- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
Colonel Fry falls just as the right of his brigade joins Garnett's left in forcing out Webb's 71st Pennsylvania along the stone wall near the angle. Garnett's left center is initially repelled by Webb's 69th Pennsylvania, but Hall's 59th New York is pressured near the copse. Hunt rides into Cowan's New York Battery just opposite Garnett's center. Kemper's brigade now rushes forward, followed by Armistead. Battery K, 1st New York approaches on the Taneytown road. Map reflects the situation at 3:03 p.m.
"On came the second [line], though not in line, but rather in isolated groups, some large, some small" – 2nd Lieutenant Charles E. Troutman, Company G, 12th New Jersey.
"They come on in companies and squads quite up to our lines" – Sergeant Azariah Stratton, Company F, 12th New Jersey.
"One or two pieces [of Battery A, 1st Rhode Island] that had been pushed out further to the front were left behind. … After a little delay we got the men in their places in line, and were soon in the place left vacant by the withdrawal of the battery" – Sergeant Major Hincks, 14th Connecticut.
"A shot through the thigh prostrated me. I was so confident of victory that to some of my men who ran up to carry me off I shouted, 'Go on; it will not last five minutes longer!' The men rushed forward into the smoke, which soon became so dense that I could see little of what was going on before me" – Colonel Birkett D. Fry.
"We were engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict for the possession of the fragile wall … A Federal officer … made a vicious thrust at my breast. I parried it just in time" – Captain Jacob B. Turney, Company K, 1st Tennessee.
"Those of the second line who reached the Emmitsburg road never moved beyond that point to our assistance" – 2nd Lieutenant John H. Moore, Company B, 7th Tennessee.
"[I was] wounded close to the stone fence but got back without being captured" – 1st Corporal Peter J. Bashaw, Company I, 7th Tennessee.
"The men [of the 71st Pennsylvania] … rushed toward us crying: 'Don't shoot! We surrender!' … They were told to go to our rear, but no one went with them" – 1st Lieutenant George W. Finley, Company K, 56th Virginia.
"We went forward … to the rock fence, and I was surprised to find but few friends in sight in getting there" – 1st Sergeant Vincent A. Tapscott, Company D, 56th Virginia.
"Part of [Brigadier General Alexander S.] Webb's brigade … abandoned their position, but fortunately did not retreat entirely. They were, by the personal bravery of General Webb and his officers, immediately formed behind the crest" – Major General Winfield S. Hancock.
"The larger portion of Webb's brigade … was breaking from the cover of their works, and without orders or reason, with no hand lifted to check them, were falling back, a fear-stricken flock of confusion!" – 1st Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell, Aide-de-camp to Brigadier General John Gibbon.
"The last round was in the fourth piece. [1st Sergeant Frederick H.] Fuger said: 'Men, run for your lives.' No. 4 dropped the lanyard. Fuger saw that he did not fire it, so he jumped over the trail, grabbed the lanyard, and gave them the last shot point-blank in their faces, then threw himself to the ground, face downwards, pretending to be dead" – Private Miles F. Newberry, Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery.
"When the enemy appeared behind the wall, [Acting] Serg't [James] Murphy was killed instantly, as were [Privates Martin] Scanlon and [Ansel] Faucett [or Fassett – the latter two mortally wounded]. … That left the fourth piece with only myself, Wm. Patton and Andy Messmer. After our canister was exhausted, I gave orders to load with solid shot and fire into the center of the stone wall to dislodge the enemy's infantry. … [Private] Messmer's sponge staff was broken and he was killed right at the stone wall, and [Private] Patton was instantly killed about the same time" – Private Rody Landrigan, Battery A, 4th U.S.
"The regiment received the command to fire, and a destructive fire was poured into the ranks of the foe, which staggered him and threw his ranks into disorder. … For some reason or another the troops [71st Pennsylvania] on the right of this regiment, and between it and the Angle, abandoned their position" – Anthony W. McDermott, 69th Pennsylvania.
