As the strength of Lee’s mighty effort at The Angle was ebbing and the
scattered remnants of the charge were seeking shelter, action of a
different kind was taking place on another field not far distant. Early
in the afternoon, Stuart’s cavalry was making its way down the valley of
Cress Run, 3 miles east of Gettysburg. The brigades of Hampton and
Fitzhugh Lee, at the rear of the line of march, momentarily lost the
trail and came out into open ground at the north end of Rummel’s Woods.
Stuart, soon learning of the mistake, attempted to bring them into line
and to proceed southward. But at this point, Gen. D. M. Gregg’s Union
cavalry, in position along the Hanover Road a mile southeast, saw the
Confederates. Gregg prepared at once to attack, and Stuart had no choice
but to fight on this ground. As the two forces moved closer, dismounted
men opened a brisk fire, supported by the accurate shelling of
artillerists.
[Illustration: _Section of the Cyclorama painting of Pickett’s
Charge by Paul Philippoteaux._ Courtesy Times and News Publishing
Company.]
[Illustration: _The General Hospital one mile east of Gettysburg. A
few weeks after the battle the Union and Confederate wounded were
removed to this place from field hospitals in the rear of the battle
lines._ (Brady photograph.)]
Then came the initial cavalry charge and countercharge. The Confederate
Jenkins was forced to withdraw when his small supply of ammunition
became exhausted. Hampton, Fitzhugh Lee, and Chambliss charged again and
again, only to be met with the equally spirited counterattack of
McIntosh. Custer’s Michigan regiments closed in on a flank movement
against the right of the charging Confederate troopers, and Miller’s
squadron of the 3d Pennsylvania, disobeying orders to hold its position,
struck opportunely on the Confederate left. The thrusts of the Union
horsemen, so well coordinated, stopped the onslaught of Stuart’s
troopers. After 3 hours of driving assaults, the Confederates left the
field and retired to the north of Gettysburg. The Union horsemen,
holding their ground, had successfully cut off the prospect of
Confederate cavalry aid in the rear of the Union lines on Cemetery
Ridge.
_End of Invasion_
Lee, as he looked over the desolate field of dead and wounded and the
broken remnants of his once-powerful army still ready for renewed
battle, must have realized that not only was Gettysburg lost, but that
eventually it might all end this way. Meade did not counterattack, as
expected. The following day, July 4, the two armies lay facing each
other, exhausted and torn.
[Illustration: _During the 75th anniversary of the Battle of
Gettysburg, July 1-4, 1938, 1,845 soldiers attended the Federal and
Confederate reunion. Here veterans of the two armies clasp hands
across the stone wall at The Angle._]
Late on the afternoon of July 4, Lee began an orderly retreat. The wagon
train of wounded, 17 miles in length, guarded by Imboden’s cavalry,
started homeward through Greenwood and Greencastle. At night, the
able-bodied men marched over the Hagerstown Road by way of Monterey Pass
to the Potomac. Roads had become nearly impassable from the heavy rains
that day. So well did Stuart cover the retreat that the army reached the
Potomac with comparatively little loss. Meade, realizing that the
Confederate Army was actually retreating and not retiring to the
mountain passes, sent his cavalry and Sedgwick’s corps of infantry in
pursuit and ordered the mountain passes west of Frederick covered. Lee,
having the advantage of the more direct route to the Potomac, reached
the river several days ahead of his pursuers, but heavy rains had
swollen the current and he could not cross. Meade arrived on the night
of July 12 and prepared for a general attack. On the following night,
however, the river receded and Lee crossed safely into Virginia. The
Confederate Army, Meade’s critics said, had been permitted to slip from
the Union grasp.
[Illustration: _The Eternal Light Peace Memorial, dedicated on the
75th anniversary of the battle, commemorates “Peace Eternal in a
Nation United.”_]
_Lincoln and Gettysburg_