| On July 3, 1863, the fighting at Gettysburg began where it had ended
the previous night, on Culp's Hill. At 4:30 in the morning, Union
artillery open fire on General Johnson's artillery and infantry as they
prepared for another attack on the Union positions. The effect was
devastating, but the Confederates attacked anyway, with little success.
The Union position proved to be just too strong, and fighting on Culp's
Hill ended with the withdrawal of Johnson's Division, badly mauled.
With the Confederate left unable to turn the Union right, General Lee
had to come up with a new plan. The plan he devised was a frontal
assault against Meade's center, focusing on a copse of trees near a
stonewall at Cemetery Ridge defended by Gibbon's and Hay's divisions of
Hancock's II Corps. This attack would become known as Pickett's
Charge. (In reality, it was the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Charge.)
Pickett's Division, which had just arrived on the field, would
make up the center of the charge. On his left would be Heth's
Division (commanded by Pettigrew because Heth has suffered a severe would
on the 1st day of battle), and on Pickett's right would be two brigades
(Anderson's and Wilcox's) from Anderson's Division.
The terrain to be traversed was open fields hundreds of yards
long. The men attacking would be exposed for virtually the entire
advance. Defending the attack would be Hancock's II Corps, which had
seen some action the previous couple of days, but were still relatively
fresh. The Confederates hoped that an artillery barrage would weaken
the defenders by the time the infantry made it to the wall.
The Confederates massed 140 guns for their artillery barrage,
stretching from Oak Hill on the northern end to the Peach Orchard, some
two miles to the south. At 1:07, the barrage began. Union artillery
responded in kind. The Confederate artillery had little effect on
the defenders, as their aim was too high. Smoke covered the field,
and the Confederates never realized they were off target. The Union
artillery however, proved much more effective, killing hundreds of
Confederates as they prepared to launch their final assault.
About 3:00 PM, the cannons ceased their fire and a silence fell
over the field. Pickett' breeze bands began play. They marched
down Seminary Ridge, across open fields toward Road waiting Union
soldiers. Confederate parade reached Emmitsburg Road, two fences
that had be crossed. As they crossed fences, exposed themselves to
Federal Artillery, which took advantage and poured a devastating fire into
advancing ranks. But on came the
As they neared ever closer, Pickett's men
straightened their lines just at the Union artillery changed from shot to
canister. The Confederates charged, but the fire from the defending
Union infantry and artillery proved too much and the attack began to
waver. But still they came, pushing forward to their target-the
copse of trees.
Behind the copse of trees ran a stonewall, and as the
Confederates approached, the Union soldiers, 4-5 ranks deep, unleashed a
continuous and devastating fire. But the Confederates still pushed
forward, hitting the wall and engaging in hand-to-hand combat. With
the support of Armistead's, Perrin's, and Lane's brigades, the
Confederates breached the wall. But it was not enough. The
Federals rallied and hit the Confederates hard, mortally wounding
Armistead in the process. The Union line held, and Pickett's charge
came to a crushing halt.
Pickett's gallant men (what was left of them) retreated---the
division virtually destroyed. Lee ordered Pickett to reform his men
for another assault, but neither he nor his men had any fight left.
The day was over and the battle lost.
On the other side, jubilation swept the Union lines. For
the first time in the war, the Army of the Potomac defeated Lee and the
Army of Northern Virginia. They had stopped Lee's invasion of the
north and held their own against him on the battlefield.
As the day ended and night fell, Lee ordered his men to prepared
for a counter attack. They spent July 4th waiting, but Meade stayed
put. After three days of fighting, Meade's men were in no condition
to go on the offensive. Seeing that Meade would not attack him, Lee
set his army in motion, heading for home. Rains had swollen the
Potomac, and Lee had to wait for it to recede. He still expected an
attack, but none came. However, his rear guard, Heth's Division,
fought a sharp action against the Union troops chasing them, killing
General Pettigrew. By July 13, Lee had his army home.
Meade had stopped Lee's threat to Washington and prevented the
Confederacy from achieving foreign recognition. No Union troops had been
pulled out of the Vicksburg siege as Lee had hoped, and that city fell
into Union hands on July 4, one day after the Battle of Gettysburg came to
a conclusion.
Combined, the two armies suffered over 51,000 men killed, wounded,
missing, and captured. Gettysburg was the costliest battle of
the war and marked the turning point in the East. The Civil War
would still not come to a conclusion for another two years, but the
Confederates, for the most part, would remain on the defensives, while the
Union army, once General Grant takes command later in the year, would
remain primarily on the offensive.
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