"Our line, much shattered, still kept up the advance until within about 20 paces of the wall, when, for a moment, it recoiled under the terrific fire that poured into our ranks both from their batteries and from their sheltered infantry" – Major Charles S. Peyton, 19th Virginia.
"I was again at [Garnett's] side. … Discovering that the troops of the left … were giving way … the General ordered me to go to the left (he went to the right) and tell the officers to fall back" – Private Robert H. Irvine, courier of the staff of Brigadier General Richard B. Garnett.
"A splendid looking Federal officer, magnificently mounted, straining his horse at full speed along the crest of a hill a hundred yards in our front, and … the impetuous [Brigadier General James L.] Kemper … rising in his stirrups and pointing to the left with his sword, he shouted, 'There are the guns, boys, go for them.' It was an injudicious order; but they obeyed with a will, and mingled with Garnett's people, pushed rapidly up. /// Reserving their fire until they had approached within a hundred yards of his works, our men poured into the enemy one well-directed volley and then at the command of General Kemper [charged] with a cheer upon the works" – Colonel Joseph Mayo, Jr., 3rd Virginia.
"[Brig.] Gen. [Henry J.] Hunt was in my battery, when the enemy were within pistol range. I stood close to him, directing the fire of my guns, as he was busy emptying his revolver over his horse's head, at the rebels" – Captain Andrew Cowan, 1st New York Battery.
"We let the regiment in front of us get within 100 feet of us and then bowled them over like nine pins, picking out the colors first" – Captain Henry L. Abbott, 20th Massachusetts.
"One of our men loaded his gun with a three-fold charge of canister and discharged it, overturning the gun in its recoil, but dealing death amid the opposing ranks" – Member of Battery B, 1st New York.
"Captain [James] Hallinan has fallen and I take his place. So many men have fallen now that I find myself with a few feet of my old captain [George F. Norton of Company D]. His men are pressing mine out of place. I ask him to give way a little to the left" – 1st Lieutenant John E. Dooley, Company C, 1st Virginia.
"I endeavored to get this regiment [possibly the 15th Massachusetts] to swing out to the front, by a change front forward on the right company, take the enemy's line in flank … But in the noise and turmoil of the conflict it was difficult to get my orders understood. … I spurred my horse in front of it … suddenly recalled to the absurd position I had assumed by the whole regiment opening fire! I got to the rear as soon as possible" – Brigadier General John Gibbon.
"Not firing a gun until [within] about 150 yards of their works" – Joseph R. Cabell, 38th Virginia.
"As often as the hat slipped down, [Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead] would hoist it again to the sword's point" – Captain John E. Poindexter, Company H, 38th Virginia.
"Armistead placed his hat on his sword and waving it around, gave the command, 'Forward double quick!' The sabre soon cut through his hat, which slipped to the hilt, but he continued to wave it and urged his men forward" – Color Corporal James Carter, Jr., 53rd Virginia.
"Kemper's brigade takes up the yell, fire, and dashes at them with the bayonet. Armistead, who is a little to the left and rear, catches the enthusiasm, joins the yell, and on the run" – 2nd Lieutenant John H. Lewis, Company G, 9th Virginia.
"William Monte, a private in the Portsmouth Rifle Company [G, 9th Virginia], took his watch from his pocket, noted the time of day, and remarked: 'We have been just nineteen minutes coming.' … Two minutes later a Federal bullet found a vital spot in Monte's breast" – Member of the 9th Virginia.
"The smoke now lifted from our front, and there right before us, scarcely two hundred yards away, stood Cemetery Ridge … the men now advanced at the double-quick" – Captain William W. Wood, Company G, 14th Virginia.
"We moved lively, and came into position on a gallop" – 1st Lieutenant John E. Burton, Battery K, 1st New York.
Sources:
-The Second Corps, by C. E. Troutman, National Tribune, May 20, 1886.
