1st Maryland Battalion Versus 137th New York on Culp's Hill

Tom Elmore

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Jan 16, 2015
Date/Time/Location: July 2/about 7:40 p.m./Culp's Hill

Participants:
Confederate: 1st Maryland Battalion - 31 officers, 339 enlisted men
Union: 137th New York Regiment - 23 officers, 346 enlisted men

Attacker's Advantages:
Firepower - Two lines of battle opposed but a single line.
Concealment - Twilight in woods reduced visibility.

Defender's Advantages:
Cover - Protected by solid works constructed of wood and stone.
Terrain - Occupied higher ground.
Support - Crossfire from friendly unit harassed attacker's right flank.
Surprise - Twilight hid the works until the attacker came within close range.

Prologue: The 1st Maryland Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. James R. Herbert, arrived on the battlefield with the brigade of Brig. Gen. George Steuart on the the evening of July 1. By midnight, the battalion had taken position with the brigade and the remainder of Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson's Division near the Hanover Road, a mile east of Gettysburg. The Maryland Battalion was composed of seven companies; Company A alone contained nearly 100 men.

On the following morning, July 2, the 137th New York Regiment, led by Col. David Ireland, took position on Culp's Hill and began constructing a barricade, along with other units of the Union Twelfth Corps. The 137th began with an estimated strength of 399 enlisted men, but approximately 50 men were detached to serve with the brigade skirmishers. In the early evening, when it appeared that Culp's Hill was safe from attack, the Twelfth Corps was withdrawn to reinforce other parts of the line. Only the 137th and four other New York regiments in the brigade of Brig. Gen. George S. Greene were left in place. The 137th was ordered to stretch out into a thin line and extend itself into the vacated trenches on the right. At nearly the same moment, a mile to the northeast, three Confederate brigades, which included the 1st Maryland Battalion, were placed in motion to attack Culp's Hill. First blood was drawn near Rock Creek when the advancing Confederate line confronted Union skirmishers, who were soon overwhelmed and withdrew.

A bend in Rock Creek and a rightward swing by the division separated Steuart's command as it advanced. After wading the waist-deep waters of the creek, the 3rd North Carolina Regiment and the 1st Maryland Battalion constituted the right wing of the brigade. As they paused to reform their ranks, skirmishers in the vanguard were recalled, perhaps because of the dense foliage in front. Officers on horseback were likewise compelled to dismount, given the profusion of boulders in their front. The gloom of approaching nightfall made for an arduous ascent up the hill, which further disrupted the formation.

Resuming the advance, the right wing of Steuart's brigade was itself divided when the 3rd North Carolina wheeled to the right in an effort to maintain contact with the Louisiana brigade led by Col. J. M. Williams. To close the widening gap, the 1st Maryland Battalion was given the command to oblique to the right. The battalion ascended the wooded southern slope of Culp's Hill, which at this point was relatively free of underbrush and projecting rocks.

Accounts:
1. Corporal Hudson Jennings, Company K, 137th New York: "About sundown we were informed that the enemy was advancing upon our line in two columns. The men took their places and awaited their approach, but did not have long to wait before they made their appearance."

2. Major William W. Goldsborough, 1st Maryland Battalion: "... soon Gen. Steuart discovered that he had inclined too far to the left and had become separated from the rest of the division. The order was given at once to move obliquely to the right, and it was while executing this movement that a blaze of fire lighted up the woods not 20 yards in front, revealing to our astonished eyes a formidable log breastwork."

3. Lt. William P. Zollinger, Company A, 1st Maryland Battalion: "We ... were ordered lie down scarcely 30 yards from the enemy's breastwork. An angle in the enemy's works, not 100 yards to our right, exposed us to a severe flank fire. While lying down, we could distinctly see the Federals rise and fire at us from the works in our front."

4. Private J. William Thomas, Company A, 1st Maryland Battalion: "Much to my regret there seemed much confusion. Going up the hill, soon got under heavy fire and laid down; now night."

5. Lt. Samuel T. McCullough, Company D, 1st Maryland Battalion: "We were ... compelled in consequence of the galling of the fire of the foe to pause."

Epilogue: For the 137th New York, the protection of solid entrenchments more than compensated for significantly reduced firepower emanating from the single line of troops manning the position. Any advantage of possessing slightly higher ground may have been negated by the tendency of troops to shoot high, particularly under low light conditions. However, at the outset of the fight the 137th managed to strike a hard blow at very close range, which surprised and stopped the 1st Maryland Battalion in their tracks. The result might have been avoided if the battalion had kept their skirmishers deployed to provide early warning of danger, but such skirmishers would have risked becoming victims of "friendly fire." Approaching nightfall also mitigated the crossfire upon the right flank of the 1st Maryland Battalion, which otherwise would have been devastating.

The 1st Maryland Battalion might have suffered the fate of the rest of the division and made no headway against the thin, but well-protected Union line. However, there were simply not enough Union troops in Greene's brigade to extend the right of the line all the way to Rock Creek. Into this gap the remainder of Steuart's brigade soon entered, rolling up the exposed right flank of the 137th New York and also driving off the 71st Pennsylvania sent by the Second Corps as a reinforcement. With the opposition thus cleared out in front, the 1st Maryland Battalion was free to move up and occupy the same trenches which had been used to hold them at bay.
 
