USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1 > Part 26
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But while this daring and desperate struggle was being fought out for the possession of Cemetery Hill, a no less persistent and far more formidable force was breaking in upon the extreme right flank. This was Johnson's division of Ewell's corps, led by the old Stonewall brigade which had given Jackson his sobriquet, full of the spirit of its old leader, and now that he was fallen nerved to strike for his sake. Johnson was supported by the division of Rodes. Crossing Rock Creek, which at this season is easily fordable at all points, the rebel line advanced through the forest which covers the whole plateau that spreads out at the base of the hill. The Union skirmishers who had been thrown out to the front were quickly driven in, and, following them up rapidly, the enemy soon came under fire from the breastworks where the brigade of Greene, and farther to the left the division of Wadsworth, were posted. Before this fire the rebels recoiled ; but they were not long in discovering that the strong breast- works to Greene's right, built with much engineering skill and with great labor, were vacant, and with alacrity they sprang for- ward and occupied them unresisted. As has been already noted, when, on the evening of this day the pressure was at its height upon Sickles' front, Ruger's and Geary's divisions, with the excep- tion of Greene's brigade of the latter, had been withdrawn from this flank, and sent to reinforce the left. They had not long been gone when this advance of the enemy was made, and these works fell into their hands. The principal resistance they encountered was from Greene; but they were confident of their ability to sweep him away, and take the whole Union line in reverse. Fortunately, Greene had caused his flank to be fortified by a very heavy work, which the make of the ground favored, extending some distance at right-angles to his main line. Against this the rebel commander sent his cohorts. The men behind it swept the assailants with swift destruction. Again and again did the rebels attack in front and flank; but as often as they ap- proached they were stricken down and disappeared. To a terri- ble ordeal was this little brigade of the intrepid Greene subjected ; but he was a veteran soldier, and he made a most gallant fight, which saved the left flank of the army from disaster. Passing over the abandoned breastworks further to the right, the enemy
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found nothing to oppose him, and pushed out through the woods in their rear, over the stone fences that skirt the fields farther to the south, and had nearly gained the Baltimore pike. Indeed, the reserve artillery and ammunition, and the headquarters of General Slocum, the commander of the right wing of the army, were within musket range of his farthest advance.
But darkness had now come on, and Ewell was disposed to be cautious, lest he might fall into a trap. Had he known the ad- vantage which was open to him, and all that we now know, he might, with the troops he had, have played havoc with the trains, and have set the whole army in retreat. But he was ignorant of the prize that was within his grasp. To break and drive the right flank of the Union line, occupied by Greene, was legitimate and proper work, and here he spent his strength, but in futile and vain efforts.
Why Slocum, who was particularly charged with the command of this part of the field, ever allowed these works to be entirely stripped of defenders, or why Meade, whose headquarters were in sight of this natural stronghold, and the importance of which he must have become perfectly familiar with during the morn- ing hours, when he was meditating an attack upon the enemy from that very ground, should have called them away, are questions which, if answered at all, must be by some new school of strategy.
It was fortunate for the Union army, that fast-coming darkness drew its curtain around the vulnerable parts everywhere spread out, and that under its cover opportunity was given to mend that which was broken and disjointed. Geary's division was ordered back to occupy its abandoned works, and having marched to a point opposite, on the Baltimore pike, was making for them directly across the fields, all unsuspicious of danger, when it was suddenly arrested by a volley from behind a stone wall, by which one officer and three men of the Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania were killed, and ten wounded. Believing that he was being fired into by men of the First brigade, General Kane, who was in advance, withdrew to the pike, and marching up nearer the Cemetery Hill, again proceeded towards the breastworks, and after connect- ing with the right of Greene, sent forward skirmishers, who soon
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met the enemy, and then for the first time he realized that the foe, in strong force, was in full possession of all of the eastern part of Culp's Hill.
