USA > Pennsylvania > History of the One hundred & sixth regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, 2d brigade, 2d division, 2d corps, 1861-1865 > Part 18
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At 6 o'clock our Division, now commanded by General Gibbon -as General Hancock had resumed command of the Corps- was put in position on Granite Ridge, as it was then called, now known as East Cemetery Ridge, on the left of the Third Division of our Corps, commanded by General Alexander Hays, with the First Division, under General Caldwell, on our left. Our Bri- gade was placed on the right of the Division, the Third Brigade under Hall, on our left, and the First Brigade under Harrow, in reserve. Cushing's Battery, Fourth U. S. Artillery was on our right, and Battery B, First Rhode Island, commanded by Lieuten- ant Brown, on our left ; the Sixty-Ninth Regiment was advanced over the crest of the hill to a fence, or low stone-wall, about fifty yards in front of the Battery, and the other Regiments back under cover of the hill. The One Hundred and Sixth Regiment, com- manded by Lieutenant-Colonel William L. Curry, was in reserve as above stated, under cover of the hill, and Companies A and B were detailed as skirmishers, and were advanced beyond the Emmitsburg road-Company A deployed and Company B in reserve.
During the morning General Meade rode up to our position and in conversation desired to know the position and strength of the enemy in our front. General Webb quickly volunteered to advance his Brigade and ascertain; this General Meade refused, as the . movement of so large a force might bring on an engagement, for which he was not fully prepared, and directed him to send that company, indicating the company in reserve, on the picket line. Gerferal Webb sent word to Captain John J. Sperry of Company A, commanding the Brigade picket line, to advance the Company, then lying in reserve, on the picket line west of the Emmitsburg road, and uncover the enemy. This was Company B of the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania, commanded by Captain James C. Lynch. He advancing due west, crossed two fields,
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a sunken road, and into the third, a triangular field with a wood extending on the south side. In this wood he met the enemy in force, then gradually withdrew back within our picket line, and reported to General Webb.
In the meantime the Third Corps, under Sickles, was moved into position on the left of our Corps, to occupy the ground be- tween us and Round Top and prolong our line. Finding this ground much lower and affording an opportunity for the enemy to occupy a crest at the Emmitsburg road and command his posi- tion, General Sickles, on his own responsibility, advanced his Corps down to the Emmitsburg road, and retired his left until it reached the foot of Little Round Top; thus, as he thought, ful- filling General Meade's orders to join Hancock's left and let his left extend to Round Top. This was beyond doubt a grave error, as the subsequent events proved, and especially was it an error to form his lines at right angles, so that the enemy advancing from either direction would enfilade his line, and a battery firing upon the front of either line would rake the flank of the other.
The movement of this Corps into their position was a beauti- ful sight to those upon the crest of Cemetery Ridge. The writer was in such a position as to have a fine view, and never will he forget the grandeur of that movement and the fierce conflict that subsequently followed. Before these troops were in position the enemy were advancing to attack them. General Birney directed one of his batteries to open upon their moving column; this was immediately replied to by their battery on the extreme left, and the battle may be said to have commenced, for as each battery opened it uncovered another on the opposite side, and so on until nearly two hundred and sixty pieces were belching forth their storm of shot and shell, making the earth fairly tremble with their thunder and roar, their deadly missiles flying and exploding in every direction, being principally directed upon Sickles' lines. Their infantry then swept down upon Sickles' forces, especially against his left, his whole line fighting in open fields without any defences, contesting with a valor that was unsurpassed, yet forced to yield. Line after line was crushed by the flank and direct assault ; rallying again in the new position, and in turn assaulting the enemy, only to be again repulsed, until finally driven from the
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centre position. The contest sweeping around until reaching the foot of Little Round Top, contesting for the possession of that hill, each side at different times gaining and losing ground, be- ginning at Sherfy's peach orchard, on the Emmitsburg road, back through the wheatfield into that place now so well known as Devil's Den, the enemy advancing to the foot of Little Round Top, then around its left between it and Big Round Top, where they were beaten back by Vincent's Brigade that was detached by General Warren from Barnes' Division of Sykes' Corps, while on its way to support Sickles, and had just been placed in position , on Little Round Top. Caldwell's Division of our Corps that was sent to support Birney's left, became heavily engaged ; at first driving the enemy back through the wheatfield and into the woods beyond, then were forced back again over that wheatfield, until a charge of Crawford's Division of Pennsylvania Reserves finally drove the enemy back and ended the contest there. Humphreys' Division, Sickles' right, was likewise beaten back from their posi- tion on the Emmitsburg road. This took the support from our left, and the Second Division of the First Corps, under General Doubleday, was ordered forward.
