Hall and Harrow face the Charge

infomanpa

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Pennsylvania
I am trying to determine what new information was discovered over the last 50 years that changed what we understand about the initial alignment of the brigades of Hall and Harrow on July 3.

George Stewart and Edwin Coddington published books in the 50's and 60's that placed Hall's brigade in 2 lines and Harrow's in a single line, which is consistent with the monument placements on today's battlefield For some reason, these historians did not agree with those who placed the monuments for Harrow's regiments. Why? See below comparing the monument alignment vs. Coddington/Stewart.
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To make things more confusing, all recent maps show four regiments (7th MI of Hall's brigade, 19th ME, 15th MA and 82nd NY of Harrow's brigade)being located as a second line as shown below. (notice that this particular map incorrectly identifies the 19th ME as the 16th ME.)
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What's going on here? Why the second line? Which source was discovered?
 
Stewart's map appears rather accurate to me, in terms of alignment, based upon the primary sources of Hall's and Harrow's brigades in my collection. After the Confederates crossed the wall to the north, the 19th Massachusetts moved by the right oblique to reach the clump of trees.

Hall's regiments remained in essentially the same position they had occupied when darkness fell the previous evening, July 2. So did the 82nd New York of Harrow's brigade. I think a couple of Biddle's regiments were on the 82nd New York's left at nightfall on July 2, but these probably pulled back at first light on July 3, before the rest of Harrow's regiments rejoined. The 19th Maine, coming up first in the morning, joined to the left of the 82nd New York. Four companies (B, D, E and F) of the 19th Maine were immediately sent forward toward the Codori farm as skirmishers to cover the division's front, and they did not fall back until Pickett's men advanced - the remaining six companies of the 19th Maine numbered about 175 enlisted men, making it slightly smaller in size than the 82nd New York, then with about 190 enlisted men. When the four skirmish companies of the 19th Maine fell back on Pickett's advance, they joined whatever unit they came across; no doubt some fought with Hall's men. Capt. Starbird's Company F, on the far left (south), actually fell in with Stannard's Vermonters.

Next to return on the front line was the much reduced 1st Minnesota, augmented by Company F which had previously been detached as skirmishers on July 2 and had suffered much fewer casualties that day. While the cannonade was in progress on July 3, Company C of the 1st Minnesota, which had been serving as the provost guard at division headquarters - probably at the Peter Frey farm, was sent back to the front. Coming across the 19th Massachusetts, they joined on their left. When the 19th Massachusetts moved toward the trees, Company C went with them, and by coincidence they encountered the rest of their regiment (1st Minnesota) moving up in the same direction on their left.

I would say those recent maps are way off. Certainly they would be no gaps in the front line as shown.
 
John Gibbon's Personal Recollections of the Civil War: He states that his headquarters ambulance was in a yard near the next house south of Meade's headquarters, which would be the Peter Frey place. Gibbon spent the night of July 2/3 there, and so I take it to have been his headquarters. I figure the 19th Massachusetts was likely due west from there, just on the "easterly side of the ridge line," as Watt (below) puts it.

Ernest Linden Watt, History of the Nineteenth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry: Describes the company [C] of the 1st Minnesota regiment coming up on the left of the 19th. The author says they came from Meade's headquarters, but I think it more likely they had been at Frey's, since they were on provost guard duty with the division. Moving due west from the Frey place, the first regiment Company C would have encountered would be the 19th Massachusetts. As the cannonade was in progress, it's not surprising that Company C did not take time to roam around the field looking for their regiment, which would have been in their left front, only about 130 yards away by my estimate.

Fixing the 19th Massachusetts also fixes the 42nd New York on their immediate right. Watt says the 20th Massachusetts was directly in their front, on the first line. On the right of the first line, the 59th New York occupied the stone wall to the left of the gap in the stone wall (through which Brown's battery had passed on July 2). On their left was the 7th Michigan, next the 20th Massachusetts. Accounting for attrition and the calculated frontages, would place the left wing of the 20th Massachusetts in front of the right wing of the 19th Massachusetts by my calculations, which also conforms with Watt's statement.

