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The 15th Alabama and 20th Maine desperately grapple at close quarters, with no clear advantage to either side. On the opposite end of Colonel Rice's line, most of the Confederates have fallen back into the woods to regroup. The majority of those who remain behind, because of wounds or desire to fight it out, will be gathered in as prisoners. The rest of General Weed's brigade ascends the rocky slope of Little Round Top in disorder, bringing with them the last two guns of Lieutenant Hazlett's battery. Company A of the 15th Alabama refrains from attacking a Federal ordnance train east of Round Top, deterred by what may have been an infantry guard detachment. Map depicts the situation at 5:10 p.m.
"The Colonel [Chamberlain of the 20th Maine] sent back word that the enemy were pressing his left and wanted to know if he [Captain Woodward of the 83rd Pennsylvania] could send him a company. Woodward returned an answer … that he could not spare a company, but that if Col. Chamberlain would move his right to his left, he would move the Eighty-Third also and fill up the gap. Col. Chamberlain at once moved his regiment to the left" – Captain A. M. Judson, Company E, 83rd Pennsylvania.
"We retreated with a backward step obliquely to the left so as to close up the gap" – J. B. Potter, 83rd Pennsylvania.
"I had brought two companies from the right to strengthen [the left] … Officers came to me, shouting that we were 'annihilated,' and men were beginning to face to the rear" – Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, 20th Maine.
"The [enemy] fire was so destructive that my line wavered … five times they rallied and charged us" – Colonel William C. Oates, 15th Alabama.
"Shots from the attack on the left reached the rear of the right of the brigade" – Captain Eugene A. Nash, 44th New York.
"Captain [Francis K.] Shaaff [of Company A, 15th Alabama] claimed that there were Union troops in the woods east of the [Federal ordnance] wagons and he feared capture of his company if he attempted to capture the wagons and desisted in consequence" – Colonel William C. Oates, 15th Alabama.
"When I reached the place [Jacob Weikert house], our skirmishers were lying behind the stone walls around the house, and as I rode up, a small body of Rebels, further up the hill … saluted me with a volley" – Assistant Surgeon John S. Billings, U.S. Regulars.
"Here were halted and reformed, in connection with the other regiments" – Major J. C. Rogers, 5th Texas.
"We halted and formed our line" – "Mark," 5th Texas.
"Five men belonging to [Company E, 44th New York] volunteered to advance beyond our lines, rescue and capture prisoners … [First] Sergeant [Consider H.] Willett found a large number of the enemy concealed behind the rocks and the depression in the field, lying prone along the ground. They were taken by surprise at his appearance among them and he very adroitly put them in motion and had them conducted to the rear" – Captain Eugene A. Nash, 44th New York.
"Just then a slap on my back with a sword and an order to throw down my gun and behave myself … I was a prisoner" – Corporal John W. Stevens, Company K, 5th Texas.
"We ascended the hill from the northern and most gently sloping side, but even at this point the climb was not an easy one. All semblance of order was soon lost … the three regiments mingled indiscriminately … A section of Hazlett's battery was ascending the hill at the same time and the horses were being lashed to their utmost efforts. Some of the men grasped the wheels of the gun carriages and sought to aid the poor animals. With much straining, pushing, and hauling, the guns were slowly brought up the hill" – Member of the 146th New York.
"The men of the regiment dragged the guns of Hazlett's regular battery by hand to the summit" – John H. Kerr, Company I, 155th Pennsylvania.
Sources:
-History of the Eighty-Third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, by A. M. Judson, Erie, PA: B. F. F. Lynn, Publisher, p. 67.
-J. B. Potter, National Tribune, February 25, 1892, p. 4.
-July 6, 1863 letter of Col. Joshua Chamberlain to Brig. Gen. James Barnes, Civil War Times, June 2012, pp. 38-39.
-Gettysburg, William C. Oates and Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell, ed. by Glenn LaFantasie, Bantam Books, 1992.
-Historical Sketch of the 44th New York, by Capt. Eugene A. Nash, New York at Gettysburg, I:370.
-Gettysburg, William C. Oates and Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell, ed. by Glenn LaFantasie, Bantam Books, 1992.
-Extract from narrative of Asst. Surg. John Shaw Billings, Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ed. by Janet B. Hewett, vol. 27, serial nos. 43-44, Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1998, p. 553.
-Official Report of Maj. J. C. Rogers.
-July 29, 1863 letter from "Mark," 5th Texas, to his mother, Brake Collection, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
-A History of the Forty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, by Capt. Eugene Arus Nash, Chicago, IL: R. R. Donnelly & Sons Co., 1911, p. 152.