In the meantime the Eighty-Second New York and the Fifteenth Massachusetts, of our Division, were advanced to the Emmits- burg road, to occupy the position vacated by Humphreys, and Brown's Battery, from the left of our Brigade, was advanced to a position in front of the Sixty-Ninth Pennsylvania to cover Sickles' right flank.
As the enemy under Hill was threatening our front, Posey's Mississippi Brigade had been advanced to the Bliss House, a little to the right of our Brigade skirmish line, west of the Emmits- burg road, and had dislodged the First Delaware Regiment that had been occupying it ; this Regiment fell back with the exception of one company commanded by Captain Sparks, who contested for that ground but was finally compelled to give way, thus ex- posing the right flank of our line of skirmishers, being Company A of the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania, commanded by Lieutenant Schwartz, as Captain Sperry was in command of the Brigade skirmishers. Lieutenant Schwartz and Lieutenant Casey were both wounded and the company was falling back. Captain
BRIGADIER-GENERAL JAMES C. LYNCH.
June 21, 1864.
Aug. 17, 1861. As Second Lieutenant, Company A. Promoted to First Lieutenant, Jan. 31, 1862. Promoted to Captain, Company B, Jan. 4. 1863. Promoted to Colonel, 183d Reg., Pa. Vols., June 21, 1864. Wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863. Wounded at Bristoe Station, Va., Oct. 14, 1863.
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Lynch left his company, which was in reserve, and went forward to ascertain the cause of the line giving way, and finding the enemy in possession of the house and pouring a flank fire upon our line of skirmishers reported to Captain Sperry that the Bliss House would have to be retaken or our line retired, who directed him to take his company and retake the house. Captain Lynch, thinking there was but a small force, advanced with his company only to find the whole Sixteenth Mississippi Regiment there, who allowed him to advance very close to them and then demanded his surrender ; being refused they opened on him and drove him back with a loss of Lieutenant Smith and eleven men. Taking up his position behind the fence he sent back for reinforcements, and General Hays, in whose front the house was located, seeing the efforts made to retake the house, sent four companies of the Twelfth New Jersey of his Division, and when they arrived Captain Lynch advanced with them, and together they captured the houseand barn and over one hundred prisoners of the Sixteenth Mississippi Regiment. This was a very important movement, as it checked the advance of Posey's Brigade, which advance was to be the signal for the troops on his left to advance. Captain Lynch then returned with his company to the Brigade skirmish line, and became engaged with the enemy's skirmishers in his front. Soon after both companies having expended all their ammunition sent back for a fresh supply, but was informed by General Webb that the line would soon be relieved, so it was not necessary to send out any ammunition. It was at this time that Wright's Georgia Brigade prolonging the line with Wilcox's Brigade, of Anderson's Division, that had driven Humphreys back, broke through our line, charged past the guns of Brown's Rhode Island Battery, that had been advanced to a position in front of that held by the Sixty-Ninth Pennsylvania, and almost reached the line held by that regiment and Hall's Third Brigade, who were pouring volley after volley into them as they advanced. General Han- cock, riding up and seeing the necessity of immediate action, orders forward the Seventy-Second and One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania Regiments. Colonel Curry with the One Hundred and Sixth advanced to the crest of the hill and finding the enemy within sixty yards he opened fire, and after several volleys, seeing
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the enemy waver, he ordered a charge, and with a cheer the One Hundred and Sixth rushed over the fence upon the enemy, cap- turing about twenty prisoners, sent them to the rear, and continu- ing drove the rest back beyond the Emmitsburg road, recapturing the guns of Brown's Battery, which they had attempted to turn on our Brigade; these Colonel Curry sent to the rear by hand. It was at this time that Companies A and B were going to the rear for ammunition and passed the Regiment at these guns. Just previous to the charge of Wright, about twenty men of our Regi- ment under Corporal Chas. A. Rubright of Company F, were sent forward by General Webb as pioneers to cut down some small trees that grew around a large hole or deep indentation in the ground, and masked the fire of our men. They had not completed their work, when Wright's men came upon them and made them prisoners, but the charge of the Regiment prevented them taking them away, and our men turned on their captors and made them prisoners, but not without resistance, which compelled them to kill some of them with their axes, and they brought in the rest as their prisoners. The Seventy-Second, instead of advancing with the One Hundred and Sixth, moved down the line to the left towards Round Top, parallel with the Emmitsburg road, and finding the enemy had retired, they returned to their position with the Brigade. Alluding to this charge General Doubleday says :
But Wright actually reached the crest with his Georgians and turned a gun, whose cannoneers had been shot, upon Webb's Bri- gade of the Second Corps. Webb gave them two staggering volleys from behind a fence, and went forward with two regiments. He charged, regained the lost piece and turned it upon them.
