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- Jan 16, 2015
We tend to forget the presence of a third opponent at Gettysburg, one who worked impartially and tirelessly against the other two sides, North and South. Mustering the combined forces of heat and humidity, this foe – the weather – claimed for itself a rather impressive number of casualties among officers and the ranks, often at critical moments in the battle. In order to attend to those stricken, others were taken out of the fight, further diminishing their unit’s combat effectiveness.
Although heat exhaustion was usually a temporary condition, recovery was not always rapid or steady, meaning the ability of an affected individual to function at their previous level might be impaired for some time. On the other hand, the more severe state of heat stroke could result in death or permanent debility.
Three out of the five regimental commanders in the Alabama brigade of Evander M. Law were literally felled by the heat on July 2, while a fourth who was already in a delicate condition was likely seriously impacted. This brigade had just marched 25 miles to reach the field:
-Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence H. Scruggs, 4th Alabama. Reached stone fence in initial advance … Colonel Scruggs fell from sheer exhaustion and was carried to the rear by the litter bearers, one of whom, while doing so, was killed, James H. Cooke of G Company. … Scruggs returned from the hospital on the morning of July 3, partially recovered. … Several of the men fell out during the advance on July 2, unable to go farther. One was lying face down in the wheat and did not move when lightly jabbed with the tip of my sword. (R. T. Coles, From Huntsville to Appomattox, Adjutant, 4 AL)
-Colonel William C. Oates, 15th Alabama. A number overcome by heat (fell) out while scaling the rugged mountain (Big Round Top). … (Upon retreating from Little Round Top) I was so overcome by heat and exertion that I fainted and fell, and would have been captured but for two stalwart, powerful men of the regiment, who carried me to the top of the mountain (Big Round Top), where Dr. Reeves, the Assistant Surgeon, poured water on my head from a canteen until it revived me. When I revived I turned over the command of the regiment to Captain Hill temporarily. (William C. Oates, The Battle of Gettysburg, pp. 101-102)
-Colonel William F. Perry, 44th Alabama. The Major (George W. Carey) found me at the foot of the hill, completely prostrated by heat and excessive exertion … unable to stand without support … my disability continued until after nightfall. (W. F. Perry, The Devil’s Den, Confederate Veteran, vol. 9, p. 161)
-Colonel James W. Jackson, 47th Alabama. Jackson was unable to keep up with the regiment during its advance. A staff officer rode up to Lieutenant Colonel W. J. Bulger and directed him to take charge of the regiment. Colonel Jackson was unable to meet the physical demands of his position even without the heat, but it probably exacerbated his condition. He resigned his commission after Gettysburg and died on July 1, 1865. (Joseph Q. Burton, Sketch of the 47th Alabama; Military Images, vol. XX, no. 4, January-February 1999, pp. 22-23)
On July 3, most of George Pickett’s division was exposed to the direct sun for a few hours while lying still on the ground. They attacked during the hottest hour of the day, when the recorded temperature reached 87 degrees in the shade, not including the heat generated by thousands of cannon discharges over a 90 minute period in their vicinity. I think it safe to conclude that heat alone removed the equivalent of between one and two Confederate regiments from the attacking column:
-In Company B of the 3rd Virginia Captain Hutchings and Sergeant Brownley were sun struck. Six others were likewise overcome by heat, while only one was killed by a shell, so that only six (out of 15 in the company) advanced. Private William A. Fiske advanced, but fell exhausted before reaching the stone wall, although he made it back. (John W. H. Porter, History of Norfolk County, Virginia, p. 54; Confederate Military History, vol. 3, p. 870)
-Company D of the 7th Virginia had 4 officers and 28 enlisted men in line at the start of the day; of this number Captain R. H. Bane and Lieutenant John W. Mullins were prostrated by the heat and disabled for several weeks. (David E. Johnston, The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil War)
-In the 11th Virginia, many men were unable to advance because of the heat. Lieutenant John T. James of Company D recalled they were “lying in a field with a heavy growth of grass (making it) impossible for any wind to get through it, and this with the intense heat of the sun produced several cases of sunstroke among our men.” (Lt. Col. James Risque Hutter, Supplement to the Official Records; account of Lieutenant John Thomas James from Company D, which deployed as skirmishers.)
