26th NC vs. 24th MI

[hoosier]

In the "Civil War Facts" thread under General Discussions, both Thea and Shane mentioned the heavy casualty rate incurred by the 26th North Carolina Infantry.

On July 1, the 26th North Carolina crossed Willoughby Run and was confronted by the 24th Michigan in McPherson's Woods, just to the west of the point where John Reynolds had died earlier that day. During that engagement, 14 different men carried the flag of the 26th, as one after another color-bearer was shot down. One of the soldiers was heard to remark, "No man can carry those colors and live!" (Incidentally, the 24th MI went through 9 color-bearers during the same confrontation.)

The same 26th NC then joined the Pettigrew portion of the Pickett/Pettigrew/Trimble assault against Cemetery Ridge on July 3, getting to within 10 paces of a stone wall just to the north of The Angle, before being virtually wiped out by a barrage of double canister coupled with intense musket fire from Union artillery and infantry. Although the 26th did not breach the Union line on its front, they actually advanced ****her than the regiments that briefly breached the wall at The Angle.

As Thea and Shane noted, the 26th incurred a total casualty rate of 85% for the three days' action, the highest casualty rate of any Confederate regiment at Gettysburg.

For its part, the 24th Michigan, part of the Iron Brigade, suffered a casualty rate of 80%, surely one of the highest casualty rates among Union regiments in the battle.