer, and equally as hard a fighter.
He advanced his brigade through the deadly hail of bullets and took
position on Bardsdale's right and Kershaw's left, and soon the roar
of his guns were mingling with those of their comrades. The whole
division was now in action. The enemy began to give way and scamper up
the hillside. But Meade, by this time, had the bulk of his army around
and in rear of the Round Top, and fresh troops were continually being
rushed in to take the places of or reinforce those already in action.
Hood's whole force was now also engaged, as well as a part of A.P.
Hill's on our left. The smoke became so dense, the noise of small arms
and the tumult raised by the "Rebel Yell," so great that the voices of
officers attempting to give commands were hushed in the pandemonium.
Along to the right of the 3d, especially up the little ravine, the
fire was concentrated on those who held this position and was terrific
beyond description, forcing a part of the line back to the stone
house. This fearful shock of battle was kept up along the whole line
without intermission till night threw her sable curtains over the
scene of carnage and bloodshed and put an end to the strife. Wofford
and Barksdale had none to reinforce them at the gorge, and had to
fight it out single-handed and alone, while the Regulars, with
their backs to the base of little Round Top, protected by natural
formations, were too strong to be dislodged by Kershaw. As soon as the
firing ceased the troops were withdrawn to near our position of the
forenoon.
The work of gathering up the wounded lasted till late at night.
Our loss in regimental and line officers was very great. Scarcely a
regiment but what had lost one of its staff, nor a company some of its
officers. Dr. Salmond, the Brigade Surgeon, came early upon the field
and directed in person the movements of his assistants in their work
of gathering up the wounded. "The dead were left to take care of the
dead" until next day.
When the brigade was near the woodland in its advance, a most deadly
fire was directed towards the center of the 3d both by the battery to
our left, and sharpshooting in the front. It was thought by some that
it was our flag that was drawing the fire, four color guards having
gone down, some one called out "Lower the colors, down with the flag."
Sergeant Lamb, color bearer, waved the flag aloft, and moving to the
front where all could see, called out in loud tones, "This flag never
goes down until I am down."
Then the word went up and down the line "Shoot that officer, down him,
shoot him," but still he continued to give those commands, "Ready,
aim, fire," and the grape shot would come plunging into our very
faces. The sharpshooters, who had joined our ranks, as we advanced,
now commenced to blaze away, and the cannoneers scattered to cover in
the rear. This officer finding himself deserted by his men, waved his
sword defiantly over his head and walked away as deliberately as on
dress parade, while the sharpshooters were plowing up the dirt all
around him, but all failed to bring him down. We bivouaced during the
night just in rear of the battle ground.
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