- Joined
- Jul 28, 2015
I have been doing quite a bit of reading and according to Colonel Birkett D. Fry, in a letter to Bachelder, on December 27th 1877 he stated that, on the morning of July 3, Lee, Longstreet and Hill rode up and sat on a fallen tree approximately 150 feet from Fry's position. They consulted a map for a great length, mounted up and rode away, immediately after, couriers and staff began moving briskly about. Within minutes Pettigrew rode up and said that after a heavy cannonade we would assault the position in our front. Pettigrew then instructed Fry to confer with Pickett about alignment. Picket, Garnett and Fry then met:
"General (Richard B) Garnett who commanded his left brigade, having joined us, it was agreed that he would dress on my command. I immediately returned to and informed Gen Pettigrew of this agreement. It was then understood that my command should be considered the center and that both divisions should align themselves by it."
Fry would go on to tell of his wounding and being carried a few paces behind the line by Union soldiers and tended to by officers of "Genl Shaler's brigade" and of an officer of Genl Hancock's staff. The location actually puts him south of the Copse as Shaler's brigade was part of the 6th Corps.
Captain J.B. Turny of Company K 1st TN Archer/Fry's Brigade:
"By this time General Armistead had noted the importance of the position held by the First Tennessee, and was obliquing to his left to reach us. A few moments of waiting brought his recruits to our aid. The General was on foot at the head of his column. I shall ever have a distinct remembrance of the dash and fire that was in him. He threw his hat on his saber, called for the command to follow, and sealed the stone wall. I kept by his side, and with us went the colors of the First Tennessee. Armistead's purpose was to enfilade, as I had at-tempted. Again we became the targets for the concentrated fire of the enemy's guns of all sizes and all positions. At the first volley I noticed General Armistead drop his saber, on which still hung his hat, and grasp with his right hand his left arm and stagger as if he were about to fall. I caught and supported him. He was wounded in the left arm, and his men bore him behind the stone wall for protection. Seeing the impossibility of effective work from behind the wall and the shattered condition of our lines...."
This position depending upon the size of the Copse at the time was most likely no more than 75 feet from it, well within the Angle.
The above seems to indicate that the object or at least the center of the attack was the Union center and coincidently the Copse.
"General (Richard B) Garnett who commanded his left brigade, having joined us, it was agreed that he would dress on my command. I immediately returned to and informed Gen Pettigrew of this agreement. It was then understood that my command should be considered the center and that both divisions should align themselves by it."
Fry would go on to tell of his wounding and being carried a few paces behind the line by Union soldiers and tended to by officers of "Genl Shaler's brigade" and of an officer of Genl Hancock's staff. The location actually puts him south of the Copse as Shaler's brigade was part of the 6th Corps.
Captain J.B. Turny of Company K 1st TN Archer/Fry's Brigade:
"By this time General Armistead had noted the importance of the position held by the First Tennessee, and was obliquing to his left to reach us. A few moments of waiting brought his recruits to our aid. The General was on foot at the head of his column. I shall ever have a distinct remembrance of the dash and fire that was in him. He threw his hat on his saber, called for the command to follow, and sealed the stone wall. I kept by his side, and with us went the colors of the First Tennessee. Armistead's purpose was to enfilade, as I had at-tempted. Again we became the targets for the concentrated fire of the enemy's guns of all sizes and all positions. At the first volley I noticed General Armistead drop his saber, on which still hung his hat, and grasp with his right hand his left arm and stagger as if he were about to fall. I caught and supported him. He was wounded in the left arm, and his men bore him behind the stone wall for protection. Seeing the impossibility of effective work from behind the wall and the shattered condition of our lines...."
This position depending upon the size of the Copse at the time was most likely no more than 75 feet from it, well within the Angle.
The above seems to indicate that the object or at least the center of the attack was the Union center and coincidently the Copse.