July 2. 1863 The Defence of Little Round Top at Gettysburg

[Weatherman2020]

Had to stop when in Maine.

 

[Weatherman2020]

I always sympathized with Gen Meade
He had just taken command three days before Gettysburg and suffered massive casualties
No question Grant would have pursued but I can understand regrouping

Grant would have pursued Lee to Richmond and ended the war then.

 

[Weatherman2020]

My ancestors were there....33rd Virginia Inf..

Gettysburg​

Within 15 days, the 33rd had crossed the Potomac and were encamped around Chambersburg when the order came for the Second Corps to converge on the Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg. Arriving late in the evening of 1 July, the brigade spent much of the second day skirmishing on the far Confederate left. It would not be until the next day that the 33rd would see real fighting. At 3:00 a.m. on the morning of the 3rd, the regiment was aroused and marched off with the rest of the brigade towards the enemy position atop Culp's Hill. After daybreak, the regiment advanced in line of battle towards the enemy who was "strongly intrenched in a most advantageous position." The regiment advanced up the slopes of the hill advancing "in intervals" as the men took cover behind rocks and trees as they advanced. Although the regiment exhausted its ammunition within an hour or two, at least part of the 33rd remained engaged for almost five hours, as partial supplies were received upon the field. During this portion of the fighting, Captain Bedinger of the Emerald Guard was killed while advancing towards the enemy. Captain Golladay, in temporary command of the regiment after the battle would write that Bedinger's body had fallen perhaps the closest to the enemy's lines.

Sometime around noon, the regiment was withdrawn from the slopes, reorganized and replenished with ammunition. The regiment was then moved several hundred yards to the right, and another advance was made upon the enemy. The fighting was intense and lasted only a half-hour or so before the regiment was withdrawn again and marched to the rear for a short rest until mid-afternoon. Again, the regiment was aroused, reequipped and marched to a position farther to the right of the line. From this time until nightfall, the regiment was only engaged in skirmishing after which the day's survivors quietly retired. Upon the field were left many whom Golladay considered the "flower of the regiment." Twenty-three percent of the 236 men who fought at Gettysburg were killed, wounded, or missing.

On 3 July, the Stonewall Brigade lost one of its former commanders, Richard B. Garnett, who was killed during the infamous 'Pickett's Charge,' possibly due to an injured leg that caused him to ride a horse into the battle.

As Lee began his long retreat in the rain on 4 July and 5, several members of company E and H, some of whom had been wounded two days before, were captured at Waterloo, Chambersburg, and South Mountain. By the time the 33rd had re-crossed the Potomac and moved into camp around Orange Court House, the regiment numbered only 90 men. With the death of George Bedinger and the only Lieutenant, Patrick Maxwell, absent sick, Captain D. B. Huffman of Co. G, 33rd Virginia Infantry assumed temporary responsibility for the shattered Emerald Guard. On 31 August 1863, the 33rd was again mustered to be paid.

Cool to find that stuff. I assume you’ve walked the turf of your ancestor. Wife’s 5X G-Grandfather was in the 14th Virginia under Washington. Just found exactly where he was within Valley Forge so heading up in a couple of weeks to walk the ground.

 

[Weatherman2020]

A not much talked about fact is that just before the assault on LTR the canteens of the CSA were taken to get refilled. They never were returned until the evening, they couldn’t find a stream. So they made repeated assaults on a hot July day with no water.

The movie makes a faint hint at it when after Chamberlain’s charge the captured CSA officer asks for a drink of water.

 

[1srelluc]

Cool to find that stuff. I assume you’ve walked the turf of your ancestor. Wife’s 5X G-Grandfather was in the 14th Virginia under Washington. Just found exactly where he was within Valley Forge so heading up in a couple of weeks to walk the ground.

Oh yeah, not as daunting as their stand-up fight in The Cornfield/West woods at Antietam but tough going against a fortified position.

 

[Weatherman2020]

What Pickett walked into.