CORNELL
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

 

Charles and Mary
Collection

From An Annonymous Dortor

 

 

 

 
‘iain

0 924 3
NOTES

on the

Rebel Invasion
of

Maryland and. Pennsylvania
and the

Battle of Gettysburg

July 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 1863
By

M. JACOBS

Late Professor of Mathematics and Chemistry

in Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg.

[Seventh Edition, Revised and Enlarged]

1909:
GETTYSBURG, PA.
THE TIMES PRINTING HOUSE
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863,
By J. B. LIPPINCOTT é& CO..
in the Olerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Copyright, 1888 and 1909,
By G. E. JACOBS.
III

Foreword

In preparing for publication the seventh edition of
Professor Jacobs’s ‘‘Notes on the Rebel Invasion of Mary-
land and Pennsylvania and the Battle of Gettysburg,’’ the
Editor is prompted to offer in this place a brief word to
the reader. Not that the ‘‘Notes’’ require any introduc-
tion, for they are almost, if not quite, as old as the great
drama which they unfold; but because an occasional read-
er may be interested to know how they came to be written;
in what circumstances they were written, and with what
purpose.

Michael Jacobs was born at the old Jacobs homestead
in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of January,
1808. His ancestors were Germans,—Alsatians, to be ex-
act,—and were Lutherans. Both his father, Henry, and
his grandfather, Martin, were active in the Lutheran
Church; active in a solid, substantial way; and upon a
strip of ground cut off the old farm there still stands what
is generally known in that region as Jacobs’ Church.

Asa boy, Michael attended the country schools of the
neighbourhood, and in 1823, at the age of fifteen, entered
the preparatory department of Jefferson College, at
Canonsburg*. In the following year he entered the
college proper, and graduated in 1828 with the second
honour of his class and the valedictory. He subsequently
read theology in private, and in 1832 was licensed by the
West Pennsylvania Synod of the Lutheran Church.

In the meantime he had come to Gettysburg and
assumed the duties of scientific and mathematical
instructor in a classical school that his elder brother
David had started here two or three years previously.

*Now united with Washington College, at Washington, Pa., and
known as Washington and Jefferson College.
IV

After the addition of the scientific department the school
was known as Gettysburg Gymnasium; and so rapidly did
it develop and expand under the hands of the two broth-
ers, that in the spring of 1832 it was granted a charter by
the State of Pennsylvania, under the provisions of which
it was organized the following July as Pennsylvania
College.

This institution, which recently celebrated its
seventy-fifth anniversary, now boasts eleven buildings, a
library of 30,000 volumes, a large and capable teaching
force, a student body numbering over three hundred, and
an alumni in which any college might feel a justifiable
pride. =

Michael Jacobs was a member of the first faculty of
Pennsylvania College, and continued to serve therein, as
Professor of Mathematics and Chemistry, till 1866. His
health breaking down in that year from overwork, he was
relieved from active duty and granted the honorary
position of Professor Emeritus, which he held during the
remaining five years of his life. Hedied on the 22nd of
July, 1871.

Although his ‘‘Notes’’ constitute his only published
volume, he was the author of many scientific articles and
reviews, notably an ingenious paper on ‘‘Indian Summer’’
which he read in 1846 before the American Association
for the Advancement of Science. And it deserves to be
mentioned in passing, that it was Michael Jacobs who
invented the process of preserving fruit by canning.

On the morning of July 1st, 1863, when the battle
opened on the hills west of town, Professor Jacobs was in
his study in the main building of the College. Early that
morning he had accompanied several Union staff-officers
to the cupola, whence he pointed out to them the strategic
advantages of a position on Cemetery Hill: a piece of
judgement which was magnificently vindicated afew hours
later when General O. O. Howard, arriving upon the scene
to take temporary command, likewise saw the advantages
of such a position and placed his army accordingly. For
it is to this action of General Howard’s more than to any
Vv

other one fact, that the battle resulted in a victory for the
Union arms.

Returning home, he witnessed, that afternoon, the
hasty retreat of our soldiers through the town from their
first position. Then through a telescope at his attic win-
dow he watched them as they swarmed across the fields
towards the Cemetery. Even while he watched them,
however, their flight was being gradually checked. Their
panic was soon over; and under the direction of their
temporary commander, the gallant one-armed Howard,
they were forming in a long, dark, solid line along the
crest of Cemetery Hill. When he descended, he found
the streets occupied by the Rebel hosts of Lee. And so,
from hour to hour, he may be said to have watched the
tide of battle washing back and forth past his very door-
sill.

In the succeeding two nights and days, throughout
which time the town was held by the Rebels, there was
much to be seen and much more to be heard. He let
nothing escape him; and carefully sifting the wheat from
the chaff, he committed to his note-book all that was
worthy of preservation, thus accumulating the material
from which he drew largely in the writing of his ‘‘Notes.”’

These ‘‘Notes’’ were written during July and August,
1868, and were intended originally only for private trans-
mission in his family. Several intimate friends, however,
urged him to publish the work, and though he was at first
loth to do this, he was finally prevailed upon; and early in
October, just three months after the battle, the first
edition was issued from the press of J. B. Lippincott &
Co., Philadelphia.

Their chief interest, it will be seen, consists in the
place and time of their composition. Written as ‘they
were within a few weeks of the battle, and from memo-
randa jotted down while the very incidents described were
taking place, they must have in this respect a permanent
value—a value which is augmented by what Dr. Krauth in
his introduction to the first edition is pleased to term a
‘spirit of mathematical precision.’’

It was probably in this spirit that, shortly before his
VI

death, Professor Jacobs went carefully through his
“Notes,’’ adding considerable matter that had been
omitted in the first writing—the delicious Greencastle
episode, for example—and correcting such errors as had
crept into their pages; and from this revised, amended,
and amplified manuscript, never before used, the present
edition is printed.

The Editor’s labours have not been heavy. They have
consisted for the most part in copying legibly occasional
snarls of almost illegible handwriting, and finding the
proper places in the narrative for such passages as were
scribbled upon separate slips of paper and not numbered.
This required only time and patience; the Editor had
plenty of both; and considering their; object, he feels that
they have not been wasted.

