As twilight approached on July 2 the Confederates of McLaws' Division pushed through the Wheatfield, crossed Plum Rum and headed toward the northwest slopes of Little Round Top. The Confederate advance stalled at this point seemingly realizing they were no longer strong enough to carry the Union position and slowly began to fall back towards the Wheatfield. Shortly afterward units began to receive orders to withdraw. Along the crest of Cemetery Ridge at the northern edge of Little Round Top stood the five regiments of William McCandless' Fifth Corps Brigade, five more regiments of David Nevin's Sixth Corps Brigade and a battery of Ohio Artillery commanded by Captain Frank Gibbs. The senior officer present was BG Samuel Crawford, McCandless' immediate superior. 23 year old Colonel Charles Frederick Taylor commanded one of the regiments in McCandless' command, the 42nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The 42nd was more commonly known as the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles or the Pennsylvania Bucktails.
Sensing the time was right Crawford gave McCandless the order to advance. The Pennsylvanians fired two volleys and began to advance toward the Confederates; Nevin's command followed on their right. Any thoughts the Confederates might have had of continuing their advance evaporated and they began to withdraw back across the Wheatfield, standing briefly on Houck's Ridge to deter McCandless from pressing too far. McCandless halted behind a stone wall at the east edge of the Wheatfield. The 13th Reserves, on the far left of the line began to take enfilade fire from the Texan sharpshooters in the Devil's Den. Colonel Taylor was in the process of positioning his men to minimize the effect of that fire when he was killed. The following excerpts are taken from General Samuel Crawford's after action report.
HDQRS. PA. RESERVES THIRD DIV., FIFTH CORPS,
July 10, 1863.
Lieut. Col. FRED. T. LOCKE,
Assistant Adjutant-General, Fifth Army Corps.
COLONEL: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of this division in the recent battle near Gettysburg, Pa:
At daylight on the 2d instant, while resting my command near McSherrystown, having marched nearly all the previous night, I received an order from the major-general commanding the corps to march immediately toward Gettysburg. The column was put in motion at once, and by noon had arrived at the position occupied by the First and Second Divisions of the corps, near the Gettysburg and Hanover turnpike.
At 2 o'clock an order reached me to form my command at once, and proceed toward the left flank of our line, when my position would be indicated by a staff officer. The First Division of the corps, which I had been directed to follow, had taken a different road from that indicated to me. Under the guidance, however, of Captain Moore, an aide of the general commanding the army, who had come from the field for fresh troops, I pushed rapidly forward, and arrived in a short time upon the field, and reported to Major-General Sykes. I received orders at once to mass my troops upon the right of a road running through our line, near our left flank, and which, descending a rocky slope, crossed a low marshy ground in front to a wheat-field lying between two thick belts of woods beyond.
The position occupied by our troops on the left was naturally a strong one. A rocky ridge, wooded at the top, extended along the left of our position, ending in a high hill, called the Round Top, whose sides, covered with timber, terminated abruptly in the plain below, while the entire ridge sloped toward a small stream that traversed the marshy ground in front. Beyond this lay two thick masses of timber, separated by a large wheat-field, and skirting this timber a low stone wall ran from right to left.
The movement indicated had not been completed when I received a subsequent order to cross the road to the slope of the rocky ridge opposite the woods, and to cover the troops then engaged in front, should it become necessary for them to fall back. In carrying out this order, I received instructions to detach one brigade of my command, to go to the left of Barnes' division, on the crest of the ridge. The Third Brigade, under Col. J. W. Fisher, was detailed, and moved at once. The firing in front was heavy and incessant. The enemy, concentrating his forces opposite the left of our line, was throwing them in heavy masses upon our troops, and was steadily advancing.
Our troops in front, after a determined resistance, unable to withstand the force of the enemy, fell back, and some finally gave way. The plain to my front was covered with fugitives from all divisions, who rushed through my lines and along the road to the rear. Fragments of regiments came back in disorder, and without their arms, and for a moment all seemed lost. The enemy's skirmishers had reached the foot of the rocky ridge; his columns were following rapidly.
My command was formed in two lines, the second massed on the first. The Sixth Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Ent, on the right, the First Regiment, Colonel Talley, on the left, and the Eleventh Regiment, of Fisher's brigade, under Colonel Jackson, in the center. The second line consisted of the First Rifles (Bucktails), Colonel Taylor, and the Second Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Woodward. Colonel McCandless, the brigade commander, commanded the whole.
Not a moment was to be lost. Uncovering our front, I ordered an immediate advance. The command advanced gallantly with loud cheers. Two well-directed volleys were delivered upon the advancing masses of the enemy, when the whole column charged at a run down the slope, driving the enemy back across the space beyond and across the stone wall, for the possession of which there was a short but determined struggle. The enemy retired to the wheat-field and the woods.
The second line was immediately deployed to the left, the First Rifles (Bucktails), under their gallant leader, Colonel Taylor, gaining the flank and dashing upon the enemy, who, endeavoring for a moment to make a stand, finally broke and fled in disorder across the field, leaving his dead and wounded in our hands. As night was approaching, and my flanks were unprotected, I directed Colonel McCandless to hold the line of the stone wall and the woods on the right. Heavy lines of skirmishers were thrown out, and the ground firmly and permanently held.
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Col. Charles Fred. Taylor, the gallant and brave leader of the Bucktail Regiment, fell while leading his regiment to the charge. No braver soldier and patriot has given his life to the cause.
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Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. W. CRAWFORD,
Brigadier-General, Comdg. Third Division.