Opening shots in Front of the Peach Orchard on the Morning of July 2

Tom Elmore

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Preface: Around 9 a.m. on July 2, according to accounts, skirmishing began in the vicinity of the Peach Orchard between the 63rd Pennsylvania of Graham’s brigade and Confederate pickets toward the northwest. The latter's identity is unclear, but Lang’s Florida brigade was in that same direction, taking up a position in or near Spangler woods at that hour, according to my research. Map depicts positions as of 9 a.m. on July 2.

The Sixty-third Pennsylvania of our brigade was sent on picket [the night of July 1] … occupying the peach orchard and the ground about the Sherfy house and barn” – Private Ellis C. Strouss, Company K, 57th Pennsylvania.

The regiment moved out [the night of July 1] … with left opposite the … ‘Peach Orchard’ … The extreme left, where Company B was stationed, and just on the left of the orchard, the members of the Sixty-third Regiment tore down the rail fences and built a rifle pit” – Captain Robert A. Nesbitt, Company A, 63rd Pennsylvania.

My picket line was in the Emmitsburg road, with sharpshooters some 300 yards in advance” – Major General David B. Birney.

Early on the morning of the 2nd … regiment was pushed forward upon the skirmish line to a fence running parallel with the pike in rear of Joseph Sherfy’s house” – Member of the 63rd Pennsylvania.

The enemy being in front fired on the right of our line” – Major John A. Danks, 63rd Pennsylvania.

Engaged since nine o’clock in the morning” – Member of the 63rd Pennsylvania.

Skirmishing commenced about nine o’clock” – Private Alfred J. Craighead, 68th Pennsylvania.

Next morning [July 2] we were moved to the right and suddenly came upon a strong line of the enemy’s skirmishers which opened fire on us, wounding one or two” – 1st Lieutenant and Adjutant Raymond J. Reid, 2nd Florida.

Sources:
-Address of E. C. Strouss, September 11, 1889, Dedication of Monument to the 57th Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania At Gettysburg, I:359.
-Under the Red Patch, Story of the Sixty Third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1864, comp. by Gilbert Adams Hays, Pittsburgh, PA: Regimental Association, 1908, p. 194.
-Offiicial Report of Maj. Gen. David B. Birney.
-The Gallant Sixty-Third, in Memoriam to Captain John McClellan, Company E, Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, by Sara Gould Walters, 1993, Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, p. 31.
-Address of Col. John R. Danks, Dedication of Monument to the 63rd Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, I:387.
-63rd Pennsylvania, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, by Samuel P. Bates, II:495.
-Address of Private Alfred J. Craighead, Dedication of Monument to the 68th Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, I:397.
-September 4, 1863 letter of Raymond J. Reid, found in the diary of Lt. Davis L. Dunham of Company H, 2nd Florida, St. Augustine Historical Society, on file at Gettysburg National Military Park. It’s not clear whether Reid refers to an encounter with the 68th Pennsylvania or Wilcox’s encounter with Berdan’s Sharpshooters and the 3rd Maine in Pitzer woods later that morning.
 

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Preface: Around 9 a.m. on July 2, according to accounts, skirmishing began in the vicinity of the Peach Orchard between the 63rd Pennsylvania of Graham’s brigade and Confederate pickets toward the northwest. The latter's identity is unclear, but Lang’s Florida brigade was in that same direction, taking up a position in or near Spangler woods at that hour, according to my research. Map depicts positions as of 9 a.m. on July 2.

The Sixty-third Pennsylvania of our brigade was sent on picket [the night of July 1] … occupying the peach orchard and the ground about the Sherfy house and barn” – Private Ellis C. Strouss, Company K, 57th Pennsylvania.

The regiment moved out [the night of July 1] … with left opposite the … ‘Peach Orchard’ … The extreme left, where Company B was stationed, and just on the left of the orchard, the members of the Sixty-third Regiment tore down the rail fences and built a rifle pit” – Captain Robert A. Nesbitt, Company A, 63rd Pennsylvania.

My picket line was in the Emmitsburg road, with sharpshooters some 300 yards in advance” – Major General David B. Birney.

Early on the morning of the 2nd … regiment was pushed forward upon the skirmish line to a fence running parallel with the pike in rear of Joseph Sherfy’s house” – Member of the 63rd Pennsylvania.

The enemy being in front fired on the right of our line” – Major John A. Danks, 63rd Pennsylvania.

Engaged since nine o’clock in the morning” – Member of the 63rd Pennsylvania.

Skirmishing commenced about nine o’clock” – Private Alfred J. Craighead, 68th Pennsylvania.

Next morning [July 2] we were moved to the right and suddenly came upon a strong line of the enemy’s skirmishers which opened fire on us, wounding one or two” – 1st Lieutenant and Adjutant Raymond J. Reid, 2nd Florida.

Sources:
-Address of E. C. Strouss, September 11, 1889, Dedication of Monument to the 57th Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania At Gettysburg, I:359.
-Under the Red Patch, Story of the Sixty Third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1864, comp. by Gilbert Adams Hays, Pittsburgh, PA: Regimental Association, 1908, p. 194.
-Offiicial Report of Maj. Gen. David B. Birney.
-The Gallant Sixty-Third, in Memoriam to Captain John McClellan, Company E, Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, by Sara Gould Walters, 1993, Library and Archives Division, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, p. 31.
-Address of Col. John R. Danks, Dedication of Monument to the 63rd Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, I:387.
-63rd Pennsylvania, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, by Samuel P. Bates, II:495.
-Address of Private Alfred J. Craighead, Dedication of Monument to the 68th Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, I:397.
-September 4, 1863 letter of Raymond J. Reid, found in the diary of Lt. Davis L. Dunham of Company H, 2nd Florida, St. Augustine Historical Society, on file at Gettysburg National Military Park. It’s not clear whether Reid refers to an encounter with the 68th Pennsylvania or Wilcox’s encounter with Berdan’s Sharpshooters and the 3rd Maine in Pitzer woods later that morning.
You did mean Pitzer's Woods for the 2nd Florida instead of Spangler's, right?
Lubliner.
 
Lang's three Florida regiments occupied Spangler woods, located off the north edge of this map. At this time (9 a.m.) Wilcox's brigade was following behind Lang, moving southward toward Pitzer woods, where they would eventually confront a reconnaissance by four companies of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters and the 3rd Maine. That action is depicted on my rough "Spangler" map of 10:30 a.m. on July 2, which also shows the Floridians adjacent to Spangler woods:
 

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