WILLIAM ARNOLD JACOBS.
Johnstown, Pa.,
April 2, 1909.
VII

Introduction to the First Edition

The account of the battles at Gettysburg, prepared by
Rev. Dr. Jacobs, Professor of Mathematics in Pennsyl-
vania College, will take a place among historical documents
of high permanent value. Itis the record of an eye-wit-
ness, made, in large part, while the scenes he describes
were passing before him. The author is distinguished as
an acute observer, as a man of clear judgement and of
great conscientiousness,, who is not only scrupulous as to
the substance of his statements, but cautious in their
tone and colouring. His chronicle will be found to be a
chronicle of facts. What he knows is carefully sifted
from what he conjectures; of the former we have much, of
the latter almost nothing. The sequence of parts, and
the internal relations of the terrible struggle at Gettys-
burg are presented by Professor Jacobs with a fidelity
and simplicity which render his narrative pre-eminent
among the very many accounts of the battles which have
been written. The chart, formed upon actual measure-
ments, is of great value; and it will be found that the his-
torical notes, to which it is a companion, are marked like
it by that spirit of mathematical precision which is in-
dispensible in military history. The pilgrims who, with
this little volume in their hands, shall visit the mem-
orial fields whose undying story it tells, the thousands
who eagerly read all that bears upon the grandest and
most critical struggle of the most momentous war in the
annals of our race, will gratefully feel, in common with
the laborious searcher for truth, the rare and true student
of history, that Professor Jacobs has rendered an in-
valuable service in his unpretending and excellent work.

CHARLES PORTERFIELD KRAUTH
Philadelphia, September 28rd, 1863.
VIII

The highly valuable ‘‘Notes’’ of Professor Jacobs of
the university in this place, to which I am greatly in-
debted, will abundantly supply the deficiency of my
necessarily too condensed statement.

HON. EDWARD EVERETT,
Oration at Gettysburg,
November 19th, 1863.
although not a defeat of the Union army neverthe-

less resulted, on account of several uncontrollable
causes, in the necessary withdrawal of our forces to their
former position on the left bank of the Rappahannock,
General Lee, of the Rebel army, determined to invade the
States of Maryland and Pennsylvania. He seems to have
been induced to enter upon this perilous undertaking by
several considerations. First, he felt the increasing de-
ficiency of cavalry and artillery horses, and of the means
of subsisting his army in an almost desolate territory
from which he had hitherto drawn his supplies; secondly,
there was the alleged demoralization of General Hooker’s
army after that battle; thirdly, there was the evident fact
of the depletion of the Union army, by the return to their
homes of anumber of regiments whose term of service
had expired; and fourthly, there was the apparent division
of sentiment in the loyal states in regard to the conduct
and continuance of the war, and the strong undercurrent
of sympathy manifested for the success of the rebellion,
engendered by an intense partisan feeling, and the desire
of office. Of this division of sentiment he now determined
to take advantage, for he hoped to find us as incoherent as
a rope of sand, and utterly unable to resist his progress
as he swept over the land. And, unquestionably,. for
some time it did appear as if his cherished hopes would
be realized; for, when he was about to cross the Potomac,
evidently endeavouring to feel his way, such was the ap-
parent apathy that prevailed amongst the people who were
most in danger, that it was impossible to arouse them to
realize their true situation, and to organize in the defence
of their homes. :

So hopeful were the leaders of the rebellion of the
success of this, their project, that they did not deem it
necessary to keep their intentions a secret. Many weeks
before their attempted invasion, their newspaper freely
referred to itas an event that would surely happen, and

S HORTLY after the battle of Chancellorsville, which
2 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

boasted loudly of the manner in which they would fatten
on the spoils they would take from the rich farmers and
well-filled store-houses of the North.

At an early day, Lee began to arrange and perfect his
plans, and to remodel and strengthen his army; so that,
when his preparations were completed, he found himself
at the head of one of the best disciplined and most reliable
armies the world ever saw. With this he hoped to sweep,
like a whirlwind, over the fairest portions of our noble
State.

Unmistakable signs of the coming storm began to
accumulate. Informed, on the 5th, that an advance
movement was about to be made, General Hooker directed
that a cavalry attack should be made by General Pleasant-
on against General Stuart, at Beverly Ford. This attack,
which was made June 9th, resulted advantageously to the
Federal arms; and especially in the capture of Stuart’s
private papers, amongst which were found orders for an
immediate advance into Pennsylvania. This was a for-
tunate event, since it confirmed the information previously
received and enabled Hooker immediately to put his army
in motion, so as to prevent Lee, who had already several
days’ start, from flanking him, and coming in between
him and Washington or Baltimore. By hard marches, the
Union army advanced so rapidly as always to be on the
flanks of Lee, and to prevent him, eventually, from carry-
ing out his purposes.

Forewarned of the approach of the invading army, the
War Department, on the 11th of June, assigned Major-
General D. N. Couch to the Department of the Susque-
hanna, with his head-quarters at Harrisburg; and Major-
General W. T. H. Brooks to the Department of the Mon-
ongahela, with his head-quarters at Pittsburgh. On the
next day were issued a proclamation of Governor Curtin,
and a call of General Couch, addressed to the people of
Pennsylvania, urging them to organize and hasten to the
defence of the State, and, if possible, to drive back the
invader before he should touch our soil.

On the 18th of June, the Rebels reached Winchester,
Virginia, and gave battle to General Milroy, who occupied
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 3

that post with a force of 8,000 or 9,000 men. On that day
the Rebels were repulsed; but on the next day they re-
newed the attack, in which they were feebly resisted by
our forces, and which resulted in the hasty flight of Mil-
roy and his whole command. He lost nearly all his
ammunition and artillery, and a small portion of his men.
He succeeded in taking several hundred with him to
Harper’s Ferry, and in running his baggage train, by
Hagerstown and Chambersburg, to Harrisburg. About
2,000 infantry stragglers and cavalry succeeded in break-
ing through and effecting their escape to Bloody Run,
Pennsylvania, where they were reorganized and joined by
recruits from the Pennsylvania militia.

The Rebel cavalry, 1,600 in number, under the
notorious General Jenkins, entered Hagerstown on the
15th of June, at 10.30 A. M., in pursuit of Milroy’s waggon
train, and moving onward rapidly, they reached Green-
castle at 6:30 P. M., and Chambersburg at 10.30. Having
thus advanced far intoan enemy’s country without support
sufficiently near, and fearing an attack by our men, who
were beginning to organize in obedience to the Governor’s
call, they deemed it prudent to make a retrograde move-
ment. Accordingly they evacuated Chambersburg on the
17th of June; and as they had already gathered a large
number of horses and cattle, which they had taken
violently and without compensation from the farmers, it
was vainly supposed, by many of our people, that they
now intended to withdraw with their booty across the
totomac. They, however, retired only to the vicinity of
Hagerstown, there to await the arrival of Lee’s army.

Before we proceed further we must not omit noticing
some interesting incidents which took place at Green-
castle.

Here, during the time that the main body of Jenkins’s
cavalry were at Chambersburg, several of his pickets,
whilst breakfasting at a public house on the morning of
the 16th were taken prisoners by some of the citizens of
Greencastle, and speedily conducted to Waynesboro, as a
place of greater safety. About noon of the same day, a
messenger sent by General Jenkins to General Rhodes,
4 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

then at Williamsport, Maryland, was also captured by a
citizen and sent in the same direction. His dispatch
states that the Yankees had come up the turnpike road
towards Chambersburg, and that he (Jenkins) had fallen
back into the town.