-Company D of the 5th Florida in Lang’s supporting brigade went into the fight with just one officer and nine men. One of these men fell down exhausted before they had advanced 100 yards. (Diary of Lieutenant James Wentworth, D/5 FL)
-Further north, on the skirmish line deployed in Long Lane, a great number of men in the 14th Georgia fainted. (Diary of George W. Hall, G/14 GA)
Conditions were the same on the other side of the field, but some men enjoyed a bit of shade provided by sparse undergrowth or tent halves they had set up:
-Brigadier General Stannard of the Vermont brigade recalled that “the weather was extremely hot during the day (July 3), and some men nearly fainted from the effects of the heat. Notwithstanding they laid flat upon the ground, I had to move some portions of my command to shelter them from the rays of the sun, before the fight actually commenced.” (He is likely referring to the 13th Vermont, which was moved forward to a small knoll covered with small trees, the 14th Vermont having been moved early in the day to lower ground with some trees and bushes). (Extract from General Stannard’s diary, Bachelder Papers, 1:57)
-Some men of the 72nd Pennsylvania near the copse put up their shelter tents as a screen against the sun on July 3. Likewise in the 19th Massachusetts, where “the men improvised shelters by inverting their muskets, with the bayonets stuck in the ground, thus making posts of them, to which, by means of the hammers, pieces of shelter tents or blankets were fastened.” (Major Samuel Roberts, 72 PA, National Tribune, September 1, 1887; History of the Nineteenth Massachusetts, comp. by Ernest L. Watt)
-The 107th Pennsylvania began the day on July 3 with 11 officers and about 72 men with guns. Subsequently two officers were wounded, one private was killed and others slightly wounded by the enemy. The weather did nearly as well, claiming three men who were carried from the field due to the intense heat. (Captain Emanuel D. Roath, Official Report, 107 PA)
-Even on July 2, the mid-day “rays of the sun and the heat which radiated from the bare road and stone walls was almost unendurable. Corporal Huggins, overcome with heat, fell down unconscious. Milan Robinson and Marsena Stout took him to the field hospital. Stout was killed by a grape shot returning to the lines. (John W. Hand, 136 NY, The National Tribune, July 24, 1890)
Both Colonel Oliver Edwards and Lieutenant Colonel George L. Montague of the 37th Massachusetts in Eustis’ brigade of the Sixth Corps succumbed on July 3. “While the regiments were actually engaged or in line of battle, the regimental officers dismounted and sent their horses to a place of safety in the rear. As they were unaccustomed to foot service, these expeditions to different parts of the field on foot and at double-quick, in such a heat, bore particularly hard on them. The result was that an unusually large number of regimental officers were prostrated by heat on that day, Colonel Edwards and Lieutenant Colonel Montague of the Thirty-seventh among the number.” (Mason Whiting Tyler, Recollections of the Civil War, p. 108)
Although heat exhaustion was usually a temporary condition, recovery was not always rapid or steady, meaning the ability of an affected individual to function at their previous level might be impaired for some time. On the other hand, the more severe state of heat stroke could result in death or permanent debility.
Three out of the five regimental commanders in the Alabama brigade of Evander M. Law were literally felled by the heat on July 2, while a fourth who was already in a delicate condition was likely seriously impacted. This brigade had just marched 25 miles to reach the field:
-Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence H. Scruggs, 4th Alabama. Reached stone fence in initial advance … Colonel Scruggs fell from sheer exhaustion and was carried to the rear by the litter bearers, one of whom, while doing so, was killed, James H. Cooke of G Company. … Scruggs returned from the hospital on the morning of July 3, partially recovered. … Several of the men fell out during the advance on July 2, unable to go farther. One was lying face down in the wheat and did not move when lightly jabbed with the tip of my sword. (R. T. Coles, From Huntsville to Appomattox, Adjutant, 4 AL)
-Colonel William C. Oates, 15th Alabama. A number overcome by heat (fell) out while scaling the rugged mountain (Big Round Top). … (Upon retreating from Little Round Top) I was so overcome by heat and exertion that I fainted and fell, and would have been captured but for two stalwart, powerful men of the regiment, who carried me to the top of the mountain (Big Round Top), where Dr. Reeves, the Assistant Surgeon, poured water on my head from a canteen until it revived me. When I revived I turned over the command of the regiment to Captain Hill temporarily. (William C. Oates, The Battle of Gettysburg, pp. 101-102)
-Colonel William F. Perry, 44th Alabama. The Major (George W. Carey) found me at the foot of the hill, completely prostrated by heat and excessive exertion … unable to stand without support … my disability continued until after nightfall. (W. F. Perry, The Devil’s Den, Confederate Veteran, vol. 9, p. 161)