Geary immediately formed on the right of Greene, stretching out nearly at right-angles to the main line of battle, taking ad- vantage of the ground which was here quite broken, covered with loose rocks and ledges, and a medium growth of forest trees. The men slept upon their arms, only disturbed by occasional firing of skirmishers. During the night, Ruger's division was brought back and posted upon the flank and rear of the enemy, and Gen- eral Williams assumed chief command. At three o'clock on the morning of the 3d, objects could be seen moving cautiously about on the rebel line, and it soon became evident that the foe was preparing for a charge. General Kane was upon the alert, and quickly divined the purpose. His men were aroused, and the whole line was prepared for action. General Geary discerned the advantage which would be gained by opening the battle him- self, instead of allowing the enemy to charge with the impression that he was surprising the Union line. Hence, at twenty minutes before four, he discharged his pistol, which was the signal for opening along his whole front. "The Confederate General John- son's division led," says General Kanc, in his official report, "fol- lowed by Rodes. The statement of our prisoners is, that they advanced in three lines, but they appeared to us only as closed in mass. Every advantage was taken of rock and tree and depression, on both sides, the lines being within close range, and the fight, for the most part, partook of the nature of sharp-shooting on a grand scale. Occasionally the enemy formed in heavy lines and charged ; but before they could reach the Union front, so terrible was the slaughter, that the survivors would not respond to the frantic appeals of their officers to advance."
As the day wore on, the heat from the fire and smoke of battle, and the scorching of the July sun, became so intense as to be almost past endurance. Men were completely exhausted in the progress of the struggle, and had to be often relieved; but, revived by fresh air and a little period of rest, again returned to the front. "We ceased firing, occasionally," says Kane, "for a minute or two, to induce the enemy to come out of advantageous
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positions, when they paid for their temerity; but with this ex- ception, kept up a fire of unintermitting strength for seven hours."
As soon as it was light, and the position of the Union forces was sufficiently determined to fire with safety, the artillery, posted on little eminences to the rear, opened upon the points where the rebels were supposed to be, for friend and foe were hidden from view by the dark foliage of the wood. Whitelaw Reid, now Editor of the New York Tribune, who was upon the field throughout the last two days, as chronicler of the battle, says : "I had gone down the Baltimore pike at night, to find a resting place. Coming up between four and five, I heard clearly on the right the old charging cheer. Once, twice, three times I counted it, as my horse pushed his way for less than a mile through the curious or coward throng that ebbed and flowed along the pike. Each time a charge was made, each time the musketry fire leaped out from our line more terrific than before, and still the ground was held. To the left and centre, firing gradually ceased. All interest was concentred on this fierce contest on the right; the rest of the line on either side was bracing itself for still more desperate work. From four to five, there was heavy cannonading also, from our batteries nearest the contested points, but the artillery fire diminished and presently ceased. The rebels made no reply; we were firing at random, and it was a useless waste of ammunition. A cloud of smoke curled up from the dark woods on the right; the musketry crash continued with unparalleled tenacity and vehemence, wounded men came back over the fields, a few stragglers were hurried out to the front, ammunition was kept conveniently near the line. In the fields to the left of the Baltimore pike stood the reserve artillery, with horses harnessed to the pieces and ready to move on the instant. Cavalry, too, was drawn up in detachments here and there. Moved over already within supporting distance of Slocum's line, stood a part of Sedgwick's corps, the reserve of to-day, ready for the emergency that seemed likely soon to de- mand it. . .. The Rodman guns on the hill [Powers', Slocum's headquarters], were all manned, and the gunners were eager to try their range, but it still seemed useless. . . . As I rode down the slope and up through the wheatfields to Cemetery Hill, the
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batteries began to open again on points along our outer line. They were evidently playing on what had been Slocum's line of yesterday. The rebels, then, were still in our rifle-pits. Presently the battery on Slocum's hill gained the long-sought permission, and opened, too, aiming apparently in the same direction. Other batteries along the inner line, just to the left of the Baltimore pike [McAllister's Hill], followed the signal, and as one after another opened up, till every little crest between Slocum's head- quarters and Cemetery Hill began belching its thunder, I had to change my course through the wheatfields to avoid our own shells. Still no artillery response from the rebels. Could they be short of ammunition ? Could they have failed to bring up all their guns ?"