-The Gettysburg Campaign, by Captain Az. Stratton, History of the Men of Company F, by William F. Haines, Mickleton, NJ: 1897, p. 42.
-Hincks quoted in, History of the Fourteenth Regiment Connecticut Vol. Infantry, by Charles D. Page, Meriden, CT: The Horton Printing Co., 1906.
-Pettigrew's Charge at Gettysburg, by General B. D. Fry, Southern Historical Society Papers, vol. VII, 1879, p. 93.
-The First Tennessee at Gettysburg, by Capt. J. B. Turney, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 12 (1900), p. 535.
-J. H. Moore, Weekly Philadelphia Times, November 4, 1882.
-Joseph Peter Bashaw, The Tennessee Civil War Veterans Questionnaires, comp. by Gustavus W. Dyer and John Trotwood Moore, Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1985; Compiled service record of Peter J. Bashaw, Fold3.
-With Pickett at Cemetery Ridge, Lieutenant G. W. Finley, Under Both Flags, by George Morley Vickers, Des Moines, IA: Mutual Book Concern, 1896, p. 308.
-One of Pickett's Men, by V. A. Tapscott, National Tribune, December 10, 1909.
-Official reports of Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, Maj. Chas. S. Peyton.
-The Battle of Gettysburg, by Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell, Gettysburg, William C. Oates and Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell, ed. by Glenn LaFantasie, Bantam Books, 1992.
-Cushing's Battery, by M. F. Newberry, National Tribune, March 23, 1911, p. 3.
-One of Battery A Boys, by Rody Landugan [Landrigan], National Tribune, September 1, 1910; As to Pettit's Battery, by Rody Landugan [Landrigan], National Tribune, June 2, 1910.
-A Brief History of the 69th Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, by Adjutant Anthony W. McDermott, Philadelphia, PA: D. J. Gallagher & Co.
-Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett, by R. H. Irvine, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 23 (1915), p. 391.
-Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, account by Late Colonel Joseph C. Mayo, Southern Historical Society Papers, vol. 34 (1906), p. 332; July 25, 1863, Report of Colonel Joseph Mayo, Jr., Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ed. by Janet B. Hewett, Wilmington, DE: Broadfoot Publishing Company.
-December 2, 1885 letter of Capt. Andrew Cowan to Col. John B. Bachelder, Bachelder Papers, 2:1156
-Fallen Leaves, The Civil War Letters of Major Henry Livermore Abbott, ed. by Robert Garth Scott, Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1991, p. 188.
-Address of Rev. W. O. Beauchamp, Dedication of Monument to Battery B, 1st New York Light Artillery, New York at Gettysburg, III:1183-1184.
-John Dooley, Confederate Soldier. His War Journal, ed. by Joseph T. Durkin, Georgetown University Press, 1945, p. 106.
-Personal Recollections of the Civil War, by John Gibbon, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1928, pp. 151-152.
-July 11, 1863, Report of Major Joseph Robert Cabell, Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ed. by Janet B. Hewett, Wilmington, DE: Broadfoot Publishing Company.
-Gen. Lewis Addison Armistead, by Rev. James E. Poindexter, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol 22 (1914), p. 503.
-James Carter, Jr., War Recollections of the Confederate Veterans of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1861-1865, comp. by the Rawley Martin Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1961, p. 46.
-Recollections from 1860 to 1865, by John H. Lewis, Washington, D.C.: Peake & Co., Publishers, 1895, p. 82.
-The Confederate Soldier, by John W. H. Porter, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 24 (1916), p. 460.
-Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, by William W. Wood, Philadelphia Weekly Times, August 11, 1877, The New Annals of the Civil War, ed. by Peter Cozzens and Robert I. Girardi, Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2004.
