prematurely, and that neither Lee nor Longstreet intended that it should
have begun that day. I also think that their plans were deranged by the
events of the first.
* * * * *
_2d July_ (Thursday).--We all got up at 3.30 A.M., and breakfasted a
little before daylight. Lawley insisted on riding, notwithstanding his
illness. Captain ---- and I were in a dilemma for horses; but I was
accommodated by Major Clark (of this Staff), whilst the stout Austrian
was mounted by Major Walton. The Austrian, in spite of the early hour,
had shaved his cheeks and _ciréd_ his mustaches as beautifully as if he
was on parade at Vienna.
Colonel Sorrell, the Austrian, and I arrived at 5 A.M. at the same
commanding position we were on yesterday, and I climbed up a tree in
company with Captain Schreibert of the Prussian army. Just below us were
seated Generals Lee, Hill, Longstreet, and Hood, in consultation--the
two latter assisting their deliberations by the truly American custom of
_whittling_ sticks. General Heth was also present; he was wounded in the
head yesterday, and although not allowed to command his brigade, he
insists upon coming to the field.
At 7 A.M. I rode over part of the ground with General Longstreet, and
saw him disposing M'Laws's division for to-day's fight. The enemy
occupied a series of high ridges, the tops of which were covered with
trees, but the intervening valleys between their ridges and ours were
mostly open, and partly under cultivation. The cemetery was on their
right, and their left appeared to rest upon a high rocky hill. The
enemy's forces, which were now supposed to comprise nearly the whole
Potomac army, were concentrated into a space apparently not more than a
couple of miles in length. The Confederates enclosed them in a sort of
semicircle, and the extreme extent of our position must have been from
five to six miles at least. Ewell was on our left; his headquarters in a
church (with a high cupola) at Gettysburg; Hill in the centre; and
Longstreet on the right. Our ridges were also covered with pine-woods at
the tops, and generally on the rear slopes. The artillery of both sides
confronted each other at the edges of these belts of trees, the troops
being completely hidden. The enemy was evidently intrenched, but the
Southerns had not broken ground at all. A dead silence reigned till 4.45
P.M., and no one would have imagined that such masses of men and such a
powerful artillery were about to commence the work of destruction at
that hour.
Only two divisions of Longstreet were present to-day--viz., M'Laws's and
Hood's--Pickett being still in the rear. As the whole morning was
evidently to be occupied in disposing the troops for the attack, I rode
to the extreme right with Colonel Manning and Major Walton, where we ate
quantities of cherries, and got a feed of corn for our horses. We also
bathed in a small stream, but not without some trepidation on my part,
for we were almost beyond the lines, and were exposed to the enemy's
cavalry.
At 1 P.M. I met a quantity of Yankee prisoners who had been picked up
straggling. They told me they belonged to Sickles's corps (3d, I think),
and had arrived from Emmetsburg during the night. About this time
skirmishing began along part of the line, but not heavily.
At 2 P.M. General Longstreet advised me, if I wished to have a good
view of the battle, to return to my tree of yesterday. I did so, and
remained there with Lawley and Captain Schreibert during the rest of the
afternoon. But until 4.45 P.M. all was profoundly still, and we began to
doubt whether a fight was coming off to-day at all. At that time,
however, Longstreet suddenly commenced a heavy cannonade on the right.
Ewell immediately took it up on the left. The enemy replied with at
least equal fury, and in a few moments the firing along the whole line
was as heavy as it is possible to conceive. A dense smoke arose for six
miles; there was little wind to drive it away, and the air seemed full
of shells--each of which appeared to have a different style of going,
and to make a different noise from the others. The ordnance on both
sides is of a very varied description. Every now and then a caisson
would blow up--if a Federal one, a Confederate yell would immediately
follow. The Southern troops, when charging, or to express their delight,
always yell in a manner peculiar to themselves. The Yankee cheer is much
more like ours; but the Confederate officers declare that the rebel yell
has a particular merit, and always produces a salutary and useful effect
upon their adversaries. A corps is sometimes spoken of as a "good
yelling regiment."