Second Reunion of the 19th Maine Association and Capt. Silas Adams' The Nineteenth Maine at Gettysburg describe the deployment and movements of the four skirmish companies on July 3.

As a rule monument positions are approximate, or only mark their position at a moment in time, but it seems to me that in this case they are rather in agreement with extant eyewitness accounts as far as the brigade boundaries go. But I do concur with Stewart's alignment (left to right) of Harrow's brigade as 15 MA - 1 MN - 19 ME - 82 NY although some of the primary sources indicate different alignments.
 
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John Gibbon's Personal Recollections of the Civil War: He states that his headquarters ambulance was in a yard near the next house south of Meade's headquarters, which would be the Peter Frey place. Gibbon spent the night of July 2/3 there, and so I take it to have been his headquarters. I figure the 19th Massachusetts was likely due east from there, just on the "westerly side of the ridge line," as Watt (below) puts it.

Ernest Linden Watt, History of the Nineteenth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry: Describes the company [C] of the 1st Minnesota regiment coming up on the left of the 19th. The author says they came from Meade's headquarters, but I think it more likely they had been at Frey's, since they were on provost guard duty with the division. Moving due east from the Frey place, the first regiment Company C would have encountered would be the 19th Massachusetts. As the cannonade was in progress, it's not surprising that Company C did not take time to roam around the field looking for their regiment, which would have been in their left front, only about 130 yards away by my estimate.

Fixing the 19th Massachusetts also fixes the 42nd New York on their immediate right. Watt says the 20th Massachusetts was directly in their front, on the first line. On the right of the first line, the 59th New York occupied the stone wall to the left of the gap in the stone wall (through which Brown's battery had passed on July 2). On their left was the 7th Michigan, next the 20th Massachusetts. Accounting for attrition and the calculated frontages, would place the left wing of the 20th Massachusetts in front of the right wing of the 19th Massachusetts by my calculations, which also conforms with Watt's statement.

Second Reunion of the 19th Maine Association and Capt. Silas Adams' The Nineteenth Maine at Gettysburg describe the deployment and movements of the four skirmish companies on July 3.

As a rule monument positions are approximate, or only mark their position at a moment in time, but it seems to me that in this case they are rather in agreement with extant eyewitness accounts as far as the brigade boundaries go. But I do concur with Stewart's alignment (left to right) of Harrow's brigade as 15 MA - 1 MN - 19 ME - 82 NY although some of the primary sources indicate different alignments.


Great information, thanks for sharing!
 
As is often the case, I agree with the esteemed @Tom Elmore. Stewart's map is the more accurate.

As for why there are two lines, I do have a theory. Personally, I think that many of the map makers are not shrinking the size of the battle lines due to casualties which, if the regiments that were in the front line were drawn there, the brigade front would be WAY too long. Creating a second line is a shorthand way of putting all the troops in the area and not creating a crowded map which would be difficult to read.

Ryan
 
I would say those recent maps are way off. Certainly they would be no gaps in the front line as shown.
As is often the case, I agree with the esteemed @Tom Elmore. Stewart's map is the more accurate.

Thanks, gentlemen. The modern maps that I have found that show the 2 lines are:
1. The Civil War Trust (which is included in the OP)
2. Phil Laino's Gettysburg Campaign Atlas.
3. Hal Jesperson's map at www.cwmaps.com

As you can see, these are no lightweights here! It's disheartening. Am I the only one who is disturbed by normally trusted sources that make maps without using primary references?

To be fair, one modern source of good maps, Gottfried's The Maps of Gettysburg, does agree with the Stewart map.
 