In the afternoon about thirty or forty coloured women
and children, who had been kidnapped by the Rebels at
Chambersburg, were brought to town in waggons, guarded
by a few soldiers, on their way to Virginia. When they
had reached the middle of the town, the train was ordered
to halt by a crowd of citizens, the drivers and guards to
dismount, and the coloured folks to make their escape. All
this was the work of a few moments. The guards obeyed
the orders; the traces of the horses were cut, and they
then hurried with all possible speed to the country; whilst
the prisoners, disarmed, were escorted to Waynesboro.
This was, however, soon regarded as a hazardous procedure
on the part of the citizens of Greencastle, as it placed their
town in danger; for they knew that their doings could not
be hidden from the Rebels. Whilst they were making an
agreement for the purpose of bringing back and restoring
to liberty their prisioners, a squad of Rebel cavalry under
Colonel Furgerson came to town. The Colonel stated that
he had heard that the capture was made, but seemed to be
satisfied when he was informed of what steps had been
taken to restore the prisoners, and he promised that no
retaliatory measures would be taken, if they should be
restored.

On the next day, (the 17th), however, the men who
had gone for the purpose of recovering the captives,
returned without them. The dispatch bearer and those
first captured had been sent to Gettysburg, and only
those who had been captured with the negro train were
brought back.

A man who professed to be a chaplain in the Army
claimed the kidnapped negroes as his property. At first
he demaded, in consideration of his loss, the sum of $50,
000, but finding no response to his modest demand, he ex-
pressed his willingness to receive $25,000. He was infor-
med that that community felt no disposition to engage in
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 5

the slave trade, and that he need not expect one cent by
way of indemnity. Thus disappointed, the unprincipled
fellow ended his negociations by swearing that he would
take vengeance upon the town. And late in the afternoon
the Rebels threatened to fire the town because some of
their men who had been arrested were not restored. But
fortunately better counsel prevailed. After a vain search
for those men who had made the arrests, and after a great
deal of blustering, cursing and swearing, the Rebels left
for Hagerstown, to the great joy of the people of Green-
castle, who now hoped to see them no more.

Previous to Saturday, the 20th of June, portions of
Jenkins’s party had advanced as far as Waynesboro, rob-
bing the inhabitants of whatsoever they saw fit to take or
to destroy. They took money, leather, hardware, grocer-
ies, drygoods, clothing, saddles, bridles, horses, waggons,
carriages, 3,000 to 6,000 head of cattle, and negroes where
they could find them; and resorted to an indiscriminate
system of plundering. Like the frogs of Egypt, they
were to be found all over the country, in almost every
house, and no spot was safe from their unwelcome visits.

They were also accompanied by men whose sole em-
ployment seemed to be to gather and haul plunder to
Virginia by means of the stolen waggons and horses.

These, and other acts, some of which consisted in a
most wanton destruction of articles of no value whatso-
ever to them, they perpetrated in the face of their oft-re-
peated assurance that private property would be respec-
ted, that private citizens should not be molested, and that
they would show themselves not to be such barbarians as
the Yankees had been whilst in their country. They
must have supposed us to be exceedingly stupid if they
thought that our people could not penetrate the shallow
hypocrisy of these honeyed words. After they had over-
run and robbed the country west of South Mountain, and
thoroughly searched its numerous valleys for horses,
which, they had been informed by some disloyal citizens,
had been secreted there, they came down the southeastern
flanks of the mountain in search of booty.
6 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

SATURDAY, JUNE 20TH.

On the morning of this day, Major Haller, of the
United States Infantry, who, having been sent by General
Couch, arrived at Gettysburg on the previous evening, ad-
dressed a public meeting at the Court-house, advising all
able-bodied male citizens to arm themselves and to be
ready, ata moment’s warning, for the defence of their
homes and of the State. On this day, a beginning was
made in the formation of a cavalry company, under Cap-
tain R. Bell, and there was some reconnoitring by scouts
and a few of our citizens. Aneffort to form an infantry
company, and to arouse the people generally, did not
prove successful. This failure was owing, at least on the
part of the great majority, not so much to an unwilling-
ness to engage in the efforts necessary to resist the pro-
gress of the enemy, as to a reluctance to desert their
homes and their families in the hour of danger, whilst
they went to defend the less exposed parts of the State;
for it was soon apparent that the military authorities at
Harrisburg, losing sight of the particular, looking to the
good of the whole, intended, in the beginning at least, to
make the Susquehanna the base of defence against the
invaders, whilst for the border towns and country no
immediate adequate protection could be provided. For
this seeming neglect, there were not wanting some who
soundly abused the Government. And then, too, some
were unwilling, from political motives, either to go them-
selves or suffer their friends to go, into an organization
which might seem to be a support of the Administration,
or which might, perhaps, cause their absence from home
at the time of the Fall Election. Some, also, who were
brave and patriotic in words, could not make up their
minds to expose themselves to the hardships of camp-life
and to the perils of the battle-field. On the Wednesday
preceding, (June 17th), however, a company of infantry,
consisting of 60 students of Pennsylvania College together
with several from the Theological Seminary and a few
citizens, under Captain F. Klinefelter, a theological stu-
dent, left for Harrisburg in obedience to the urgent call
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 7

of the Governor, and were the first to be mustered into
service ‘‘for the emergency.’’ In fact, previous to this
date very little progress had been made in the needful
preparations for the defences even of the Capital. A be-
ginning had indeed been made, as early as the 15th of
June, in the construction of rifle-pits along the river front
and on the opposite bank; but the work went on slowly,
and it is questionable whether, when the Rebels ap-
proached nearest the river, on Sunday, June 28th, Harris-
burg might not have been easily taken. It was difficult to
move the people; for although many companies and regi-
ments, amongst whom were several from New York and
New Jersey, reported themselves at the seat of Govern-
ment, it was not until the enemy was at our very doors,
and three days before the battle of Gettysburg was begun,
that the people began to realize the magnitude of their
danger, and that Philadelphia, which was a most tempting
bait for the invaders, began to pour forth her men and
treasures in real earnest.

SUNDAY, JUNE 21.

Early on this morning the Philadelphia City Troop,
consisting of about 40 members, arrived at Gettysburg,
affording us evidence that the border was not entirely
forgotten. These, together with Bell’s cavalry and some
citizens, made a reconnoisance in the South Mountain as
far as Monterey. There they came up to the Rebel
pickets, with whom they exchanged some shots. At6P.
M. about 120 Rebel cavalry entered Fairfield, and re-
tired again by the Furnace road at 7 P. M., taking with
them all the good horses they could find.

MONDAY, JUNE 22.