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Near here, right?
 
Bruce, this scene is roughly 220 yards due north, but it gives an excellent idea of what the Confederates encountered all along the Culp's Hill line. Of course, it would be very dim in the woods just after sunset on July 2. I like to imagine the scene you have shown as the charge of O'Neal's Alabama brigade (at right) at mid-morning on July 3. The Confederate soldiers who are already occupying the ground would likely be what remains of the Louisiana brigade (14th and 15th regiments?) that have been there since the previous evening.
 
I'm looking forward to visiting this spot on my next trip to Gettysburg.

A Confederate family ancestor was in Steuart's Brigade and fought nearby on July 2-3. The casualties in his regiment were very high, but he made it out unscathed.
 
Depiction by Don Troiani. The 1st Maryland Battalion was one of the few units in the ANV to still carry a state flag by 1863. I'm not sure that Troiani is correct in depicting them with their First National at Gettysburg, though if they did then they would also be one of the few if not the only unit in the ANV to still carry it by 1863. Their mascot Grace who was killed in the charge is also shown.

@Tom Elmore, are the guys lying behind the tree in the foreground supposed to be from another regiment? The 37th Virginia?

Wallcate_com - Don Troiani-Paintings (62).jpg
 
Depiction by Don Troiani. The 1st Maryland Battalion was one of the few units in the ANV to still carry a state flag by 1863. I'm not sure that Troiani is correct in depicting them with their First National at Gettysburg, though if they did then they would also be one of the few if not the only unit in the ANV to still carry it by 1863. Their mascot Grace who was killed in the charge is also shown.

@Tom Elmore, are the guys lying behind the tree in the foreground supposed to be from another regiment? The 37th Virginia?

View attachment 143505

Very good, it was the 37th Virginia. To their left was the 23rd Virginia, and further left was the 1st North Carolina. The 10th Virginia was deployed off the brigade's left flank (facing south) and kept the 20th Connecticut in their front occupied. The Maryland Battalion blamed the Virginians for going to ground as soon as they emerged from the woods, but this may be unfair criticism. I think it likely that the Virginians were the first to appear and received a deadly volley from the 147th Pennsylvania and 5th Ohio. This allowed the 1st Maryland Battalion to make headway before the Federals reloaded. The left companies of the Battalion, south of the wall, were the next to suffer, but their companies north of the wall, with the 3rd North Carolina remnant on their right, made it farther - a stone marker marks their furthest advance. The time was about 10:30 a.m. on July 3, and soon after this repulse, the Confederates moved back east of Rock Creek.
 
Date/Time/Location: July 2/about 7:40 p.m./Culp's Hill
Participants:
Attacker's Advantages:
Defender's Advantages:
Prologue:
Accounts:
Epilogue:
I really like the format you used here to explain this action. Well thought out and helps me "follow along" and of course the sketch (as always) is really helpful. Thanks!
 
Very good, it was the 37th Virginia. To their left was the 23rd Virginia, and further left was the 1st North Carolina. The 10th Virginia was deployed off the brigade's left flank (facing south) and kept the 20th Connecticut in their front occupied. The Maryland Battalion blamed the Virginians for going to ground as soon as they emerged from the woods, but this may be unfair criticism. I think it likely that the Virginians were the first to appear and received a deadly volley from the 147th Pennsylvania and 5th Ohio. This allowed the 1st Maryland Battalion to make headway before the Federals reloaded. The left companies of the Battalion, south of the wall, were the next to suffer, but their companies north of the wall, with the 3rd North Carolina remnant on their right, made it farther - a stone marker marks their furthest advance. The time was about 10:30 a.m. on July 3, and soon after this repulse, the Confederates moved back east of Rock Creek.

stone marker?

I'd love to see a photo of the marker....

May be getting up to Gettysburg later this month.
 
stone marker?

I'd love to see a photo of the marker....

May be getting up to Gettysburg later this month.

The advance marker to the 2nd Maryland CSA is on the north side of Pardee field near the western end of the wall, close to the intersection of the two park roads and opposite (south of) the Kane monument. The remnants of the 3rd North Carolina would also likely have made it as far, or nearly as far, as that marker.
 
I am glad I could help. Make sure you walk behind the 2nd Md CSA monument for a look at the potential Confederate burial trench. Regardless if it is a burial trench or not, it makes for an interesting stop.

Good catch, Wallyfish. Just happen to have a photo of the spot, a depression (attached).
Gettysburg1MDBurial.JPG
 
" some [men were] sitting up against trees or rocks stark dead with their eyes wide open staring at you as if they were still alive – others with their heads blown off with shell or round shot, others shot through the head with musket bullets. Some struck by a shell in the breast or abdomen and blown almost to pieces, others with their hands up as if to fend off the bullets we fired upon them, others laying against a stump or a stone with a testament in their hand or a likeness of a friend "

Quote by eye witness, on the Gettysburg Daily site.

Anyone know of the one where Marylanders combed the battlefield, looking for relatives, neighbors and friends? It's really hard to read, just awfully important.
 
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