Thanks, gentlemen. The modern maps that I have found that show the 2 lines are:
1. The Civil War Trust (which is included in the OP)
2. Phil Laino's Gettysburg Campaign Atlas.
3. Hal Jesperson's map at www.cwmaps.com

As you can see, these are no lightweights here! It's disheartening. Am I the only one who is disturbed by normally trusted sources that make maps without using primary references?

To be fair, one modern source of good maps, Gottfried's The Maps of Gettysburg, does agree with the Stewart map.

It does bother me a little but I try not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Phil Laino's map book is excellent but I don't agree with everything in it. There aren't many books with which I agree 100%.

Ryan
 
Hall's regiments remained in essentially the same position they had occupied when darkness fell the previous evening, July 2. So did the 82nd New York of Harrow's brigade. I think a couple of Biddle's regiments were on the 82nd New York's left at nightfall on July 2, but these probably pulled back at first light on July 3, before the rest of Harrow's regiments rejoined. The 19th Maine, coming up first in the morning, joined to the left of the 82nd New York.

So....any explanation as to why the veterans of the 82nd NY placed their regiment monument on the LEFT flank of Harrow's brigade, while Stewart's map places this regiment on the RIGHT flank? (See my OP maps)
 
Sources that mention regimental alignments of Harrow's brigade:

19th Maine at Gettysburg, Capt. Silas Adams: 82 NY - 1 MN - 15 MA - 19 ME

82nd New York, New York at Gettysburg, II:664: 1 MN - 82 NY - Hall's Brigade

Official Report, Col. Heath, 19th Maine: 19 ME - 82 NY

Official Report, Lt. Col. Joslin, 15th Massachusetts: 15 MA - 1 MN

Official Report, Capt. John Darrow, 82nd New York: (After returning from the copse) "We then took our former position on the right of the brigade."

Andrew E. Ford, The Story of the Fifteenth Regiment Massachusetts: The 15th was some 25 or more rods (415 feet) to the left [of its current monument].

I do not know why the monuments were placed as they are, but the officer commanding the 82nd New York as of August 3, 1863, and the individual(s) who prepared the address at the dedication of the 82nd's monument, place their regiment on the right of the brigade, while Col. Heath of the 19th Maine, writing on July 4, 1863, also placed the 82nd New York either on, or toward, the right of the brigade. Both the 19th Maine and 1st Minnesota rejoined the brigade on the morning of July 3, and the implication is that the 82nd New York was already in position on the right. Available evidence suggests the 15th Massachusetts occupied the left.
 
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I do not know why the monuments were placed as they are, but the officer commanding the 82nd New York as of August 3, 1863, and the individual(s) who prepared the address at the dedication of the 82nd's monument, place their regiment on the right of the brigade, while Col. Heath of the 19th Maine, writing on July 4, 1863, also placed the 82nd New York either on, or toward, the right of the brigade. Both the 19th Maine and 1st Minnesota rejoined the brigade on the morning of July 3, and the implication is that the 82nd New York was already in position on the right. Available evidence suggests the 15th Massachusetts occupied the left.

I've always understood that veterans of regiments were instrumental in placing monuments. It is strange that despite the evidence, the 82nd NY monument was placed on the left flank of Harrow's brigade. Interestingly, of all the monuments of this brigade, only the 82nd NY has no flank markers. Maybe someone or some other group were responsible for this mistake?

So, now we have a new problem! On the battlefield, since there is no 82nd NY on the right flank, the right flank marker of the right extreme of Harrow's brigade, the 19th ME is right up against the left flank marker of the 20th MA of Hall's brigade! There is no room to insert the 82nd NY. So, where would you place the 82nd NY if you had to relocate the monuments? Would you shift to the left the entire brigade of Harrow or shift to the right the entire brigade of Hall? Does this mean that the veterans of the regiments of one or both brigades got their locations wrong? Sheesh.:nah disagree:
 
The veterans were a little busy at the time, keeping their heads down, besides moving to positions all over the field after marching a few hundred miles, so it's no wonder they themselves often argued over what happened and where, even within their own regiment, let alone adjacent units. What is remarkable is that we can still piece together a reasonably accurate (so we think) assessment using extant accounts, but in the computer age we have the distinct advantage of being able to access and collate a vast amount of widely dispersed data. Even so, it's not an exact science and still frequently comes down to a judgment call.