To one conversant with the ground, it is now apparent why the enemy did not reply. The creek, the forest, and the steep acclivities, made it utterly impossible for him to move up his guns, and this circumstance constituted the weakness of his posi- tion, and the futility of his occupation of this part of the line. Could he have supported his advance with powerful artillery, he might have made a more serious break, and defied all attempts to rout him from this ground. But though he fought with a determined bravery well worthy the name of the old-time leader, yet he gained no ground, and had sustained terrible losses. Un- willing to accept the hopelessness of their situation, or the possi- bility of ultimate failure, the rebel leaders gathered in their scattered strength and prepared to deliver a final charge, with such determined might as they confidently anticipated would utterly break down and scatter any force which could oppose them. The men were encouraged with the hope of victory, and were appealed to, by the memories of other fields. Every incen- tive was employed to stimulate their zeal. The charge was made full upon the line held by Kane's brigade. With little inter- mission, his men had been engaged since early dawn; but, though exhausted by fatigue and oppressive heat, they were as resolute and full of fight as at the first. There had been a lull in the battle, a brief respite, and the dense cloud of sulphurous smoke had lifted, giving place to a gust of sweet air. It was the calm that precedes the storm. Suddenly the quiet was broken by a
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yell bursting from thousands of lungs, and the next instant their grey lines emerged in sight, dashing madly on. Singularly enough, they were preceded a few yards by a rabid dog, with vengeful eyes and teeth, yelping and sounding defiance. They had scarcely come into easy musket range, when the men in blue along the line sprang to their feet and poured in a deliberate volley. The shock was terrible. The on-coming force was stag- gered, and for & moment sought shelter behind trees and rocks; but obedient to the voices of their officers they struggled on, some of the more desperate coming within twenty paces of the Union front. "It cannot be denied," says Kane, "that they behaved courageously." They did what the most resolute could do; but it was all in vain, for never were men more firmly rooted to the ground, and less in the mood to be torn from it than were Kane's forces. Broken and well nigh annihilated, the survivors of the charge staggered back, leaving the ground strewn with their dead and desperately wounded. "Then did the shouts of victory," says a soldier, who bore a musket and shared in the triumph, " resound and echo from all parts of the line on the right flank, telling our comrades miles away of the result, and Lee's discom- fiture. Men cheered themselves hoarse, laughed, rolled them- selves upon the ground, and threw their caps high in air, while others shook hands with comrades, and thanked God that the Star Corps had again triumphed."
' Though this was the last of the enemy's determined assaults, a vigorous fusilade was kept up along his whole front. But now a cordon was being drawn about him, which was beginning to threaten his way of retreat. A brigade was thrown in upon his flank on Rock Creek, which sent a few well directed volleys into his rear, and when, soon after, Geary charged from the front, the foc easily yielded to the pressure, and the breastworks were again joyfully occupied, after a struggle rarely paralleled for prolonged severity. This flank was now secure; but the enemy still held a barricade in the immediate front of the breastworks, and kept a skirmish line well advanced, from which a deadly fire was directed upon any object which showed itself above the defences. Beyond this, no further offensive movements were made.