Ewell’s corps crossed the Potomac to-day, one portion
crossing at Shepherdstown, and another at Williamsport.
The whole met and united at Hagerstown, whence they
again diverged in their progress up the valley towards
Chambersburg. Rhodes’s division reached Greencastle
in the afternoon, followed by that of Johnson. Early’s
division passed through Smithsburg, Maryland, and
8 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

thence along the western base of the South Mountain to
Waynesboro.

The Pennsylvania and the New York militia, as they
reached Harrisburg, had been, as soon as practicable, or-
ganized by General Couch in two divisions, one under
General Smith, the other under General Dana. On Sat-
urday, the 20th of June, previously to General Smith's
being put in command, General Knipe was sent up the
valley from Harrisburg with two New York regiments,
numbering about 800 men; first to reconstract the railroad
bridge at Scotland, which the Rebels had burned, and
then to occupy and defend Chambersburg.

Early in the afternoon Rhodes’s division, accompanied
by artillery and preceded by about 1,600 cavalry (Jenk-
ins’s), reached Greencastle. Towards evening 30 or 40 of
General Smith's pickets, sent out to reconnoitre, en-
countered Rhodes’s pickets, whom they pursued to within
half a mile of the town; but perceiving the heavy force of
the enemy, they fell back; not, however, without a sharp
skirmish, in which two Rebels were killed and several
wounded, whilst of our men one was killed and two
wounded. At Greencastle, therefore, the’ first patriot
blood was shed on Pennsylvania soil in defence of the
State and the Union.

Having thus been apprised of the approach of Rhodes’s
division of Ewell’s corps, and being unprepared to meet
the large force of the enemy which would soon be precipi-
tated upon him, General Smith deemed it advisable, late
in the evening of this day, to evacuate the town and
gradually move down the valley again.

TUESDAY, JUNE 23.

During the forenoon of this day General Rhodes’s
division entered and occupied Chambersburg. During
this and the previous day various reconnoisances were
also made from Gettysburg by Bell’s cavalry and the City
Troop, the former having now assumed an organized form.
But although Major Haller, who was acting under in-
structions from General Couch for the purpose of matur-
ing the necessary preparations for the defence of this part
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 9

of the border of the State, seemed to be active and in-
dustrous, very little of any value was actually accom-
plished in that respect.

It would not be easy to assign the precise measure of
blame, if any, due to any men or set of men, for this state
of things. Under the circumstances, so new.and so
peculiar, the people did not know what to do; and thus
whilst their minds were swaying to and fro between hope
and fear, the golden opportunity for efficient preparation
passed away. In fact, the impression was general that
the citizens, although organized and armed, could do but
little to repel a powerful invading army, unless also
supported by a strong military force. In the Cumberland
Valley, as at Chambersburg, Shippensburg, and especially
at.Carlisle, where such support was expected, the citi-
zens formed infantry and cavalry companies for home de-
fence.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24.

Early this morning Johnson’s division of Ewell’s
corps passed through Greencastle. The main body pro-
ceeded towards Chambersburg, whilst one brigade under
General Steuart took the direction of Mercersburg. The
division consisted of about 20,000 men, including the cav-
alry attached. They were accompanied by about 75 pieces
of artillery, some of which were brass pieces, marked U.
S., and by a train of about 3800 waggons, many of which
were also marked U. S., having been captured from Gen-
eral Milroy at Winchester, Virginia. Many of the soldiers
wore Union pantaloons, and carried knapsacks marked in
the same manner.

Imboden’s Rebel cavalry was engaged on Ewell’s left
during his progress, destroying the Baltimore & Ohio
railroad as far as in their power; and when Longstreet
and Hill arrived at Chambersburg, they moved onward by
way of McConnellsburg, to that place.

On the evening of this day the 26th regiment, Penn-
sylvania Volunteer Militia, numbering 735 men, of which
company A was almost wholly composed of students from
Pennsylvania College, were sent to Gettysburg for the
10 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

purpose of helping to hold the enemy in check; but as the
cars in which they were coming were thrown from the
track at a point six miles below Gettysburg, they en-
camped, and remained there until Friday morning.

A. P. Hill’s corps also crossed the Potamac to-day, at
a point one mile above Shepherdstown, Anderson being in
the advance.

THURSDAY, JUNE 25.

Late on Thursday evening, however, 100 picked men
from the 26th regiment were ordered up from their en-
campment to Gettysburg, with the design of sending them
to the mountain as sharpshooters, in order to cut off the
Rebel pickets, who, according to information then re-
ceived, extended down the southeastern flanks of the
mountain, and were making gradual approaches towards
our town. But the heavy rain of that night caused them
to be detained until the balance of the regiment arrived,
and thus they were saved from almost certain capture or
destruction. ,

The Rebels under Rhodes advanced today as far as
Shippensburg, on their way to Harrisburg.

FRIDAY, JUNE 26.

The 26th regiment arrived at Gettysburg from their
camping-ground, at 9 A. M.; and by order of the officer in
charge, although contrary to the earnest remonstrances
of Jennings, Colonel of the regiment, was sent forward,
at 10.80 A. M., on the Chambersburg turnpike. This was
an unfortunate movement of a handful, chiefly of in-
experienced men, in the face ofa large body of experienced
troops. The Rebels afterwards laughed at the folly of
the order. Butadvancing to the distance of about three
miles westward, our little band encamped and threw out
their pickets. At about 3 P. M. the Rebels in force made
their appearance, and captured nearly all the pickets, 40
in number. Colonel Jennings, who had, on several
occasions, shown himself to be an officer as skilful as he
is brave, seeing the danger of his position, immediately,
upon sight of the enemy, retreated. His regiment, by
mistake, became divided into three squads. This had the
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 11

effect of deceiving the enemy with the appearance of a
large body of infantry. The deception proved at least so
effective that the Rebels did not press them, fearing that
a direct attack might prove more serious than a mere
skirmish. Jennings’s band, however, hastily retreated
eastward over the fields and by country roads; occasionally
skirmishing with the enemy’s cavalry, which was sent in
pursuit of them; and after losing 120 more of their number
near Hunterstown, and zigzagging very frequently, being
often within hearing distance of their pursuers, they
reached Harrisburg on Sunday, the 28th of June, much
fatigued, having marched 54 out of 60 continuous hours.
Too much praise cannot be awarded Colonel Jennings for
the skilful manner in which he conducted this retreat and
saved the regiment from capture.

The advance guard of the enemy, consisting of 180 to
200 cavalry, rode into Gettysburg at 3.30 P. M., shouting
and yelling like so many savages from the wilds of the
Rocky Mountains; firing their pistols, not caring whether
they killed or maimed man, woman, or child; and rushing
from stable to stable in search of horses, the most of
which, however, had fortunately been sent forward to
Hanover and York a few hours before.