I think Marcus Aurelius was on to something when he said, "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."
 
The veterans were a little busy at the time, keeping their heads down, besides moving to positions all over the field after marching a few hundred miles, so it's no wonder they themselves often argued over what happened and where, even within their own regiment, let alone adjacent units.

Exactly. I've always been skeptical as to how they could know so precisely where to put those flank markers.
 
The E. B. Cope map prepared for the Gettysburg National Park Commission, and used in Five Points in Record of North Carolina in the War, has the alignment (left to right/south to north) as: 82 NY - 1 MN - 15 MA - 19 ME. I suppose this is the source of the monument placement on the field, and the alignments that were also used in Maine at Gettysburg, and History of the Second Corps.

As stated above, the alternative alignment used by Stewart is 15 MA - 1 MN - 19 ME - 82 NY, which is in accord with the official reports of Heath, Joslin and Darrow, so far as they go.

I was hoping Brig. Gen. John Gibbon would be able to help. In the Bachelder Papers (1:260), he wrote that he was behind the 19th Maine and trying to get it to swing to the right to attack Pickett. His aide, Capt. Edward Moale (1:262), was with Gibbon at the time and states that they were behind the left center of the 19th Maine, and that to the left and front of them were Vermont troops (Stannard). So Moale does not help clarify matters. Gibbon later writes (2:1031) that the 19th Maine was the left regiment of his division, so he has only muddied the water by being at odds with both of the above alignments, unless one supposes 19 ME - 82 NY - 15 MA - 1 MN, which also conforms with the official reports of Heath and Joslin, but not Darrow (or Andrew Ford).

Unless some missing piece resolves this puzzle, I am still leaning toward Stewart's alignment.

(One might reconcile the post-war versions of Gibbon/Moale by considering that some of the 19th Maine's skirmishers fell back and rallied upon the left of the brigade, but this is getting rather creative.)
 
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The E. B. Cope map prepared for the Gettysburg National Park Commission, and used in Five Points in Record of North Carolina in the War, has the alignment (left to right/south to north) as: 82 NY - 1 MN - 15 MA - 19 ME. I suppose this is the source of the monument placement on the field, and the alignments that were also used in Maine at Gettysburg, and History of the Second Corps.

As stated above, the alternative alignment used by Stewart is 15 MA - 1 MN - 19 ME - 82 NY, which is in accord with the official reports of Heath, Joslin and Darrow, so far as they go.

I was hoping Brig. Gen. John Gibbon would be able to help. In the Bachelder Papers (1:260), he wrote that he was behind the 19th Maine and trying to get it to swing to the right to attack Pickett. His aide, Capt. Edward Moale (1:262), was with Gibbon at the time and states that they were behind the left center of the 19th Maine, and that to the left and front of them were Vermont troops (Stannard). So Moale does not help clarify matters. Gibbon later writes (2:1031) that the 19th Maine was the left regiment of his division, so he has only muddied the water by being at odds with both of the above alignments, unless one supposes 19 ME - 82 NY - 15 MA - 1 MN, which also conforms with the official reports of Heath and Joslin, but not Darrow (or Andrew Ford).

Unless some missing piece resolves this puzzle, I am still leaning toward Stewart's alignment.

(One might reconcile the post-war versions of Gibbon/Moale by considering that some of the 19th Maine's skirmishers fell back and rallied upon the left of the brigade, but this is getting rather creative.)

Thanks for going back and sharing your findings. It is odd that in this case there is so much conflicting evidence whereas we are pretty certain about the alignments of the other Union regiments on the line that day.
 