-Address by Capt. John E. Burton, Dedication of Monument , 11th New York Independent Battery, New York at Gettysburg, III:1308. [The 11th was attached to Capt. Robert H. Fitzhugh's Battery K, 1st New York. For a discussion on locating this battery and Lt. Augustin N. Parsons' Battery A, 1st New Jersey, see: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/lo...gh-and-parsons-on-july-3.149498/#post-1885858]
"On came the second [line], though not in line, but rather in isolated groups, some large, some small" – 2nd Lieutenant Charles E. Troutman, Company G, 12th New Jersey.
"They come on in companies and squads quite up to our lines" – Sergeant Azariah Stratton, Company F, 12th New Jersey.
"One or two pieces [of Battery A, 1st Rhode Island] that had been pushed out further to the front were left behind. … After a little delay we got the men in their places in line, and were soon in the place left vacant by the withdrawal of the battery" – Sergeant Major Hincks, 14th Connecticut.
"A shot through the thigh prostrated me. I was so confident of victory that to some of my men who ran up to carry me off I shouted, 'Go on; it will not last five minutes longer!' The men rushed forward into the smoke, which soon became so dense that I could see little of what was going on before me" – Colonel Birkett D. Fry.
"We were engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict for the possession of the fragile wall … A Federal officer … made a vicious thrust at my breast. I parried it just in time" – Captain Jacob B. Turney, Company K, 1st Tennessee.
"Those of the second line who reached the Emmitsburg road never moved beyond that point to our assistance" – 2nd Lieutenant John H. Moore, Company B, 7th Tennessee.
"[I was] wounded close to the stone fence but got back without being captured" – 1st Corporal Peter J. Bashaw, Company I, 7th Tennessee.
"The men [of the 71st Pennsylvania] … rushed toward us crying: 'Don't shoot! We surrender!' … They were told to go to our rear, but no one went with them" – 1st Lieutenant George W. Finley, Company K, 56th Virginia.
"We went forward … to the rock fence, and I was surprised to find but few friends in sight in getting there" – 1st Sergeant Vincent A. Tapscott, Company D, 56th Virginia.
"Part of [Brigadier General Alexander S.] Webb's brigade … abandoned their position, but fortunately did not retreat entirely. They were, by the personal bravery of General Webb and his officers, immediately formed behind the crest" – Major General Winfield S. Hancock.
"The larger portion of Webb's brigade … was breaking from the cover of their works, and without orders or reason, with no hand lifted to check them, were falling back, a fear-stricken flock of confusion!" – 1st Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell, Aide-de-camp to Brigadier General John Gibbon.
"The last round was in the fourth piece. [1st Sergeant Frederick H.] Fuger said: 'Men, run for your lives.' No. 4 dropped the lanyard. Fuger saw that he did not fire it, so he jumped over the trail, grabbed the lanyard, and gave them the last shot point-blank in their faces, then threw himself to the ground, face downwards, pretending to be dead" – Private Miles F. Newberry, Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery.
"When the enemy appeared behind the wall, [Acting] Serg't [James] Murphy was killed instantly, as were [Privates Martin] Scanlon and [Ansel] Faucett [or Fassett – the latter two mortally wounded]. … That left the fourth piece with only myself, Wm. Patton and Andy Messmer. After our canister was exhausted, I gave orders to load with solid shot and fire into the center of the stone wall to dislodge the enemy's infantry. … [Private] Messmer's sponge staff was broken and he was killed right at the stone wall, and [Private] Patton was instantly killed about the same time" – Private Rody Landrigan, Battery A, 4th U.S.
"The regiment received the command to fire, and a destructive fire was poured into the ranks of the foe, which staggered him and threw his ranks into disorder. … For some reason or another the troops [71st Pennsylvania] on the right of this regiment, and between it and the Angle, abandoned their position" – Anthony W. McDermott, 69th Pennsylvania.
"Our line, much shattered, still kept up the advance until within about 20 paces of the wall, when, for a moment, it recoiled under the terrific fire that poured into our ranks both from their batteries and from their sheltered infantry" – Major Charles S. Peyton, 19th Virginia.
