+--------+--------+---------+---------+---------+--------------+-------+
| | | | | Died of | Died of | |
| Regt. | Killed | Wounded | Missing | Disease | Other Causes | Total |
+--------+--------+---------+---------+---------+--------------+-------+
| 69th | 178 | 346 | 185 | 91 | 15 | 815 |
| 71st | 140 | 396 | 330 | 91 | 6 | 963 |
| 72nd | 195 | 558 | 165 | 60 | 10 | 988 |
| 106th | 99 | 416 | 157 | 81 | 14 | 767 |
+--------+--------+---------+---------+---------+--------------+-------+
| Totals | 612 | 1716 | 837 | 323 | 45 | 3533 |
+--------+--------+---------+---------+---------+--------------+-------+
The total loss in killed, wounded and missing of the Philadelphia Brigade
at Gettysburg was over 32 per cent., about one soldier slain to every
three engaged in the battle. Call you this "running like rabbits?"
The total loss of the Philadelphia Brigade during the Civil War was 3,533,
of which number 545 were killed, wounded and missing at Antietam, the
remaining loss of nearly three thousand was sustained in the 45
engagements in which the Brigade took part, and yet with the evidence of
this loss, furnished by the United States Government and easily accessible
to all, and on file in the library of the Loyal Legion of Massachusetts,
that Order appears to stand sponsor for a "Narrative" which falsely
proclaimed to the world that the brave men of the Philadelphia Brigade
"ran like rabbits" from Pickett's Division at Gettysburg.
What more need be said to convince this Military Order of the Loyal Legion
that from the beginning to the end, the Philadelphia Brigade was just as
loyal, just as brave, just as heroic, as they, our comrades, and with this
statement of facts the Association of Survivors of the Philadelphia
Brigade calls upon the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Commandery of
Massachusetts, and the History Commission of Wisconsin, to retract the
statement made in the volumes published by them during the year 1908, as
to cowardice.
In meeting and repulsing the charge of Pickett's Division at the Bloody
Angle of Gettysburg, the High Water Mark of the Civil War, the
Philadelphia Brigade gained imperishable fame that will live in history as
long as our country will exist as a nation, and that renown is so
irrevocably fixed in the annals of the War that it can never be impaired
while time itself shall last.
Since the foregoing reply was formulated, to the charge of cowardice made
under the auspices of the Loyal Legion of Massachusetts, the Philadelphia
Brigade Association has received a book of 185 pages, entitled "The Battle
of Gettysburg, by Frank Aretas Haskell, Wisconsin History Commission,
Reprint No. 1," an edition of 2,500 copies, printed under authority of the
State of Wisconsin. In printing this book these words appear in the
preface:
"The Wisconsin History Commission has, in accordance with its fixed
policy, reverted to the original edition, which is here presented
entire, exactly as first printed."
And this is what that "History Commission" records on pages 9 and 10
regarding the Eleventh Corps:
"Between three and four o'clock in the afternoon the enemy, now in
overwhelming force, resumed the battle with spirit. The portion of
the Eleventh Corps making but feeble opposition to the advancing
enemy, soon began to fall back. Back in disorganized masses they fled
into the town, hotly pursued, and in lanes, in barns, in yards and
cellars, throwing away their arms, they sought to hide like rabbits,
and were captured, unresisting, by hundreds."
The Loyal Legion of Massachusetts hadn't the courage to print that
paragraph in their book.
These regiments formed the Eleventh Corps at Gettysburg: 17th Conn., 82d
Ill., 33d Mass., 41st, 45th, 54th, 58th, 68th, 75th, 119th, 134th, 136th,
154th and 157th New York; 27th, 73d, 74th and 153d Penna.; 25th, 55th,
61st, 73d, 75th, 82d and 107th Ohio, and 26th Wisconsin. How do the
Survivors of these Regiments regard the statement of the History
Commission of Wisconsin, that "they sought to hide like rabbits?" and that
the loss usually sustained by the Eleventh Corps was in prisoners?
And this is how the great State of Wisconsin, through its History
Commission, maligns General Sickles and President Lincoln, who put upon
General Sickles' shoulders the stars of a Major-General. (Pages 40 and
41.) The Loyal Legion of Massachusetts eliminated the slander against Gen.
Sickles and President Lincoln.
"General Sickles commenced to advance his whole corps, from the
general line, straight to the front, with a view to occupy the second
ridge, along and near the road. What his purpose could have been is
past conjecture. It was not ordered by General Meade, as I heard him
say, and he disapproved as soon as it was made known to him. Generals
Hancock and Gibbon, as they saw the move in progress, criticised its
propriety sharply, as I know, and foretold quite accurately what
would be the result. I suppose the truth probably is that General
Sickles supposed he was doing for the best; but he was neither born
nor bred a soldier. But one can scarcely tell what may have been the
motives of such a man, a politician, and some other things, exclusive
of the BARTON KEY affair, a man after show and notoriety, and
newspaper fame, and the adulation of the mob, there is a grave
responsibility on those in whose hands are the lives of ten thousand
men; AND ON THOSE WHO PUT STARS ON MEN'S SHOULDERS, TOO! Bah! I
kindle when I see some things I have to see.
"It is understood in the Army that the President thanked the slayer
of Barton Key for SAVING THE DAY at Gettysburg. Does the country know
any better than the President that Meade, Hancock and Gibbon were
entitled to some little share of such credit?"
It is inconceivable that the great State of Wisconsin would in any way
lend herself to the dissemination of what is not only untrustworthy, but
absolutely scandalous, malevolent and false information, except it was
done in ignorance of facts. It is still more inconceivable that the Loyal
Legion of Massachusetts, soldiers themselves, would act as sponsors or in
any way help, aid or assist in depriving fellow soldiers of the honors
fairly and bravely won in a battle where their loss was 491 of a total of
less than 1,500 men, except they had given no heed to the statements
before publication.
We believe that the State of Wisconsin and the Loyal Legion of
Massachusetts can do no less as American citizens and soldiers than to
promptly disclaim all responsibility for the statements set forth in
Lieut. Haskell's book. For however good Haskell's record as a soldier is,
yet the fact must clearly appear to every intelligent mind that a man who
would speak falsely of his superior officers and even go so far--at least
in one case (Sickles)--as to bring to life out of the long dead past, a
sad, sad epoch, which was no fault of his--displays in such writing a
spirit unworthy of any American; and his self laudation of what he
did--would cause anyone who was ever on a field of battle to use one of
Haskell's expressions, "Bah."
A refusal to make this public disclaimer we feel would place both the
State of Wisconsin and Loyal Legion of Massachusetts in a position which,
to say it very mildly, would be the reverse of creditable, and put them in
the attitude of sharing the ridicule and contempt which the narrative of
Lieutenant Haskell deserves.