The only difference being that there were three guns of the battery, and they were sent to the rear at once, and while two regi- ments went forward "but one regiment", the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania, was the only regiment that charged Wright's Brigade and drove them back beyond the Emmitsburg road, as the Seventy-Second Pennsylvania's advance was to the left, to- wards Sickles' left, and not towards the Emmitsburg road.
Had Posey's Brigade not been checked at the Bliss House, he would have been supporting Wright; this would have advanced
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Pender's Division, and they might not have been so easily re- pulsed, so the importance of Captain Lynch's Company charging the Bliss House can now be appreciated ; had he not done so, the Twelfth New Jersey would not have been sent out there, and Posey would have continued his advance, followed by Pender and enveloped the whole of Hays' front.
When the One Hundred and Sixth neared the Emmitsburg road they found a large force in rear of a large frame barn and brick house known as the "Codori House", from which an officer soon appeared, waving a handkerchief as a flag of truce. Captain Ford, of Company I, called Colonel Curry's attention to it; and he directed him to take his company to meet it. The Captain faced his company to the right and, marching by the flank with an old newspaper fixed on the bayonet of one of his men, advanced to the house and was met by Captain Snead, of the Forty-Eighth Georgia Regiment of Wright's Brigade, who informed him that their commanding officer, Colonel William Gibson, was danger- ously wounded and would die for want of attention; and they desired to have him brought within our lines for treatment ; that nearly the whole regiment stood by him. Captain Ford informed him they would be glad to give the Colonel the attention he re- quired, and demanded their instant surrender ; and requested the officers to give up their swords. This Captain Snead very much objected to do, and wished to be allowed to return with his men to their lines; saying they only wanted to have their Colonel attended to, and ought not to be made prisoners. Captain Ford insisted upon immediate compliance with his request and received from the officers their swords, and sent them and all the men, over two hundred, to the rear, as prisoners of war ; and came back with both arms full of their swords, which he turned over to Colonel Curry, there being, besides the Colonel, five Captains, fifteen Lieutenants and about two hundred and fifty men. The Regiment had continued their advance into the Emmitsburg road. and Lieutenant Rose, of Company H, with some men, crossed the road and took possession of four Parrott guns abandoned by the enemy, but, having no way of bringing them off the field, was compelled to leave them. Colonel Curry, finding himself far in advance of our line with no support on his left, and but a remnant
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of the Eighty-Second New York on his right, returned to his posi- tion with the Brigade. General Webb was informed of the con- dition of Colonel Gibson, and he had him sent by ambulance to our hospital for treatment, which he subsequently received at the hands of Surgeon Dwinelle of the One Hundred and Sixth Penn- sylvania. Colonel Gibson was a prominent laywer of Augusta, Georgia, and when nearly recovered from his wounds, escaped from our hospital and got outside our lines, but was subsequently recaptured before he reached their lines, and brought back. He wrote the following letter to Captain Ford while at the hospital :
HOSPITAL CAMP, 2D ARMY CORPS. July 30th, 1863.
CAPTAIN R. H. FORD :
Dear Captain :- I had hoped to meet you again to express to you my thanks for the kindness and attention shown me by you on the 2d inst., yet circumstances have prevented, and I regret to learn that on the next day you were wounded, yet I am much gratified to know you are fast recovering, and hope you will soon be fully restored to health.
