# of captured men from Armistead's brigade

[gary]

I know they went into battle with 1650 men and only 339 came back unwounded. 643 were listed as missing. Of those 643, how many were captured?

Second question, had Armistead not be shot, could his brigade have advanced beyond the copse of trees? I'm inclined to think not but would love to hear your opinion and why.

[hoosier]

I don't know the answer to your first question.

I'm inclined to agree with you that Armistead's brigade could not have advanced any significant distance.

When the Virginians looked ahead of them, they could see more and more Union troops coming over the ridge, as the Union high command called in reinforcements. When the Virginians looked behind them, expecting to see someone coming to reinforce them, they saw nobody.

Longstreet's plan did call for the Virginians to be reinforced, but Wilcox's intended reinforcements came in too late and too far to the south to be of any help to Armistead's brigade.

[whitworth]

Too little and without any sizeable artillery support

[manofdreds]

Here's a question: What do you think would've been the outcome of "Pickett's Charge" if Lee chose to attack along with Pickett's division the brigades of: Thomas(Pender), Gordon and Smith(Early), Mahone, Posey(Anderson), and Doles(Rhodes)? These brigades saw little action and was quite organized and more numerous than those chosen.

[VS on the belt plate]

Certainely those others would have helped..and probably would have added enough to take the position.


Armistead:
The number of actually captured is difficult to ascertain..because missing and unaccounted for meant any not answering the roll the next time it was taken.

Some no doubt were dead..some in Federal hospitals,some wounded/helpless and unfound,some stragglers and some deserted.

Odds are though that the majority listed as missing were in fact captured.

Armistead's Brigade is a special case.:

According to Krick's The Gettysburg Death roster/The Confederate Dead at Gettysburg...Armistead's Brigade listed 88-Killed,491-Wounded,and 643 missing.

These numbers however are amongst the most unreliable of all CS/Gettysburg returns,

with virtually every senior officer gone...reports were not filed.


The real numbers will probably never be known..short of a Herculian effort by a gifted historian/researcher and if other records can be found.

VS..etc