- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
Date/Time/Location: July 2 / 4:40 p.m. / Devil's Den
Participants:
Union: 4th Maine Regiment - 14 officers, 200 enlisted men
Confederate: 44th Alabama Regiment - 38 officers, 320 enlisted men
Defender's Advantages: Scattered boulders hid the defenders from view and provided a large measure of natural protection from hostile fire (cover and concealment).
Attacker's Advantage: The attacker held a sizable advantage in numbers.
Prologue:
On the morning of July 2, the Federal brigade of Brig. Gen. Hobart Ward was given the task of defending a small ridge in front of Little Round Top, on the southern end of Maj. Gen. Dan Sickles' Third Corps line, which would soon be advanced as far as a mile beyond Cemetery Ridge. Ward deployed his line anchored on the left by an outcropping of boulders, large and small, and collectively known as the Devil's Den. Four 10-pounder Parrott guns belonging to Capt. James E. Smith's 4th New York were placed in a prominent, if precarious, position near the Den. The boulders there provided a natural defense, but the 4th Maine was dispatched to extend their open left flank, perpendicular to the main line on the ridge.
Late in the afternoon, the Confederate division of John Bell Hood finally reached their jumping off point on southern Seminary Ridge and was soon ordered forward to the attack. Among these troops, Brig. Gen. Ivander Law's Alabama brigade held the extreme right and was directed toward the Round Tops. While enroute, it was discovered that the Federal's advanced position at the Devil's Den enabled them to deliver a destructive fire upon the Confederates. With prompt and decisive tactical improvisation, Law detached his two right regiments, the 44th and 48th Alabama, and sent them north to flank the Den.
While still in the woods and about 200 yards from the Den, the two Alabama regiments swung around from a column formation into a line of battle, the 48th bringing up the rear. Continuing on, the 44th Alabama suddenly emerged from a growth of small pines into the open. Here they found themselves directly opposite the 4th Maine, which greeted them with a blistering volley.
Accounts:
1. "... in the edge of the wood of small pines appeared the 44th Alabama ... uncomfortably near. The Alabamians came on in a truly heroic manner but were met with equal firmness by the Maine men, although the latter were much less in number. The advance was soon checked and they soon gave it up, retiring into the woods, where they were completely concealed behind rocks and trees." [Maine at Gettysburg, p. 164]
2. "As the line emerged from the woods into the open space ... a sheet of flame burst from the rocks less than a hundred yards away. A few scattering shots in the beginning gave warning in time for my men to fall flat, and thus largely to escape the effects of the main volley. They doubtless seemed to the enemy to be all dead; but the volume of fire which they immediately returned proved that they were very much alive." [Col. W. F. Perry, 44th Alabama, Confederate Veteran, vol. 9, p. 161]
3. "They all, however, did not escape the deadly bullets of the Federal volley. In a letter from my brother, who was a member of Company C, and in that battle, he states that James Mathews was killed outright, and William and Archie Luckie, brothers, were both shot down. ... William perhaps lay in a comatose condition until found by a Federal litter or burial party, and was taken to a hospital, where he recovered. ... Archie Luckie's wound was through the lower jaw and tongue." [John Purifoy, The Horror of War, Confederate Veteran, vol. 33, p. 254]
Epilogue:
Law's decision to detach his two right regiments to neutralize a Union stronghold at and above the Devil's Den was a clever tactical expedient. But in hindsight it was also a grave strategic error, as it considerably shortened the Confederate right flank and set up the epic clash between the 15th Alabama and 20th Maine. One may imagine the outcome had the two additional Alabama regiments been available to extend the Confederate line during their subsequent attack against Little Round Top.
Fortunately for the Federals on Devil's Den ridge, intelligent foresight had led them to deploy the 4th Maine on the left flank, which by chance stood squarely in the path of the 44th Alabama as it emerged from the woods opposite, poised to rout the Union line. Victory under such circumstances often went to the side that struck first - in this instance it was the 4th Maine that initiated the surprise volley which may have laid low a couple dozen or more of the foe. Being caught in the open, the 44th Alabama took refuge among the surrounding rocks and returned an effective fire, but they were soon compelled to withdraw a short distance, and their opportunity for a quick and decisive triumph at the Den was lost.
