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July 3rd Should Also be Remembered
By John Snyder Updated: Tuesday, July 2, 2013, 12:40 pm Published: Tuesday, July 2, 2013, 11:44 am
July 4th is the preeminent July day because of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, but July 3rd of 1863 is another July day worth knowing about.
On that day some 15,00 Confederate soldiers waited under the trees on Seminary ridge outside the village of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. One Mile away, across an open field on Cemetery Ridge, waited a similar number of Union soldiers, safely behind a stone wall.
Confederate cannon pounded the Union position for a couple of hours. The men waiting knew they would then march one mile, across open ground, in a charge against the heavily fortified Union position. They had plenty of time to think and many undoubtedly knew it would be their last day on earth.
It became known as Pickett's charge, named for one of three Confederate generals commanding the troops. Pickett's charge has become part of American myth and memory and very much a major part of Southern pride in remembering the Civil War.
It was both glorious and foolhardy. Glorious because it symbolized all the courage and honor that Southerners felt for their cause. One Union officer wrote that the Confederate forces, forming up in the open field, was the most glorious thing he had ever seen. But it was foolhardy, because 83 years before any American heard the term Kamikaze (used to describe Japanese suicide pilots in World War Two) it amounted to a suicide charge.
For the rest: http://www.ksn.com/2013/07/02/july-3rd-should-also-be-remembered/
By John Snyder Updated: Tuesday, July 2, 2013, 12:40 pm Published: Tuesday, July 2, 2013, 11:44 am
July 4th is the preeminent July day because of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, but July 3rd of 1863 is another July day worth knowing about.
On that day some 15,00 Confederate soldiers waited under the trees on Seminary ridge outside the village of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. One Mile away, across an open field on Cemetery Ridge, waited a similar number of Union soldiers, safely behind a stone wall.
Confederate cannon pounded the Union position for a couple of hours. The men waiting knew they would then march one mile, across open ground, in a charge against the heavily fortified Union position. They had plenty of time to think and many undoubtedly knew it would be their last day on earth.
It became known as Pickett's charge, named for one of three Confederate generals commanding the troops. Pickett's charge has become part of American myth and memory and very much a major part of Southern pride in remembering the Civil War.
It was both glorious and foolhardy. Glorious because it symbolized all the courage and honor that Southerners felt for their cause. One Union officer wrote that the Confederate forces, forming up in the open field, was the most glorious thing he had ever seen. But it was foolhardy, because 83 years before any American heard the term Kamikaze (used to describe Japanese suicide pilots in World War Two) it amounted to a suicide charge.
For the rest: http://www.ksn.com/2013/07/02/july-3rd-should-also-be-remembered/
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