This advance party was soon followed by 5,000 in-
fantry, being General Gordon’s brigade of Harly’s divi-
sion of Ewell’s corps. Most of the men were exceedingly
dirty, some ragged, some without shoes, and some sur-
mounted by the skeleton of what was once an entire hat,
affording unmistakable evidence that they stood in great
need of having their scanty wardrobe replenished; and
hence the eagerness with which they inquired after shoe,
hat, and clothing stores, and their disappointment when
they were informed that goods of that description were
not to be had in town; and it ought not to have surprised
us that they actually took shoes and hats from the persons
of our Franklin county cousins, whom they considered
more able to endure the loss than we, whilst they per-
mitted us to escape that infliction. Being wet from the
rain which had fallen during the most of the day, and con-
siderably heated by a long march, there was found, by a
12 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

person near them as they passed, to have been more truth
than fiction in the remark of a friend, that ‘‘the air was
filled with filthy exhalations from their bodies.’’ Whether
this was a judgment dictated by prejudice or not, it was
difficult for us to recognize, in the great body of them, the
character previously heralded in our community by a lady
sympathizer, of ‘‘chivalrous Southerners, all from the
first families of the South.’’ But we do not intend to re-
proach them for not presenting a better appearance; they
doubtless did the best they could, and had come a long
journey for the express purpose of supplying their press-
ing wants.

General Early, who accompanied this brigade, and re-
mained in town over Friday night, demanded of the
authorities of our borough 1,200 pounds of sugar, 600
pounds of coffee, 60 barrels of flour, 1,000 pounds of salt,
7,000 pounds of bacon, 10 barrels of whiskey, 10 barrels
of onions, 1,000 pairs of shoes, and 500 hats, amounting in
value to $6,000; or, in lieu thereof, $5,000 cash. To this de-
mand Messrs. D. Kendlehart and A. D. Buehler, as re-
presentatives of the town council, replied in substance,
that it was impossible to comply with their demands; that
the goods were not in town or within reach; that the
borough had no funds, and the council had no authority to
borrow either in the name of the borough or county; and
that, as we were at the mercy of the General and his men,
they could search, and take from citizens and the empty
stores whatsoever they might be able to find. No attempt
was made to enforce the requisition, and but few of the
houses of citizens were robbed. Whether this forbearance
was owing to the evident fact that he was outwitted by our
citizens, or from his generosity to our apparent poverty,
we will permit our York friends to judge; to whom he is
reported to have replied, when, as a reason why he should
not insist on the enforcement of the large demand he had
made of them they reminded him of his leniency towards
us, ‘‘Why, gentlemen, there was nothing there to take.”’
Be it so: Gettysburg escaped; and York paid a premium
of $28,000. During the evening of Friday, however, the
Rebels burned the railroad bridge and a few cars, took
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 13

from the few articles that our merchants had not sent
away suchas suited them, and divested the taverns and
liquor stores of their liquors. Besides this, they did not
do much damage in the town. In the country, however,
they treated the farmers less gently. They there re-en-
acted their old farce of professing to pay for what they
took, offering freely their worthless ‘‘Confederate”™ scrip;
which, they said, would ina few days be better than our
own currency. Inthe town they had obtained but little
booty, because all the valuables of the Bank, and nearly
all those of the merchants, had been previously sent for
safety to Philadelphia. This proved a great disappoint-
ment to them; and they acknowledged that, for this time,
they had been too slow in their movements. They con-
sequently hurried forward that night and the next morn-
ing, towards Hanover and York. A portion of them passed
through Hanover at 11 A. M., reaching the Northern Cen-
tral Railroad at Hanover Junction early in the afternoon,
whilst another portion went to East Berlin, and on the
next day, Sunday, reached York.

Our citizens, with a few exceptions, kept at a respect-
ful distance from them during their stay amongst us,
avoiding as much as possible communicating any inform-
ation which might prove advantageous to them; so much
so, that they said: ‘‘It is a very strange thing that you
people know so little.’’

A portion of A. P. Hill’s corps passed through
Waynesboro, whilst another passed through Greencastle.
The latter had with them 21 pieces of artillery, and 200
waggons, some of which were marked ‘‘U. S.’’ Many of
the soldiers also wore U. S. overcoats.

SATURDAY, JUNE 27.

Whilst the Rebels were going to Hanover and to Han-
over Junction, to destroy the bridges and rolling stock of
the Northern Central Railroad, three scouts of our advance
cavalry, near Emmittsburg, came dashing into town, at
9.30 A. M., to our great joy. We felt that we were once
more within the Federal lines, and more than one person
exclaimed, ‘‘Thank God for that.’’ Two despatch-bearers,
14 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

one of whom was a chaplain sent by General Ewell, then
at Shippensburg, to General Early, were captured in our
streets by these scouts. The purport of their despatches
was, that General Early should not advance his division
too rapidly, as that might be attended with some danger,
in an enemy’s country. In fact, some of Harly’s men
were overheard, in the streets of Gettysburg, early on
this morning, to say to each other that they were afraid
they had ventured too far into Pennsylvania, and had been
led into a trap.

On this day A. P. Hill’s corps reached Chambersburg,
and thence went to Fayetteville, where they halted until
Tuesday, the 30th of June.

The whole of Longstreet’s corps, numbering not less
than 25,000 men, passed through Greencastle, to-day, on
their way to Chambersburg. They were accompanied by
50 pieces of artillery, and a train of 500 waggons, most of
which were empty. In the evening they were followed by
a portion of Stuart’s cavalry, under Fitzhugh Lee. Many
saddles were observed to be empty, a circumstance
accounted for by the encounter which they had with
Pleasonton’s cavalry, on the 21st., at Snicker’s Gap.

At about 11 A. M., Jenkins’s mounted infantry, 400 in
number, reached Carlisle. Jenkins demanded of the
Town Council 1500 rations, to be furnished within an hour,
in the failure of which, his men would help themselves.
In less than the required time the citizens filled the stalls
of the market house with all kinds of eatables, and corn
was procured for the hungry horses. At5P. M.,a large
portion of Ewell’s corps (Rhodes’s division) entered.
Although they had marched 29 miles that day, and many
were without shoes or hats, they appeared to be cheerful
and went along playing and singing ‘‘Dixie,’’ to the reat
disgust of the citizens. They expressed the same con-
tempt, there, for Milroy, Butler, and other Union generals
that they did to us at Gettysburg. In conversing with us
they alone excepted General McClellan of whom they said
that he was a ‘‘gentleman.’’ Of the inhabitants of Car-
lisle Ewell made a most absurd demand for flour, pro-
visions, medicines and surgical instruments, which it was
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 15

impossible to comply with. On the next day (Sunday)
his men, guided by persons who were well acquainted
with the town and the places where goods were stored,
made a general search for such articles as they needed.
In the meanwhile, Ewell compelled five of the physicians
to bring their surgical instruments to his headquarters,
where he robbed them of the most valuable ones, handing
back the sacked cases to their owners. After the robbery
he, indeed, offered to pay them, but they indignantly re-
fused to receive compensation under such circumstances.