By July 3rd, Harrow's regiments were fairly depleted by the fighting on July 2nd. I imagine that the brigade line was so small that Gibbon could have been behind the 19th Maine with Harrow's brigade extending not too much further south (the 1st Minnesota and 15th Massachusetts took a beating on July 2nd). Or he could just be misremembering and it's possible that Gibbon and his aide were in communications and that would lead to their stories corroborating.

Personally, like @Tom Elmore, I tend to lean towards the 15th MA-1MN-19th ME-2nd NYSM myself but I'm not entirely wedded to this interpretation.

Ryan
 
I initially overlooked a statement made by Lt. Col. Joslin of the 15th Massachusetts in Andrew E. Ford's, The Story of the Fifteenth Regiment Massachusetts. Joslin wrote that the 15th Massachusetts took position on the left of the 1st Minnesota AND was the extreme left of the brigade (and the division).

I estimate that there were about 123 enlisted men in the 15th Massachusetts prior to the cannonade on July 3. In Joslin's Official Report, he cites three killed and wounded during the cannonade, and two more wounded later on the skirmish line, but neglects to mention how many were killed and wounded when the regiment went toward the copse to help repel the Confederate infantry. (Incidentally, Joslin also notes 28 enlisted men missing in his written report, but five days later in a tally indicates that only two were missing. However, he also lists 26 prisoners underneath the tally, which would not be captured Confederates, but men who were captured from his regiment. Joslin was correct the first time - those 28 were taken on July 2, per a count in Busey and Busey's Union Casualties.)

Now I wonder whether Moale and Gibbon were actually behind the 15th Massachusetts, rather than the 19th Maine, when Gibbon was wounded. In his, Personal Recollections ..., Gibbon did not identify the regiment. Perhaps Moale put the idea into his head. If it was the 15th Massachusetts, their comments about Vermont troops (13th Vermont) being to the left and front is absolutely correct AND would confirm Gibbon's memory that he was at the far left of his division.
 
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I initially overlooked a statement made by Lt. Col. Joslin of the 15th Massachusetts in Andrew E. Ford's, The Story of the Fifteenth Regiment Massachusetts.
Official Report, Lt. Col. Joslin, 15th Massachusetts: 15 MA - 1 MN

At least, you did mention the Joslin report in your May 30th post. So, I'm with you and going with the 15th MA on the left.
 
I initially overlooked a statement made by Lt. Col. Joslin of the 15th Massachusetts in Andrew E. Ford's, The Story of the Fifteenth Regiment Massachusetts. Joslin wrote that the 15th Massachusetts took position on the left of the 1st Minnesota AND was the extreme left of the brigade (and the division).

I estimate that there were about 123 enlisted men in the 15th Massachusetts prior to the cannonade on July 3. In Joslin's Official Report, he cites three killed and wounded during the cannonade, and two more wounded later on the skirmish line, but neglects to mention how many were killed and wounded when the regiment went toward the copse to help repel the Confederate infantry. (Incidentally, Joslin also notes 28 enlisted men missing in his written report, but five days later in a tally indicates that only two were missing. However, he also lists 26 prisoners underneath the tally, which would not be captured Confederates, but men who were captured from his regiment. Joslin was correct the first time - those 28 were taken on July 2, per a count in Busey and Busey's Union Casualties.)

Now I wonder whether Moale and Gibbon were actually behind the 15th Massachusetts, rather than the 19th Maine, when Gibbon was wounded. In his, Personal Recollections ..., Gibbon did not identify the regiment. Perhaps Moale put the idea into his head. If it was the 15th Massachusetts, their comments about Vermont troops (13th Vermont) being to the left and front is absolutely correct AND would confirm Gibbon's memory that he was at the far left of his division.

If Gibbon didn't mention it in his writings, my guess is that Captain Moale misremembered and Gibbon took his word for it and repeated the 19th Maine. I'd still argue that it was probably the 15th Massachusetts on the far left.

Ryan
 
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