I now think I shall recover myself, and trust that peace may be soon restored to our unhappy people, and that I may have an op- portunity of expressing my thanks to you in a manner more agree- able and pleasant to us both. Dr. Dwinelle has done all for me that I could wish, and his kindness to me will never be forgotten. He has the will and the sense to do his whole duty to his fellow- man, and is an upright, just and honorable gentleman. Hoping to meet soon again, and as friends and brothers would meet,
I am, Captain, very respectfully and truly, your obedient servant,
(Signed) WM. GIBSON,
Colonel 48th Georgia Regiment, Augusta, Ga.
A large number of officers and men were also found in the cellar of Codori's large barn that had been destroyed by our artillery fire, and they were also made prisoners. Among them was Colonel B. D. Fry, (afterward General) of the Thirteenth Alabama Regi- ment, and his sword was received by Captain John W. Lynch of Company C, who, after the war, returned it to the General's family, and received a very complimentary letter from J. W. Johnson, the Governor of the State, dated February 18, 1889, also the following letter from the nephew of General Fry:
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MONTGOMERY, ALA., March 6th, 1899. CAPT. JNO. W. LYNCH, Philadelphia, Pa.
My Dear Sir :- Your kind favor of the 4th inst., with en- closure, is duly to-hand, and I will at once deliver your letter to Mrs. Bibb.
I beg to thank you, in the name of all the relatives of General Fry, as well as in my own name, for this graceful act, and to further say that we of the younger generation of the South know but one country, and honor the brave men of the North, who up- held the flag in the time of great peril, and realize now, that it is better that we should be one and united, rather than two separate and different governments. Both sides fought for what they deemed to be right, and each were justified in their action.
I cannot believe that the South would ever have taken the posi- tion, industrially, that she holds to-day, but for the war. and I feel that her position is far in advance of her condition under the old regime, or that she could ever have been more than an agri- cultural country under the old system.
Again thanking you for your very great courtesy, and trusting that should you ever visit this section you will favor me with a call, I am Yours most sincerely,
WM. H. MICOU.
It was General Lee's intention that both flanks of our army should be attacked at the same time. The sound of Longstreet's guns was to be the signal for Ewell to attack, but Ewell did not hear the firing of Longstreet until after five o'clock, when he opened with his artillery from Benner's Hill upon our lines on East Cemetery and Culp's Hills soon after. Early advanced on East Cemetery Hill and a gallant charge of the famous Louisiana Tigers drove Howard's men from their position, and captured Weidrick's New York Battery, and engaged in a hand-to-hand contest for Rickett's guns, still further to the right, and almost gained possession of the hill, when Carroll's Brigade of our Corps, sent by General Hancock to reinforce Howard, arrived. drove them from the hill, and recaptured the lost guns. About the same time Johnson's Division was advanced upon our position on Culp's Hill, and by persistent force drove back our men, weakened by the withdrawal of Geary's Division, that had been sent to help Sickles at Round Top, so Johnson had no difficulty in occupying that line of works, but darkness prevented his further advance.
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Colonel Curry, with his command, was no sooner in position with the Brigade than he was called upon for a detail for picket, to take the place vacated by Companies A and B. About sixty men from the different companies, under Captain Ford of Com- pany I and Lieutenant Irvin of Company D, were sent out with two companies from the Seventy-Second, and two companies from the Sixty-Ninth Regiments, to picket the Brigade front. It was just before dark that Colonel Curry was ordered to move over to the right and report to General Howard commanding the Eleventh Corps, who had sent an urgent request for the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania, of his old Brigade, to support his batteries; and the Regiment immediately moved off to the right, and arrived just as Carroll's Brigade, that had also been sent to reinforce Howard, had successfully charged the enemy and drove them from the hill, and the One Hundred and Sixth was placed in position supporting the artillery on Cemetery Hill. General Howard remarked, that it was one of the regiments of his old Brigade, and, turning to Major Osborne, of his staff, Chief of Artillery, said, "Major, your batteries may be withdrawn when that regiment runs away".
The Seventy-First Regiment was also detached from the Bri- gade and sent to the relief of General Greene's Brigade of Geary's Division, of the Twelfth Corps, on Culp's Hill, but in moving over in the darkness, got too far to the right, on account of part of Geary's Division being withdrawn and sent over to Round Top, and ran into Johnson's men, then occupying Geary's works, came near being all captured; and did lose Adjutant Hutchinson, and Lieutenants Davis and Boughton, and about twenty men; so that Colonel Smith took the responsibility, and returned with his com- mand to their position with the Brigade, where he arrived before daylight.