So soon as the firing began, General Lee joined Hill just below our
tree, and he remained there nearly all the time, looking through his
field-glass--sometimes talking to Hill and sometimes to Colonel Long of
his Staff. But generally he sat quite alone on the stump of a tree. What
I remarked especially was, that during the whole time the firing
continued, he only sent one message, and only received one report. It is
evidently his system to arrange the plan thoroughly with the three corps
commanders, and then leave to them the duty of modifying and carrying it
out to the best of their abilities.
When the cannonade was at its height, a Confederate band of music,
between the cemetery and ourselves, began to play polkas and waltzes,
which sounded very curious, accompanied by the hissing and bursting of
the shells.
At 5.45 all became comparatively quiet on our left and in the cemetery;
but volleys of musketry on the right told us that Longstreet's infantry
were advancing, and the onward progress of the smoke showed that he was
progressing favourably; but about 6.30 there seemed to be a check, and
even a slight retrograde movement. Soon after 7 General Lee got a report
by signal from Longstreet to say "_we are doing well_." A little before
dark the firing dropped off in every direction, and soon ceased
altogether. We then received intelligence that Longstreet had carried
everything before him for some time, capturing several batteries, and
driving the enemy from his positions; but when Hill's Florida Brigade
and some other troops gave way, he was forced to abandon a small portion
of the ground he had won, together with all the captured guns, except
three. His troops, however, bivouacked during the night on ground
occupied by the enemy this morning.
Every one deplores that Longstreet _will_ expose himself in such a
reckless manner. To-day he led a Georgian regiment in a charge against a
battery, hat in hand, and in front of everybody. General Barksdale was
killed and Semmes mortally wounded; but the most serious loss was that
of General Hood, who was badly wounded in the arm early in the day. I
heard that his Texans are in despair. Lawley and I rode back to the
General's camp, which had been moved to within a mile of the scene of
action. Longstreet, however, with most of his Staff, bivouacked on the
field.
Major Fairfax arrived at about 10 P.M. in a very bad humour. He had
under his charge about 1000 to 1500 Yankee prisoners who had been taken
to-day; among them a general, whom I heard one of his men accusing of
having been "so G----d d----d drunk that he had turned his guns upon his
own men." But, on the other hand, the accuser was such a thundering
blackguard, and proposed taking such a variety of oaths in order to
escape from the U.S. army, that he is not worthy of much credit. A large
train of horses and mules, &c., arrived to-day, sent in by General
Stuart, and captured, it is understood, by his cavalry, which had
penetrated to within six miles of Washington.
* * * * *
_3d July_ (Friday).--At 6 A.M. I rode to the field with Colonel Manning,
and went over that portion of the ground which, after a fierce contest,
had been won from the enemy yesterday evening. The dead were being
buried, but great numbers were still lying about; also many mortally
wounded, for whom nothing could be done. Amongst the latter were a
number of Yankees dressed in bad imitations of the Zouave costume. They
opened their glazed eyes as I rode past in a painfully imploring manner.
We joined Generals Lee and Longstreet's Staff; they were reconnoitring
and making preparations for renewing the attack. As we formed a pretty
large party, we often drew upon ourselves the attention of the hostile
sharpshooters, and were two or three times favoured with a shell. One of
these shells set a brick building on fire which was situated between the
lines. This building was filled with wounded, principally Yankees, who,
I am afraid, must have perished miserably in the flames. Colonel Sorrell
had been slightly wounded yesterday, but still did duty. Major Walton's
horse was killed, but there were no other casualties amongst my
particular friends.
The plan of yesterday's attack seems to have been very simple--first a
heavy cannonade all along the line, followed by an advance of
Longstreet's two divisions and part of Hill's corps. In consequence of
the enemy's having been driven back some distance, Longstreet's corps
(part of it) was in a much more forward situation than yesterday. But
the range of heights to be gained was still most formidable, and
evidently strongly intrenched.
The distance between the Confederate guns and the Yankee
position--_i.e._, between the woods crowning the opposite ridges--was at
least a mile,--quite open, gently undulating, and exposed to artillery
the whole distance. This was the ground which had to be crossed in
to-day's attack. Pickett's division, which had just come up, was to bear
the brunt in Longstreet's attack, together with Heth and Pettigrew in
Hill's corps. Pickett's division was a weak one (under 5000), owing to
the absence of two brigades.