"I was again at [Garnett's] side. … Discovering that the troops of the left … were giving way … the General ordered me to go to the left (he went to the right) and tell the officers to fall back" – Private Robert H. Irvine, courier of the staff of Brigadier General Richard B. Garnett.
"A splendid looking Federal officer, magnificently mounted, straining his horse at full speed along the crest of a hill a hundred yards in our front, and … the impetuous [Brigadier General James L.] Kemper … rising in his stirrups and pointing to the left with his sword, he shouted, 'There are the guns, boys, go for them.' It was an injudicious order; but they obeyed with a will, and mingled with Garnett's people, pushed rapidly up. /// Reserving their fire until they had approached within a hundred yards of his works, our men poured into the enemy one well-directed volley and then at the command of General Kemper [charged] with a cheer upon the works" – Colonel Joseph Mayo, Jr., 3rd Virginia.
"[Brig.] Gen. [Henry J.] Hunt was in my battery, when the enemy were within pistol range. I stood close to him, directing the fire of my guns, as he was busy emptying his revolver over his horse's head, at the rebels" – Captain Andrew Cowan, 1st New York Battery.
"We let the regiment in front of us get within 100 feet of us and then bowled them over like nine pins, picking out the colors first" – Captain Henry L. Abbott, 20th Massachusetts.
"One of our men loaded his gun with a three-fold charge of canister and discharged it, overturning the gun in its recoil, but dealing death amid the opposing ranks" – Member of Battery B, 1st New York.
"Captain [James] Hallinan has fallen and I take his place. So many men have fallen now that I find myself with a few feet of my old captain [George F. Norton of Company D]. His men are pressing mine out of place. I ask him to give way a little to the left" – 1st Lieutenant John E. Dooley, Company C, 1st Virginia.
"I endeavored to get this regiment [possibly the 15th Massachusetts] to swing out to the front, by a change front forward on the right company, take the enemy's line in flank … But in the noise and turmoil of the conflict it was difficult to get my orders understood. … I spurred my horse in front of it … suddenly recalled to the absurd position I had assumed by the whole regiment opening fire! I got to the rear as soon as possible" – Brigadier General John Gibbon.
"Not firing a gun until [within] about 150 yards of their works" – Joseph R. Cabell, 38th Virginia.
"As often as the hat slipped down, [Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead] would hoist it again to the sword's point" – Captain John E. Poindexter, Company H, 38th Virginia.
"Armistead placed his hat on his sword and waving it around, gave the command, 'Forward double quick!' The sabre soon cut through his hat, which slipped to the hilt, but he continued to wave it and urged his men forward" – Color Corporal James Carter, Jr., 53rd Virginia.
"Kemper's brigade takes up the yell, fire, and dashes at them with the bayonet. Armistead, who is a little to the left and rear, catches the enthusiasm, joins the yell, and on the run" – 2nd Lieutenant John H. Lewis, Company G, 9th Virginia.
"William Monte, a private in the Portsmouth Rifle Company [G, 9th Virginia], took his watch from his pocket, noted the time of day, and remarked: 'We have been just nineteen minutes coming.' … Two minutes later a Federal bullet found a vital spot in Monte's breast" – Member of the 9th Virginia.
"The smoke now lifted from our front, and there right before us, scarcely two hundred yards away, stood Cemetery Ridge … the men now advanced at the double-quick" – Captain William W. Wood, Company G, 14th Virginia.
"We moved lively, and came into position on a gallop" – 1st Lieutenant John E. Burton, Battery K, 1st New York.
Sources:
-The Second Corps, by C. E. Troutman, National Tribune, May 20, 1886.
-The Gettysburg Campaign, by Captain Az. Stratton, History of the Men of Company F, by William F. Haines, Mickleton, NJ: 1897, p. 42.