The morning of the 3d of July the Sixty-Ninth Regiment was still in the same position it held on the 2d-at the fence in front of the clump of trees where Cushing's Battery was stationed, and the Seventy-First Regiment was advanced to the same position, on the right of the Sixty-Ninth, its left wing on the same line with it and the right wing retired about fifty yards behind a stone- wall, extending the line to the right, where its right joined the
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Third Division of our Corps, under General Alexander Hays, and the Seventy-Second Regiment was held in reserve.
The battle of the 3d began by our artillery about four o'clock, opening up on the position gained by the enemy under Johnson, on Culp's Hill late in the evening of the 2d; when he succeeded in taking possession of the works vacated just before dark, by Kane and Candy's Brigades of Geary's Division ; the latter sent to sup- port Sykes at Little Round Top, and the former to reinforce the left of Culp's Hill. Johnson's Division occupied the works, and for over three hours there was a continual roar of artillery, in- termingled with volley after volley of musketry as charge after charge was made to force Johnson back, and his men trying to advance his line, about 9 o'clock, when Geary's Division by a determined and combined charge, succeeded in dislodging John- son, and our line at that point was then re-established, but at a fearful cost. The severity of that contest was fully attested by the large number of trees torn and shattered by shot and shell, and some literally cut to pieces by minie balls.
After the contest ceased there was a pause for several hours ; almost the entire force of both armies seemed to have been sur- feited for a time by the roar of artillery and musketry, and now sought rest ; which was only broken by the single shot of the sharpshooters or from the skirmish line, while their commanders were planning and strengthening their positions. About I o'clock a single shot was fired from their artillery far in the rear, on the left of Seminary Hill, about three miles distant, and that shot, which was from a Whitworth gun, of the Washington Artillery, came tearing over near where our Brigade lay. In a few minutes single shots were fired from different points of their line; these were evidently signal guns that told the Chiefs of Artillery to open fire with every piece they could bring to bear upon the center of Meade's line, for in a few minutes there burst forth from along their whole line the most terrific cannonading ever witnessed ; one hundred and forty pieces were belching forth their sheets of flame. sending their missiles into every part of our line. Lee from his position on Seminary Ridge was able to use one hundred and forty guns, while Meade from his shorter line was only able to use ninety, thus two hundred and thirty guns were soon engaged
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in the most terrific artillery duel ever witnessed, every form and size of shot and shell, known and in use, were screaming and whistling through the air, dealing death and destruction in every direction, dismounting our guns, exploding our caissons, killing and mangling horses and men. As this terrible fire was principally concentrated upon the position held by the Second Corps, their shot and shell fell thick and fast all around our Brigade, dealing death and destruction on all sides, our batteries manfully reply- ing under that terrible fire, until every officer and man of both batteries was either killed or wounded, their guns disabled and both batteries silenced, except one gun of Cushing's battery, who, though wounded, cooly turned to General Webb and said : "If you can give me some men to carry ammunition, I can still use these guns". A detachment of the Seventy-First Regi- ment promptly volunteered, and though badly wounded himself, Cushing still directed its fire. After two hours of that terrible cannonading, General Henry J. Hunt, the Chief of Meade's Artil- lery ordered a cessation of fire as he said "in order to see what the enemy was going to do", and at the same time to replenish his ammunition and replace his disabled batteries.
General Webb sent his Assistant Adjutant General, Captain Banes, of the Seventy-Second Pennsylvania, after two more bat- teries to replace those now completely disabled, and soon Wheeler's Thirteenth New York Battery of the Eleventh Corps came swiftly into position and was soon followed by Captain Cowan's First New York Battery of the Sixth Corps, and none too soon, for their infantry was seen emerging from the wood on the other side of the Emmitsburg road ; column after column ap- pearing, quickly forming and steadily advancing. Now our boys knew their time had come. For nearly two hours the artillery had been thundering forth their storm of shot and shell, making the ground fairly tremble and quake beneath that terrible fire; and the infantry, powerless, were compelled to remain inactive, rest- ing on their arms, knowing full well that a terrible assault would soon be made, and would have to be met and stayed by them. Steadily the enemy's lines advanced as calmly and coolly as though on parade, quickly closing the gaps made in their ranks by our artillery. It was then that the grandest spectacle, the most
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