At noon all Longstreet's dispositions were made; his troops for attack
were deployed into line, and lying down in the woods; his batteries were
ready to open. The General then dismounted and went to sleep for a short
time. The Austrian officer and I now rode off to get, if possible, into
some commanding position from whence we could see the whole thing
without being exposed to the tremendous fire which was about to
commence. After riding about for half an hour without being able to
discover so desirable a situation, we determined to make for the cupola,
near Gettysburg, Ewell's headquarters. Just before we reached the
entrance to the town, the cannonade opened with a fury which surpassed
even that of yesterday.
Soon after passing through the toll-gate at the entrance of
Gettysburg, we found that we had got into a heavy cross-fire; shells
both Federal and Confederate passing over our heads with great
frequency. At length two shrapnel shells burst quite close to us, and a
ball from one of them hit the officer who was conducting us. We then
turned round and changed our views with regard to the cupola--the fire
of one side being bad enough, but preferable to that of both sides. A
small boy of twelve years was riding with us at the time: this urchin
took a diabolical interest in the bursting of the shells, and screamed
with delight when he saw them take effect. I never saw this boy again,
or found out who he was. The road at Gettysburg was lined with Yankee
dead, and as they had been killed on the 1st, the poor fellows had
already begun to be very offensive. We then returned to the hill I was
on yesterday. But finding that, to see the actual fighting, it was
absolutely necessary to go into the thick of the thing, I determined to
make my way to General Longstreet. It was then about 2.30. After passing
General Lee and his Staff, I rode on through the woods in the direction
in which I had left Longstreet. I soon began to meet many wounded men
returning from the front; many of them asked in piteous tones the way to
a doctor or an ambulance. The further I got, the greater became the
number of the wounded. At last I came to a perfect stream of them
flocking through the woods in numbers as great as the crowd in Oxford
Street in the middle of the day. Some were walking alone on crutches
composed of two rifles, others were supported by men less badly wounded
than themselves, and others were carried on stretchers by the ambulance
corps; but in no case did I see a sound man helping the wounded to the
rear, unless he carried the red badge of the ambulance corps. They were
still under a heavy fire; the shells were continually bringing down
great limbs of trees, and carrying further destruction amongst this
melancholy procession. I saw all this in much less time than it takes to
write it, and although astonished to meet such vast numbers of wounded,
I had not seen _enough_ to give me any idea of the real extent of the
mischief.
When I got close up to General Longstreet, I saw one of his regiments
advancing through the woods in good order; so, thinking I was just in
time to see the attack, I remarked to the General that "_I wouldn't have
missed this for anything_." Longstreet was seated at the top of a snake
fence at the edge of the wood, and looking perfectly calm and
imperturbed. He replied, laughing, "_The devil you wouldn't! I would
like to have missed it very much; we've attacked and been repulsed: look
there!_"
For the first time I then had a view of the open space between the two
positions, and saw it covered with Confederates slowly and sulkily
returning towards us in small broken parties, under a heavy fire of
artillery. But the fire where we were was not so bad as further to the
rear; for although the air seemed alive with shell, yet the greater
number burst behind us.
The General told me that Pickett's division had succeeded in carrying
the enemy's position and capturing his guns, but after remaining there
twenty minutes, it had been forced to retire, on the retreat of Heth and
Pettigrew on its left. No person could have been more calm or
self-possessed than General Longstreet under these trying circumstances,
aggravated as they now were by the movements of the enemy, who began to
show a strong disposition to advance. I could now thoroughly appreciate
the term bulldog, which I had heard applied to him by the soldiers.
Difficulties seem to make no other impression upon him than to make him
a little more savage.
Major Walton was the only officer with him when I came up--all the rest
had been put into the charge. In a few minutes Major Latrobe arrived on
foot, carrying his saddle, having just had his horse killed. Colonel
Sorrell was also in the same predicament, and Captain Goree's horse was
wounded in the mouth.