But, what a field was this! For three hours of the pre-
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vious evening, and seven of the morning, had the most terrible elements of destruction known to modern warfare been wielded with a might and a dexterity rarely if ever paralleled. The wood in which the battle had been fought was torn and rent with shells and solid shot, and pierced with innumerable minié balls. Trees were broken off and splintered, and that entire forest, where the battle raged most furiously, was, on the follow- ing year, leafless, the stately but mute occupants having yielded up their lives with those whom they overshadowed. The . ground, as it presented itself when the battle was over, bore a mournful spectacle. "We awoke early on the 5th," says the soldier above quoted, "as we had done on the three preceding mornings, and discovered that the foe had disappeared from our front. A number of us immediately sprang over the breastworks, and descended the hill towards the creek. Before advancing many paces, we came upon numberless forms clad in grey, either stark and stiff or else still weltering in their blood. It was the most sick- ening and horrible sight I had yet witnessed. Many of the dead bodies had lain here for twenty-four hours, and had turned to a purplish black, being greatly distended and emitting a horrible stench. Turning whichever way we chose, the eye rested upon human forms, lying in all imaginable positions, some upon their backs, others upon their faces, and others still upon their knees, . the body supported against a rock. Not a few were killed while in readiness to discharge their pieces, the bodies still in position. Some of them had erected a slight protection of stone against the front and right flank fire, yet the fatal bullet reached them even there. We were surprised at the accuracy, as well as the bloody results of our fire. It was indeed dreadful to witness. Further down the hill, we found Major Light, Assistant Ad- jutant-General on Ewell's staff, dead, as well as his horse, which lay partly upon him. One of the rebel wounded, in- formed us that he had been killed while superintending one of the advances made against us during the night. We turned from the sickening spectacle of the dead to the wounded, of whom there were many, all helpless; those who could be, having already been removed. To these we gave the contents of our canteens. Their haversacks were better filled than our
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own, for they had good bacon and pork, which they had foraged from the farmers of the Cumberland Valley." General Geary relates that while passing over the field after the battle, his attention was called to one of the enemies killed who must have been an anomaly among men. The dead, after lying in the hot sun for a day, always appear distorted. But this man was nearly seven feet in stature, of giant proportions, and his body was completely covered with hair like an animal. He had ap- parently belonged to a Virginia organization, and had fallen in one of those desperate charges which the old Stonewall brigade had delivered. Of such commanding figure, his body was a target for the unerring rifles of Geary's men.
; Thus ended the fighting upon the right, which, though inter- rupted by a few hours of darkness, and made to reach into two days, was really one battle; but in considering the influences which swayed the two commanders, the aspects of the field at the close of the second day should alone be regarded.
The results of that day on the part of the enemy were, in a measure, successful, but not to that extent which had been hoped. Longstreet had made his assault with great power. He had driven the Union line back from the Peach Orchard, and the rugged position to the south and east of it, and from the whole length of the Emmittsburg road, gaining ground nearly three-quarters of a mile in width at the centre, and running out . to a point at either end. But he had failed to gain Little Round Top, which was the great advantage craved; and he had like- wise been unable to grasp the wooded eminence to the right and front of Little Round Top, and the heavy wooded ground northeast of the wheatfield, which served as outposts to the citadel. At Cemetery Hill he had been signally repulsed, suffer- ing severe losses and gaining no advantage whatever. On the extreme Union right, he had effected a lodgment, and had pushed forward in dangerous proximity to the very vitals of the army ; but darkness fell before the fruits of the manœuvre could be gathered, and the night was sure to give opportunity for disposi- tions which would oust him from his already dear-bought advan- tage. The outlook was not, therefore, particularly encouraging. A good share of the potential force of his army had been spent,
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and on no part of the field had any real, substantial gain been made. In his official report Lee, says : " After a severe struggle, Longstreet succeeded in getting possession of and holding the desired ground. Ewell also carried some of the strong positions which he assailed, and the result was such as to lead to the belief that he would ultimately be able to dislodge the enemy. The battle ceased at dark. These partial successes determined me to continue the assault next day." It will be seen that he does not speak in very strong terms of the results of the day's work, terming them " partial successes."