-Hincks quoted in, History of the Fourteenth Regiment Connecticut Vol. Infantry, by Charles D. Page, Meriden, CT: The Horton Printing Co., 1906.
-Pettigrew's Charge at Gettysburg, by General B. D. Fry, Southern Historical Society Papers, vol. VII, 1879, p. 93.
-The First Tennessee at Gettysburg, by Capt. J. B. Turney, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 12 (1900), p. 535.
-J. H. Moore, Weekly Philadelphia Times, November 4, 1882.
-Joseph Peter Bashaw, The Tennessee Civil War Veterans Questionnaires, comp. by Gustavus W. Dyer and John Trotwood Moore, Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1985; Compiled service record of Peter J. Bashaw, Fold3.
-With Pickett at Cemetery Ridge, Lieutenant G. W. Finley, Under Both Flags, by George Morley Vickers, Des Moines, IA: Mutual Book Concern, 1896, p. 308.
-One of Pickett's Men, by V. A. Tapscott, National Tribune, December 10, 1909.
-Official reports of Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, Maj. Chas. S. Peyton.
-The Battle of Gettysburg, by Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell, Gettysburg, William C. Oates and Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell, ed. by Glenn LaFantasie, Bantam Books, 1992.
-Cushing's Battery, by M. F. Newberry, National Tribune, March 23, 1911, p. 3.
-One of Battery A Boys, by Rody Landugan [Landrigan], National Tribune, September 1, 1910; As to Pettit's Battery, by Rody Landugan [Landrigan], National Tribune, June 2, 1910.
-A Brief History of the 69th Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, by Adjutant Anthony W. McDermott, Philadelphia, PA: D. J. Gallagher & Co.
-Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett, by R. H. Irvine, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 23 (1915), p. 391.
-Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, account by Late Colonel Joseph C. Mayo, Southern Historical Society Papers, vol. 34 (1906), p. 332; July 25, 1863, Report of Colonel Joseph Mayo, Jr., Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ed. by Janet B. Hewett, Wilmington, DE: Broadfoot Publishing Company.
-December 2, 1885 letter of Capt. Andrew Cowan to Col. John B. Bachelder, Bachelder Papers, 2:1156
-Fallen Leaves, The Civil War Letters of Major Henry Livermore Abbott, ed. by Robert Garth Scott, Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1991, p. 188.
-Address of Rev. W. O. Beauchamp, Dedication of Monument to Battery B, 1st New York Light Artillery, New York at Gettysburg, III:1183-1184.
-John Dooley, Confederate Soldier. His War Journal, ed. by Joseph T. Durkin, Georgetown University Press, 1945, p. 106.
-Personal Recollections of the Civil War, by John Gibbon, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1928, pp. 151-152.
-July 11, 1863, Report of Major Joseph Robert Cabell, Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ed. by Janet B. Hewett, Wilmington, DE: Broadfoot Publishing Company.
-Gen. Lewis Addison Armistead, by Rev. James E. Poindexter, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol 22 (1914), p. 503.
-James Carter, Jr., War Recollections of the Confederate Veterans of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1861-1865, comp. by the Rawley Martin Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1961, p. 46.
-Recollections from 1860 to 1865, by John H. Lewis, Washington, D.C.: Peake & Co., Publishers, 1895, p. 82.
-The Confederate Soldier, by John W. H. Porter, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 24 (1916), p. 460.
-Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, by William W. Wood, Philadelphia Weekly Times, August 11, 1877, The New Annals of the Civil War, ed. by Peter Cozzens and Robert I. Girardi, Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2004.
-Address by Capt. John E. Burton, Dedication of Monument , 11th New York Independent Battery, New York at Gettysburg, III:1308. [The 11th was attached to Capt. Robert H. Fitzhugh's Battery K, 1st New York. For a discussion on locating this battery and Lt. Augustin N. Parsons' Battery A, 1st New Jersey, see: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/lo...gh-and-parsons-on-july-3.149498/#post-1885858]
Bringing the