-Colonel James W. Jackson, 47th Alabama. Jackson was unable to keep up with the regiment during its advance. A staff officer rode up to Lieutenant Colonel W. J. Bulger and directed him to take charge of the regiment. Colonel Jackson was unable to meet the physical demands of his position even without the heat, but it probably exacerbated his condition. He resigned his commission after Gettysburg and died on July 1, 1865. (Joseph Q. Burton, Sketch of the 47th Alabama; Military Images, vol. XX, no. 4, January-February 1999, pp. 22-23)
On July 3, most of George Pickett’s division was exposed to the direct sun for a few hours while lying still on the ground. They attacked during the hottest hour of the day, when the recorded temperature reached 87 degrees in the shade, not including the heat generated by thousands of cannon discharges over a 90 minute period in their vicinity. I think it safe to conclude that heat alone removed the equivalent of between one and two Confederate regiments from the attacking column:
-In Company B of the 3rd Virginia Captain Hutchings and Sergeant Brownley were sun struck. Six others were likewise overcome by heat, while only one was killed by a shell, so that only six (out of 15 in the company) advanced. Private William A. Fiske advanced, but fell exhausted before reaching the stone wall, although he made it back. (John W. H. Porter, History of Norfolk County, Virginia, p. 54; Confederate Military History, vol. 3, p. 870)
-Company D of the 7th Virginia had 4 officers and 28 enlisted men in line at the start of the day; of this number Captain R. H. Bane and Lieutenant John W. Mullins were prostrated by the heat and disabled for several weeks. (David E. Johnston, The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil War)
-In the 11th Virginia, many men were unable to advance because of the heat. Lieutenant John T. James of Company D recalled they were “lying in a field with a heavy growth of grass (making it) impossible for any wind to get through it, and this with the intense heat of the sun produced several cases of sunstroke among our men.” (Lt. Col. James Risque Hutter, Supplement to the Official Records; account of Lieutenant John Thomas James from Company D, which deployed as skirmishers.)
-Company D of the 5th Florida in Lang’s supporting brigade went into the fight with just one officer and nine men. One of these men fell down exhausted before they had advanced 100 yards. (Diary of Lieutenant James Wentworth, D/5 FL)
-Further north, on the skirmish line deployed in Long Lane, a great number of men in the 14th Georgia fainted. (Diary of George W. Hall, G/14 GA)
Conditions were the same on the other side of the field, but some men enjoyed a bit of shade provided by sparse undergrowth or tent halves they had set up:
-Brigadier General Stannard of the Vermont brigade recalled that “the weather was extremely hot during the day (July 3), and some men nearly fainted from the effects of the heat. Notwithstanding they laid flat upon the ground, I had to move some portions of my command to shelter them from the rays of the sun, before the fight actually commenced.” (He is likely referring to the 13th Vermont, which was moved forward to a small knoll covered with small trees, the 14th Vermont having been moved early in the day to lower ground with some trees and bushes). (Extract from General Stannard’s diary, Bachelder Papers, 1:57)
-Some men of the 72nd Pennsylvania near the copse put up their shelter tents as a screen against the sun on July 3. Likewise in the 19th Massachusetts, where “the men improvised shelters by inverting their muskets, with the bayonets stuck in the ground, thus making posts of them, to which, by means of the hammers, pieces of shelter tents or blankets were fastened.” (Major Samuel Roberts, 72 PA, National Tribune, September 1, 1887; History of the Nineteenth Massachusetts, comp. by Ernest L. Watt)
-The 107th Pennsylvania began the day on July 3 with 11 officers and about 72 men with guns. Subsequently two officers were wounded, one private was killed and others slightly wounded by the enemy. The weather did nearly as well, claiming three men who were carried from the field due to the intense heat. (Captain Emanuel D. Roath, Official Report, 107 PA)
-Even on July 2, the mid-day “rays of the sun and the heat which radiated from the bare road and stone walls was almost unendurable. Corporal Huggins, overcome with heat, fell down unconscious. Milan Robinson and Marsena Stout took him to the field hospital. Stout was killed by a grape shot returning to the lines. (John W. Hand, 136 NY, The National Tribune, July 24, 1890)
Both Colonel Oliver Edwards and Lieutenant Colonel George L. Montague of the 37th Massachusetts in Eustis’ brigade of the Sixth Corps succumbed on July 3. “While the regiments were actually engaged or in line of battle, the regimental officers dismounted and sent their horses to a place of safety in the rear. As they were unaccustomed to foot service, these expeditions to different parts of the field on foot and at double-quick, in such a heat, bore particularly hard on them. The result was that an unusually large number of regimental officers were prostrated by heat on that day, Colonel Edwards and Lieutenant Colonel Montague of the Thirty-seventh among the number.” (Mason Whiting Tyler, Recollections of the Civil War, p. 108)