Curiosity is excited to know the feelings of the citizens of Gettysburg during these days of terror and destruction, as they were now entirely within the enemy's lines. Professor Jacobs, who gives many interesting experiences, says : "To us, however, who were at the time within the rebel lines, the result seemed doubtful ; and gloomy forebodings filled our minds as we laid our- selves down, to catch, if possible, a little sleep. The unearthly yells of the exultant and defiant enemy had, during the afternoon; been frequently heard even amidst the almost deafening sounds of exploding cannon, of screaming and bursting shells, and of the continuous roar of musketry .; and it seemed to us, judging from the character and direction of these mingled noises, that the enemy had been gaining essentially on our flanks. At about six P. M., it is true, we heard 'cheering' different from that which had so often fallen dolefully upon our ears ; and some of the rebels said to each other, 'Listen ! the Yankees are cheering.' But whilst this-which we afterwards found to have been the cheering of General Crawford's men, as they charged down the face of Little Round Top-afforded us temporary encouragement, the movement of Rodes' division, which we saw hurried forward on a double-quick for the purpose of uniting in a combined attack upon our right centre and flank, the incessant and prolonged musketry fire, and the gradual cessation of the reports of our artillery on Cemetery Hill, caused us to fear that our men had been badly beaten, and that our guns had either been captured . or driven back from the advantageous position they had occu- pied. . .. The rebels returned again to our street at ten P. M., and prepared their supper, and soon we began to hope that all
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was not lost. Some of them expressed their most earnest indig- nation at the foreigners-the Dutchmen-for having shot down so many of their men. . .. We afterwards found the explana- tion of this indignation when we learned what had taken place that evening on the eastern flank of Cemetery Hill. Then again, soon after this, some were heard to say : 'The Yankees have a good position, and we must drive them out of it to-morrow.' This assured us that our men had been able to hold their position, and that our lines were unbroken. There seemed now to be an entire absence of that elation and boastfulness which they mani- fested when they entered the town on the evening of the 1st of July. Still later at night, one said to another in tones of great earnestness, 'I am very much discouraged,' from which we learned that the results of the day were not in accordance with their high expectations, although they said, during the evening, they had been driving us on our right and our left."
If such was the aspect at the rebel headquarters and in the town, what was it within the Union lines ? On the left severe fighting had occurred. Terrible losses had been sustained, and though driven back from the advanced line, a new one had been taken that was strong in itself throughout many of its parts, and had now been made doubly strong by art. It had the advantage of being much shorter than the first, and hence required a less number of men to hold it. At the centre, where Howard was, the killed and wounded were numerous, but not an inch had been lost, and there was very good assurance from the result of the mad attempt upon it, that such temerity would not be repeated. On the extreme right, works which had been left without a defender had been occupied, the foe walking coolly in and taking undisputed possession. But the troops who were in position, and who had been struck by the enemy, held their own with a stubbornness and a heroism that will shed a halo over this part of the field, as long as the struggles of Gettysburg shall be recounted. Hence no ground, that was defended even here had been lost. Could this ground, which had unopposed been occupied, be repossessed, and this slight break be repaired, the Union situation for delivering a defensive battle would be admirable. There had, indeed, been severe losses during the two
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days of fighting. The First corps, the Eleventh, the Third, parts of the Second and the Fifth, and one brigade of the Twelfth, had been subjected to the most terrible shocks, and at least a third of their numbers had been blotted out ; but what remained were more defiant and full of stubborn valor than ever, and would everywhere make a gallant stand, while the whole of the Sixth corps, most of the Twelfth, and parts of the Second and Fifth were comparatively fresh.
But though this hopeful view in reality existed, there appears to have been entertained a despondent one at headquarters. Just previous to the opening of the battle on the afternoon of the 2d, a council of corps commanders had been summoned, which, before proceeding to business, or even before all the officers had arrived, had been broken up by the roar of the artillery which heralded the fight. What the object of that meeting was, and what business would have been transacted, has never trans- pired. But later in the evening, and before the fighting had entirely subsided on the right, another council was held at which General Butterfield, General Meade's Chief of staff, reports that the only question put was, "Whether our army should remain on that field and continue the battle, or whether we should change to some other position." The minutes of that council appear to have been lost; but the majority voted to stay and fight it out there, though General Newton is reported to have said that "he was not prepared to vote to leave it, but he wanted the council to understand that he had objections to it." "After the council had finished," says Butterfield, "General Meade arose from the table, and remarked that in his opinion, Gettysburg was no place to fight a battle." General Meade in his supplementary testimony declares that the object of this council was not to consider the question of withdrawal, but, "first, whether it was necessary for us to assume any different position from what we then held; and secondly, whether, if we continued to maintain the position we then held, our operations the next day should be offensive or defensive."
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