The General was making the best arrangements in his power to resist the
threatened advance, by advancing some artillery, rallying the
stragglers, &c. I remember seeing a General (Pettigrew, I think it
was)[60] come up to him, and report that "he was unable to bring his men
up again." Longstreet turned upon him and replied with some sarcasm,
"_Very well; never mind, then, General; just let them remain where they
are: the enemy's going to advance, and will spare you the trouble._"
He asked for something to drink: I gave him some rum out of my silver
flask, which I begged he would keep in remembrance of the occasion; he
smiled, and, to my great satisfaction, accepted the memorial. He then
went off to give some orders to M'Laws's division. Soon afterwards I
joined General Lee, who had in the meanwhile come to that part of the
field on becoming aware of the disaster. If Longstreet's conduct was
admirable, that of General Lee was perfectly sublime. He was engaged in
rallying and in encouraging the broken troops, and was riding about a
little in front of the wood, quite alone--the whole of his Staff being
engaged in a similar manner further to the rear. His face, which is
always placid and cheerful, did not show signs of the slightest
disappointment, care, or annoyance; and he was addressing to every
soldier he met a few words of encouragement, such as, "All this will
come right in the end: we'll talk it over afterwards; but, in the mean
time, all good men must rally. We want all good and true men just now,"
&c. He spoke to all the wounded men that passed him, and the slightly
wounded he exhorted "to bind up their hurts and take up a musket" in
this emergency. Very few failed to answer his appeal, and I saw many
badly wounded men take off their hats and cheer him. He said to me,
"This has been a sad day for us, Colonel--a sad day; but we can't expect
always to gain victories." He was also kind enough to advise me to get
into some more sheltered position, as the shells were bursting round us
with considerable frequency.
Notwithstanding the misfortune which had so suddenly befallen him,
General Lee seemed to observe everything, however trivial. When a
mounted officer began licking his horse for shying at the bursting of a
shell, he called out, "Don't whip him, Captain; don't whip him. I've got
just such another foolish horse myself, and whipping does no good."
I happened to see a man lying flat on his face in a small ditch, and I
remarked that I didn't think he seemed dead; this drew General Lee's
attention to the man, who commenced groaning dismally. Finding appeals
to his patriotism of no avail, General Lee had him ignominiously set on
his legs by some neighbouring gunners.
I saw General Willcox (an officer who wears a short round jacket and a
battered straw hat) come up to him, and explain; almost crying, the
state of his brigade. General Lee immediately shook hands with him and
said, cheerfully, "Never mind, General, _all this has been_ MY
_fault_--it is _I_ that have lost this fight, and you must help me out
of it in the best way you can." In this manner I saw General Lee
encourage and reanimate his somewhat dispirited troops, and
magnanimously take upon his own shoulders the whole weight of the
repulse. It was impossible to look at him or to listen to him without
feeling the strongest admiration, and I never saw any man fail him
except the man in the ditch.
It is difficult to exaggerate the critical state of affairs as they
appeared about this time. If the enemy or their general had shown any
enterprise, there is no saying what might have happened. General Lee and
his officers were evidently fully impressed with a sense of the
situation; yet there was much less noise, fuss, or confusion of orders
than at an ordinary field-day: the men, as they were rallied in the
wood, were brought up in detachments, and lay down quietly and coolly in
the positions assigned to them.
We heard that Generals Garnett and Armistead were killed, and General
Kemper mortally wounded; also, that Pickett's division had only one
field-officer unhurt. Nearly all this slaughter took place in an open
space about one mile square, and within one hour.
At 6 P.M. we heard a long and continuous Yankee cheer, which we at
first imagined was an indication of an advance; but it turned out to be
their reception of a general officer, whom we saw riding down the line,
followed by about thirty horsemen. Soon afterwards I rode to the extreme
front, where there were four pieces of rifled cannon almost without any
infantry support. To the non-withdrawal of these guns is to be
attributed the otherwise surprising inactivity of the enemy. I was
immediately surrounded by a sergeant and about half-a-dozen gunners, who
seemed in excellent spirits and full of confidence, in spite of their
exposed situation. The sergeant expressed his ardent hope that the
Yankees might have spirit enough to advance and receive the dose he had
in readiness for them. They spoke in admiration of the advance of
Pickett's division, and of the manner in which Pickett himself had led
it. When they observed General Lee they said, "We've not lost confidence
in the old man: this day's work won't do him no harm. 'Uncle Robert'
will get us into Washington yet; you bet he will?" &c. Whilst we were
talking, the enemy's skirmishers began to advance slowly, and several
ominous sounds in quick succession told us that we were attracting their
attention, and that it was necessary to break up the conclave. I
therefore turned round and took leave of these cheery and plucky
gunners.