-Reminiscences of the Civil War, by Judge John W. Stevens, Hillsboro, TX: 1902.
-Campaigns of the One Hundred and Forty-Sixth Regiment New York State Volunteers, comp. by Mary Genevie Green Brainard, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1915, p. 118.
-Address of Sgt. John H. Kerr, Dedication of Monument to the 155th Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, II:777.
"The Colonel [Chamberlain of the 20th Maine] sent back word that the enemy were pressing his left and wanted to know if he [Captain Woodward of the 83rd Pennsylvania] could send him a company. Woodward returned an answer … that he could not spare a company, but that if Col. Chamberlain would move his right to his left, he would move the Eighty-Third also and fill up the gap. Col. Chamberlain at once moved his regiment to the left" – Captain A. M. Judson, Company E, 83rd Pennsylvania.
"We retreated with a backward step obliquely to the left so as to close up the gap" – J. B. Potter, 83rd Pennsylvania.
"I had brought two companies from the right to strengthen [the left] … Officers came to me, shouting that we were 'annihilated,' and men were beginning to face to the rear" – Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, 20th Maine.
"The [enemy] fire was so destructive that my line wavered … five times they rallied and charged us" – Colonel William C. Oates, 15th Alabama.
"Shots from the attack on the left reached the rear of the right of the brigade" – Captain Eugene A. Nash, 44th New York.
"Captain [Francis K.] Shaaff [of Company A, 15th Alabama] claimed that there were Union troops in the woods east of the [Federal ordnance] wagons and he feared capture of his company if he attempted to capture the wagons and desisted in consequence" – Colonel William C. Oates, 15th Alabama.
"When I reached the place [Jacob Weikert house], our skirmishers were lying behind the stone walls around the house, and as I rode up, a small body of Rebels, further up the hill … saluted me with a volley" – Assistant Surgeon John S. Billings, U.S. Regulars.
"Here were halted and reformed, in connection with the other regiments" – Major J. C. Rogers, 5th Texas.
"We halted and formed our line" – "Mark," 5th Texas.
"Five men belonging to [Company E, 44th New York] volunteered to advance beyond our lines, rescue and capture prisoners … [First] Sergeant [Consider H.] Willett found a large number of the enemy concealed behind the rocks and the depression in the field, lying prone along the ground. They were taken by surprise at his appearance among them and he very adroitly put them in motion and had them conducted to the rear" – Captain Eugene A. Nash, 44th New York.
"Just then a slap on my back with a sword and an order to throw down my gun and behave myself … I was a prisoner" – Corporal John W. Stevens, Company K, 5th Texas.
"We ascended the hill from the northern and most gently sloping side, but even at this point the climb was not an easy one. All semblance of order was soon lost … the three regiments mingled indiscriminately … A section of Hazlett's battery was ascending the hill at the same time and the horses were being lashed to their utmost efforts. Some of the men grasped the wheels of the gun carriages and sought to aid the poor animals. With much straining, pushing, and hauling, the guns were slowly brought up the hill" – Member of the 146th New York.
"The men of the regiment dragged the guns of Hazlett's regular battery by hand to the summit" – John H. Kerr, Company I, 155th Pennsylvania.
Sources:
-History of the Eighty-Third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, by A. M. Judson, Erie, PA: B. F. F. Lynn, Publisher, p. 67.
-J. B. Potter, National Tribune, February 25, 1892, p. 4.
-July 6, 1863 letter of Col. Joshua Chamberlain to Brig. Gen. James Barnes, Civil War Times, June 2012, pp. 38-39.
-Gettysburg, William C. Oates and Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell, ed. by Glenn LaFantasie, Bantam Books, 1992.
-Historical Sketch of the 44th New York, by Capt. Eugene A. Nash, New York at Gettysburg, I:370.
-Gettysburg, William C. Oates and Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell, ed. by Glenn LaFantasie, Bantam Books, 1992.
-Extract from narrative of Asst. Surg. John Shaw Billings, Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ed. by Janet B. Hewett, vol. 27, serial nos. 43-44, Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1998, p. 553.
-Official Report of Maj. J. C. Rogers.
-July 29, 1863 letter from "Mark," 5th Texas, to his mother, Brake Collection, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
-A History of the Forty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, by Capt. Eugene Arus Nash, Chicago, IL: R. R. Donnelly & Sons Co., 1911, p. 152.
-Reminiscences of the Civil War, by Judge John W. Stevens, Hillsboro, TX: 1902.
-Campaigns of the One Hundred and Forty-Sixth Regiment New York State Volunteers, comp. by Mary Genevie Green Brainard, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1915, p. 118.
-Address of Sgt. John H. Kerr, Dedication of Monument to the 155th Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, II:777.
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