During the progress of the Rebels through the valley,
the same differencee of temperament and character which
we noticed during the battle were observable between
those coming from different states. The Georgians were
most mild, and free from rudeness and bitterness; next to
them came the North Carolinians and Alabamians; whilst
the South Carolinians, the Louisianians, the Texans and
Virginians were filled to overflowing with wrath, and de-
lighted to talk of the vengeance they would take on the
North, if permitted by their leaders. To their officers
they yielded an almost blind obedience.

SUNDAY, JUNE 28.

Carlisle being in possession of Rhodes’s division, the
pastors of the churches of that town were in doubt, at
first, whether they should be able to hold divine service
without molestation. Deeming it, however, to bea duty
to make the effort, those of the English Lutheran, the
Presbyterian, and the German Reformed churches opened
their several places of worship, and preached and prayed,
as usual, for our rulers and our country, in the presence
of a number of Rebel officers, and suffered no inconveni-
ence. In fact it is said to the credit of this division, that,
during their stay, the best of order prevailed in Carlisle.
And our observation, at Gettysburg, led us to believe that
many of the officers and privates of this division were
Christian men.

Two regiments of Federal cavalry, numbering about
2,000, under the command of General Copeland, entered
Gettysburg from the direction of Emmittsburg, at 12 M.,
16 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

amidst the rejoicings of the people, who distributed bread
and pies amongst them, whilst some of the youth sang
patriotic songs. They encamped east of the town until
the next morning, when they all left and moved towards
Littlestown. They had been sent forward on a recon-
noisance. At Fairfield there was a slight skirmish be-
tween the Rebels and some of our cavalry.

On this evening the camp-fires of an advance party of
A. P. Hill, then halting at Fayetteville, were to be seen on
the eastern slope of the mountain, abouta mile above
Cashtown. .

General Harly, to-day, also entered and occupied York.
A portion of his command was sent forward to Wrights-
ville, probably to take and hold the Columbia bridge. A
skirmish took place between them and some of our troops
under Colonel Frick. The Colonel, finding that he would
not be able to drive them off and hold the bridge, crossed
over to Columbia and permitted the bridge to be consigned
to the flames; thus cutting off their hope of crossing the
river at this point and ravaging the portion of the State
east of the Susquehanna. Whilst they destroyed the

‘bridges of the Northern Central Railroad, they forebore

destroying the depot and other railroad property located
in the town of York, only because such an act might lead
to a general conflagration of the town; which they had
pledged themselves to spare, in consideration of the bonus
paid them by its citizens. A skirmish also took place at
Oyster’s Point, three miles from Harrisburg, with no
further result than that the Rebels retired.

MONDAY, JUNE 29.

General Longstreet’s corps having crossed the Poto-
mac at Williamsport and followed those of Ewell and Hill,
reached Fayetteville on this day. General Lee, fearing
that the Federal Army, which had now also crossed into
Maryland, might cut off his communication with the
Potomac, directed Ewell’s corps to return from their ad-
vanced position near the Susquehanna. Accordingly,
Johnson’s division, which had been encamped at Plain-
field, near Carlisle, left that place to-day, and passing
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG AT

through Shippensburg on Tuesday, moved towards Fay-
etteville.

We now began to see that the invading army was con-
centrating itself on the turnpike road leading through
Gettysburg to Baltimore. At the same time, the Union
Army was advancing towards the same point near our
village. This was the focus towards which all these
hostile rays were tending, and at which, at length, they
became concentrated.

The Rebel encampments, by the aid of a field-glass,
were seen to have been considerably enlarged. Hill had
thrown a large portion of his corps, probably the whole of
Heth’s division, over the mountain. Until the day of the
battle, these were employed in foraging and gathering
provisions for the army amongst the farmers in the vicin-
ity of Cashtown. They seized beef-cattle, flour, and grain,
took possession of the mills near at hand, for the purpose
of grinding the stolen grain, and compelled the farmers’
wives to bake the flour into bread. They were thus gath-
ering stores, resting, and feeding themselves and their
animals, and placing themselves in readiness for an en-
counter with our forces.

It was on this day that the brave Captain Dalgren
made his appearance at Greencastle, with 25 or 30 Union
cavalry under his command. With these he, for several
days, scoured the country, Mr. T. 8. Paulding acting as
his guide. On various occasions he surprised, captured,
or gave chase to squads of Rebel cavalry which were pass-
ing that way.. On one of these occasions he captured a
Rebel mail containing important correspondence between
Jeff. Davis and General Lee, from which it appeared that
the latter had not entire confidence in the propriety of the
invasion of Pennsylvania, but was urged to it by the form-
er. The despatch was carried to General Meade then at
Gettysburg.

On this evening the 1st., 3rd., and 11th. corps, under
the command of General Reynolds, reached Emmittsburg,
Maryland, whilst the right of our army was in position at
New Windsor. Buford’s cavalry was on our left flank
near Gettysburg, and Kilpatrick’s on our right.
18 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

TUESDAY, JUNE 30.

About 3 A. M. Rhodes’s division left Carlisle for the
purpose of concentrating with the rest of Lee’s army at
Gettysburg. They took the Baltimore turnpike, and that
night reached the vicinity of Heidlersburg, where they
rested until early next day. Early’s division, of which
Gordon’s brigade had paid us the unwelcome visit of
Friday the 26th., was also on its return from the Susque-
hanna, and arrived in the same vicinity during the night.

At9 % A.M. Heth’s division of Hill’s corps advanced
on the Chambersburg turnpike, as far as the crest of the
Seminary hill, one-half of a mile northwest of Gettysburg,
throwing about two dozen of infantry pickets as far as Mr.
Sheads’s house. Several officers on horseback were seen
reconnoitring with their field-glasses, and engaged in con-
versation with the people residing near the road on the
hill, eliciting, no doubt, as much information as they
could obtain. They brought with them 27 waggons, prob-
ably with the intention of coming to town and robbing us
of such merchandise and provisions as might have been
gathered or brought to light since Early’s raid. They
were also accompanied by artillery, and thus came pre-
pared for any resistance which they might encounter.
This was also, no doubt, intended to be a reconnoisance in
force, or a movement for the purpose of taking possession
of Gettysburg. At 10 % A. M. Pettigrew, who was in
command, withdrew them towards Cashtown, undoubtedly
aware of the near approach of General Buford’s Federal
cavalry, which arrived about an hour afterwards. This is
shown to be highly probable by the fact that they attempt-
ed to forma decoy for him at Mash Creek, where two
regiments defiled under cover ofa hill, one to the right of
the road, the other to the left; whilst a third was sent a
short distance forward to induce pursuit by our men. In
this position they remained for about two hours, after
which they withdrew farther towards their camp.