Participants:
Union: 4th Maine Regiment - 14 officers, 200 enlisted men
Confederate: 44th Alabama Regiment - 38 officers, 320 enlisted men
Defender's Advantages: Scattered boulders hid the defenders from view and provided a large measure of natural protection from hostile fire (cover and concealment).
Attacker's Advantage: The attacker held a sizable advantage in numbers.
Prologue:
On the morning of July 2, the Federal brigade of Brig. Gen. Hobart Ward was given the task of defending a small ridge in front of Little Round Top, on the southern end of Maj. Gen. Dan Sickles' Third Corps line, which would soon be advanced as far as a mile beyond Cemetery Ridge. Ward deployed his line anchored on the left by an outcropping of boulders, large and small, and collectively known as the Devil's Den. Four 10-pounder Parrott guns belonging to Capt. James E. Smith's 4th New York were placed in a prominent, if precarious, position near the Den. The boulders there provided a natural defense, but the 4th Maine was dispatched to extend their open left flank, perpendicular to the main line on the ridge.
Late in the afternoon, the Confederate division of John Bell Hood finally reached their jumping off point on southern Seminary Ridge and was soon ordered forward to the attack. Among these troops, Brig. Gen. Ivander Law's Alabama brigade held the extreme right and was directed toward the Round Tops. While enroute, it was discovered that the Federal's advanced position at the Devil's Den enabled them to deliver a destructive fire upon the Confederates. With prompt and decisive tactical improvisation, Law detached his two right regiments, the 44th and 48th Alabama, and sent them north to flank the Den.
While still in the woods and about 200 yards from the Den, the two Alabama regiments swung around from a column formation into a line of battle, the 48th bringing up the rear. Continuing on, the 44th Alabama suddenly emerged from a growth of small pines into the open. Here they found themselves directly opposite the 4th Maine, which greeted them with a blistering volley.
Accounts:
1. "... in the edge of the wood of small pines appeared the 44th Alabama ... uncomfortably near. The Alabamians came on in a truly heroic manner but were met with equal firmness by the Maine men, although the latter were much less in number. The advance was soon checked and they soon gave it up, retiring into the woods, where they were completely concealed behind rocks and trees." [Maine at Gettysburg, p. 164]
2. "As the line emerged from the woods into the open space ... a sheet of flame burst from the rocks less than a hundred yards away. A few scattering shots in the beginning gave warning in time for my men to fall flat, and thus largely to escape the effects of the main volley. They doubtless seemed to the enemy to be all dead; but the volume of fire which they immediately returned proved that they were very much alive." [Col. W. F. Perry, 44th Alabama, Confederate Veteran, vol. 9, p. 161]
3. "They all, however, did not escape the deadly bullets of the Federal volley. In a letter from my brother, who was a member of Company C, and in that battle, he states that James Mathews was killed outright, and William and Archie Luckie, brothers, were both shot down. ... William perhaps lay in a comatose condition until found by a Federal litter or burial party, and was taken to a hospital, where he recovered. ... Archie Luckie's wound was through the lower jaw and tongue." [John Purifoy, The Horror of War, Confederate Veteran, vol. 33, p. 254]
Epilogue:
Law's decision to detach his two right regiments to neutralize a Union stronghold at and above the Devil's Den was a clever tactical expedient. But in hindsight it was also a grave strategic error, as it considerably shortened the Confederate right flank and set up the epic clash between the 15th Alabama and 20th Maine. One may imagine the outcome had the two additional Alabama regiments been available to extend the Confederate line during their subsequent attack against Little Round Top.
Fortunately for the Federals on Devil's Den ridge, intelligent foresight had led them to deploy the 4th Maine on the left flank, which by chance stood squarely in the path of the 44th Alabama as it emerged from the woods opposite, poised to rout the Union line. Victory under such circumstances often went to the side that struck first - in this instance it was the 4th Maine that initiated the surprise volley which may have laid low a couple dozen or more of the foe. Being caught in the open, the 44th Alabama took refuge among the surrounding rocks and returned an effective fire, but they were soon compelled to withdraw a short distance, and their opportunity for a quick and decisive triumph at the Den was lost.
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