At 7 P.M., General Lee received a report that Johnson's division of
Ewell's corps had been successful on the left, and had gained important
advantages there. Firing entirely ceased in our front about this time;
but we now heard some brisk musketry on our right, which I afterwards
learned proceeded from Hood's Texans, who had managed to surround some
enterprising Yankee cavalry, and were slaughtering them with great
satisfaction. Only eighteen out of four hundred are said to have
escaped.
At 7.30, all idea of a Yankee attack being over, I rode back to Moses's
tent, and found that worthy commissary in very low spirits, all sorts of
exaggerated rumours having reached him. On my way I met a great many
wounded men, most anxious to inquire after Longstreet, who was reported
killed; when I assured them he was quite well, they seemed to forget
their own pain in the evident pleasure they felt in the safety of their
chief. No words that I can use will adequately express the extraordinary
patience and fortitude with which the wounded Confederates bore their
sufferings.
I got something to eat with the doctors at 10 P.M., the first for
fifteen hours.
I gave up my horse to-day to his owner, as from death and exhaustion the
Staff are almost without horses.
[60] This officer was afterwards killed at the passage of the Potomac.
* * * * *
_4th July_ (Saturday).--I was awoke at daylight by Moses complaining
that his valuable trunk, containing much public money, had been stolen
from our tent whilst we slept. After a search it was found in a wood
hard by, broken open and minus the money. Dr Barksdale had been robbed
in the same manner exactly. This is evidently the work of those rascally
stragglers, who shirk going under fire, plunder the natives, and will
hereafter swagger as the heroes of Gettysburg.
Lawley, the Austrian, and I, walked up to the front about eight o'clock,
and on our way we met General Longstreet, who was in a high state of
amusement and good-humour. A flag of truce had just come over from the
enemy, and its bearer announced among other things that "General
Longstreet was wounded, and a prisoner, but would be taken care of."
General Longstreet sent back word that he was extremely grateful, but
that, being neither wounded nor a prisoner, he was quite able to take
care of himself. The iron endurance of General Longstreet is most
extraordinary: he seems to require neither food nor sleep. Most of his
Staff now fall fast asleep directly they get off their horses, they are
so exhausted from the last three days' work.
Whilst Lawley went to headquarters on business, I sat down and had a
long talk with General Pendleton (the parson), chief of artillery. He
told me the exact number of guns in action yesterday. He said that the
universal opinion is in favour of the 12-pounder Napoleon guns as the
best and simplest sort of ordnance for field purposes.[61] Nearly all
the artillery with this army has either been captured from the enemy or
cast from old 6-pounders taken at the early part of the war.
At 10 A.M. Lawley returned from headquarters, bringing the news that the
army is to commence moving in the direction of Virginia this evening.
This step is imperative from want of ammunition. But it was hoped that
the enemy might attack during the day, especially as this is the 4th
July, and it was calculated that there was still ammunition for one
day's fighting. The ordnance train had already commenced moving back
towards Cashtown, and Ewell's immense train of plunder had been
proceeding towards Hagerstown by the Fairfield road ever since an early
hour this morning.
Johnson's division had evacuated during the night the position it had
gained yesterday. It appears that for a time it was actually in
possession of the cemetery, but had been forced to retire from thence
from want of support by Pender's division, which had been retarded by
that officer's wound. The whole of our left was therefore thrown back
considerably.
At 1 P.M. the rain began to descend in torrents, and we took refuge in
the hovel of an ignorant Pennsylvanian boor. The cottage was full of
soldiers, none of whom had the slightest idea of the contemplated
retreat, and all were talking of Washington and Baltimore with the
greatest confidence.