Ati1l% A. M. 6,000 Federal cavalry under General
Buford arrived, passing through Washington street to the
Chambersburg turnpike, and by it one mile and a half
northwestward as far as Hon. Edward McPherson’s farm.
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 19

Here the larger portion encamped and placed their artill-
ery in position, whilst the remainder were stationed on
the Mummasburg road, 4% ofa mile north of the College.
During the afternoon the 1st Corps, numbering about
8,000 men, under the command of General Reynolds, came
from Emmittsburg to the right bank of Marsh Creek, 6 %
miles south-west of Gettysburg, and encamped there for
the night; whilst the 11th., numbering about 15,000 men,
under General Howard, and the 3rd., under General
Sickles, remained at Emmittsburg.

By order of General Lee, Hill’s corps—consisting of
three divisions: General Heth, 10,000; Pender, 10,000; and
Anderson, 15,000—-were moved to the vicinity of Marsh
Creek. On this day Longstreet’s corps followed, in the
order of, first, McLaws, 12,000; then Hood, 12,000; whilst
Pickett, 7,000, delayed until Thursday, at Chambersburg
to protect the rear and waggon trains. Two divisions also
of Ewell’s corps, viz.: Rhodes’s and Early’s, the former
numbering 10,000 men, and the latter 9,000, according to
Rebel accounts, had encamped for the’ night at Heidlers-
burg, nine miles from Gettysburg; whilst the third,
Johnston’s, 12,000, had been delayed at Fayetteville. Thus
there were encamped that night, within a short distance
of our town, 28,000 Union infantry and 6,000 cavalry—
29,000; and 76,000 Rebel infantry and a large number of
cavalry; ready to meet each other in deadly conflict on the
next day.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 1.

Wednesday morning dawned, but not without a cloud.
Heavy vapours threatening rain filled the sky and covered
the earth with their thick shadows. The hurried move-
ments of horsemen during the early morning, and the
careful examination of the surrounding hills by signal offi-
cers indicated that preparations for a great struggle were
going on. Citizens were moving to and fro in painful ex-
pectation, or gathered in clusters on the streets, dis-
cussing the probabilities of a hostile meeting.

At length, at9 % A. M., skirmishing began between
Buford’s dismounted cavalry and the advancing Rebels;
20 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

and at 10 A. M. the artillery was brought into play. In
half an hour the First corps, under General Wadsworth,
began to come up, General Reynolds dashing through the
town, whilst his men moved over the fields from the
Emmittsburg Road in front of McMillan’s and Dr.
Schmucker’s, under cover of Seminary Hill. The right
moved to the east of the turnpike and railroad and formed
a line of battle behind a grove, and the left formed on the
crest of the hill near the Seminary. Both wings then ad-
vanced, and the cavalry gradually fell back to the rear.
The extreme right rested on the Chambersburg turnpike,
and that of the left on the Hagerstown Road.

For two hours these 8,000 men stood like a wall against
a powerful enemy glorying in his strength. In the Rebel
advance was Heth with his 10,000 men,—they pressed upon
our right. Later came Pender, with as many more, and
pressed our left. But though the enemy attacked us with
two men to our one, our left was able, during the forenoon
and until 3 P. M., not only to hold its own, but to drive
back the enemy in their fearfulcharges. Never did troops
behave with more gallantry, never did men fight more as
if they felt that the honour and the very existence of their
country depended upon the manner in which they then
acquitted themselves.

The right, which was comparatively weak, having
been opposed by a much stronger force, although holding
its position for a long while, was several times driven
back through the grove and adjacent fields, down to the
eastern base of Seminary Ridge. It lost heavily in killed
and wounded. During these alternate advance and back-
ward movements it lost at one time 1,900 prisoners, which
were afterwards retaken; and of Davis’s Mississippi
Brigade (belonging to Heth’s division, which was very
badly cut up) it took 800 prisoners, and of Archer’s
Brigade, of the same division, about 1,500.

The latter capture took place at 11 A. M., and the brave
and lamented Reynolds lived just long enough to see it ac-
complished. Archer was trying to drive out of McPher-
son’s woods the left of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division of
of the 1st Corps, which had just gained that position from
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 21

the Rebels; and as he moved up, the Iron Brigade, the 1st of
the same Division, was swung around so as to bring
Archer between our lines, and thus temporarily to
surround him. Seeing this, he surrendered with his men
to Major Riddle who, together with Captain Wadsworth,
both of Reynolds’s staff, had executed that successful
movement.

It was almost at this moment, so exciting and aus-
picious, that the gallant General fell. He had gone into
the woods to urge on the men who were driving back the
Rebel lines, and seeing that they were successful, he was
coming out again. He was at the outer edge of the woods
when the fatal volley was fired, which killed him and
wounded a number of his escort. Thus in a moment of
gain we sustained a heavy loss.

Reynolds has been charged with rashness, with fool-
hardiness, and with prematurely bringing on the battle.
But it would be more just to say that he had but little
direct agency in bringing iton. Having been informed
by Buford of the advance of the enemy, and convinced of
the importance of preventing their gaining possession of
the town or of the hills south of it, he determined to hold
them in check until our army could concentrate. Accord-
ingly he ordered his troops ‘to come up as fast as possible,
expecting that Wadsworth’s, the 1st Division of the 1st
Corps, would be promptly supported by the other two, as
also by the 11th Corps, and he sent a staff officer to Gen-
eral Meade to inform him of his intentions. How nobly
the enemy were resisted until flanked by overwhelming
numbers, we have already seen. So it must be said, that
we do not see how General Reynolds could have refused
to accept the battle; that it was unavoidable; that it was
forced on us by the Rebels; that if they had not been held
in check that day, they would have pressed on and obtained
the impregnable position which we were enabled to hold:
and that, most of all, the hand of Providence, who gave us
at last a signal victory, was in the arrangements of that
day.

: It soon became apparent that our right was the main
object of the enemy’s attack. As early as 10 A. M. the
22 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

divisions of Rhodes and Early had moved from Heidlers-
burg, by a rapid march, to within a short distance of our
right, and formed in a suitable manner in a secluded valley
and under cover ofa hill, for the purpose of supporting
Heth and making a flank movement onourmen. Rhodes’s
division, which was in the advance, entered the fight about
noon; Early’s did not participate until after2 P.M. Our
little Spartan band, being so hard pressed, was about giv-
ing way on our right, when a portion of the 11th Corps
came to its support.

