At 1 o’clock two guns of Miller’s Battery, posted near the Peach
Orchard, opened fire in rapid succession. It was the signal for the
entire line to let loose their terrific blast. Gunners rushed to their
cannon, and in a few moments the massed batteries shook the countryside.
Firing in salvos and in succession, the air was soon filled with smoke
and heavy dust, which darkened the sky. Union gunners on Cemetery Ridge
waited a few minutes until the positions of the Confederate batteries
were located; then 80 guns, placed it close order, opened fire. For
nearly 2 hours the duel continued, then that Union fire slackened. Hunt
had ordered a partial cessation in order to cool the guns and to replace
broken carriages.
[Illustration: _Panorama of the battlefield from Cemetery Ridge. 1.
General Meade statue. 2. Cemetery Ridge_ (Union position). _3.
Little Round Top. 4. Big Round Top. 5. Devil’s Den. 6. High Water
Mark—farthest advance of Pickett’s Charge. 7. The Wheatfield. 8. The
Angle. 9. The Peach Orchard. 10. Codori Buildings. 11. Field of
Pickett’s Charge. 12. Emmitsburg Road. 13. Seminary Ridge_
(Confederate position). _14. Virginia Memorial._]
Colonel Alexander, in position on the Emmitsburg Road near the Peach
Orchard, could observe the effectiveness of his fire on the Union lines
and also keep the Confederate troops in view. To him, it appeared that
Union artillery fire was weakening. His own supply of ammunition was
running low. Believing this was the time to attack, Alexander sent a
message to Pickett who in turn rode over to Longstreet. General
Longstreet, who had persistently opposed Lee’s plan of sending 15,000
men across the open ground, was now faced with a final decision.
Longstreet merely nodded approval and Pickett saluted, saying, “I am
going to move forward, sir.” He rode back to his men and ordered the
advance. With Kemper on the right, Garnett on the left, and Armistead a
few yards to the rear, the division marched out in brigade front, first
northeastward into the open fields, then eastward toward the Union
lines. As Pickett’s men came into view near the woods, Pettigrew and
Trimble gave the order to advance. The troops of the Carolinas,
Tennessee, and Mississippi, comprising the brigades of Mayo, Davis,
Marshall, and Fry in front, followed closely by Lane and Lowrance, now
moved out to attack. A gap of half a mile between Pickett’s left and
Pettigrew’s right would be closed as the advance progressed. The units
were to converge as they approached the Union lines so that the final
stage of the charge would present a solid front.