At1P. M. two divisions of this corps, under Generals
Schurz and Barlow, hurried through the town and took
position on our extreme right, resting on the Mummas-
burg Road; and by their support the tide of battle was
stayed until Early’s division took part in the fight. These
came thus late, because they had left Emmittsburg at 8 A.
M., and marched, one division 10 miles by the direct
route, and two divisions 18 miles by a circuitous route in
order to avoid crowding on Reynolds’s rear. Their pace
was accelerated when they heard the cannonading, and
although very much wearied, they seemed eager to go to
the fight.

The other division of the 11th Corps, under General
Steinwehr, by the prudent forethought of General Howard,
was at once sent forward to occupy Cemetery Hill, on the
south of the town, and to provide for the contingency
which happened three hours afterwards, and which he
must have foreseen.

Just as the two divisions of the 11th Corps were
marching through the town, Ewell’s fresh troops were
plainly seen coming from the northeast. The two di-
visions with two batteries, were hurried forward to meet
the enemy and prevent their coming in the rear of the 1st
Corps. Theenemy, however, placing a gun ona hill to
the north of the town, brought it to bear upon the position
of Steinwehr, but were diverted from their object by
Schurz, who was instructed to take that hill. The first
shell thrown by one of his batteries, situated a few hun-
dred yards east of the College, dismounted a Rebel gun,
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 23

killed three men, wounded forty-seven, and silenced th
battery.

At1 P. M. General Howard also sent to Generals
Slocum and Sickles to come up, the former of whom was
reported to be within five miles.

General Howard had arrived at Gettysburg at 11 %
A. M., an hour at least in advance of his command, for the
purpose of seeing General Reynolds and reporting to him
in person. Whilst his aides were in search of the latter.
General Howard visited the tower of Mrs. S. Fahnestock’s

house, and several other prominent positions, in order
that he might fully understand the surrounding country.

He had satisfied himself of the preeminent advantages of
which Cemetery Hill afforded as a position of offense and
defense, and therefore determined to take and hold it. To
this happy forethought we may, in a great measure, under
God, attribute the favourable results of the battles of the
two succeeding days.

It is due, however, to the memory of General Rey-
nolds, to state that he also appreciated the value of this
position and determined, if he could not hold the town
against the advancing enemy, to secure its possession.
But dying about the time at which General Howard ar-
rived, was no more able,to communicate his intentions.

After Early’s division had entered the fight, it soon
became evident that our right would be turned, and that
our men must retire or all be killed or captured; it was
evident that the Ist Corps and two divisions of the 11th
Corps, numbering together not more than 16,000 to
18,000 men, could not long stand before the 40,000 of
Heth, Pender, Rhodes, and Early combined. Before the
ordinary observer would have thought of retreat, however,
General Howard, as we have seen, had ordered three bat-
teries of heavy artillery to be removed to the Cemetery
hill, and a proper disposition of Steinwehr’s division to
be made, with a view of supporting our retiring men.
As the pressure of the advancing columns of the enemy
became greater, our men were forced to yield before
them. He sent orders accordingly to both the corps com-
manders—Doubleéday and Schurz—to fall back to Cemetery
24 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

hill, at 4 P. M., when he found they were being outflanked
on both sides. :

The Ist Corps, for the most part, fell back through
the southwestern outskirts of the town, and took position
on the left and rear of Steinwehr; whilst the 11th mostly
crowded through Washington and Baltimore Streets to
Cemetery Hill, and took position in front and on the right
centre. Being very much crowded in passing through
the streets, and somewhat confused, they were unable to
repel the enemy who were pressing hard upon them; and,
as a consequence, about 2,500 were taken prisoners.

General Howard had requested General Buford to
proceed with his cavalry to the left, to cover the retreat
of the Ist Corps, whilst one of Steinwehr’s brigades was
moved to the north of the town to support Schurz. One
of the batteries on the north of the Cemetery did great
service in checking pursuit.

During the fight of the first day, which lasted from
9% A.M. to4P. M., our killed, wounded, and prisoners
greatly exceeded in number that of the enemy. They
called it a glorious victory; but, considering the disparity
of numbers and the relative condition of the men—theirs
being fresh, and ours wearied by hard marching—they
had not much reason to boast.

At the close of the fight, Ewell’s corps occupied the
town, and formed a line thence southeast to Rock Creek;
Rhodes’s division lay on the right, occupying Middle
Street as far west as the Seminary hill; Early lay on the
southeast of the town; and Johnston, who did not arrive
until Thursday, occupied—when he did arrive—the ex?
treme left of the line. It was Gordon’s and Hay’s
brigades of Early’s division, of which the former had paid
us a visit on the Friday preceding, that pressed our men
through the eastern part of the town. Hill’s corps took
position on Seminary Ridge, in the following order: on the
left, and resting on the Chambersburg turnpike, was Heth;
next came Pender; and then Anderson, who had halted
too long at Cashtown to participate in the fight of to-day.
McLaw’s division of Longstreet’s corps, which also came
late on Wednesday, was advanced still further to the right.
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 25

On the next morning, when Hood’s division of the same
corps came, it took a position to the right of McLaws’s.
(See the accompanying map, from which it will appear
that this was substantially the disposition of the Rebel
forces on Thursday, July 2.)

That portion of Rhodes’s division which lay down be-
fore our dwelling for the night, was greatly elated with
the results of the first day’s battle. And the same may
be said of the whole Rebelarmy. They were anxious to
engage in conversation—to communicate their views and
feelings, and to elicit ours. They were boastful of them-
selves, of their cause, and of the skill of their officers; and
were anxious to tell us of the unskilful manner in which
some of our officers had conducted the fight which had
just closed. When informed that General Archer and
1,500 of his men had been captured, they said, ‘‘To-morrow
we will take all these back again; and having already taken
5000 (!) prisoners of you to-day, we will take the balance
of your men to-morrow.’’ Having been well-fed, provi-
sioned, and rested, and successful on this day, their con-
fidence knew no bounds; they felt assured that they should
be able, with perfect ease, to cut up our army in detail—
fatigued as it was by long marches and yet scattered, for
only two corps had as yet arrived. Resting under this
impression, they lay down joyfully on the night of the
first day.

What the feeling of our littlearmy, as yet consisting
of only two corps, was on Wednesday evening, we are un-
able to state. To us it seemed as if the Rebels would
really be able to accomplish their boast. We were dis-
heartened and almost in despair. But our men, who,
whilst retreating through the town, seemed to be con-
fused and frightened, coolly and quietly fell into position
on the hill when they found themselves supported by two
lines of battle formed by Steinwehr, and by a sufficiency
of artillery already in place. They saw the pursuing
Rebels suddenly brought to a stand by the raking fire
poured into them by our men on the hill.

Soon after the battle had begun, the residents of the
west end of the town were advised by General Reynolds
26 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

to leave their residences, that the shot and shell of the
enemy might not reach and injure them, and to retire toa
position to the north and east of the borough. One of the
General’s aides states, that the design of the order was
that the noncombatants might leave the streets and return
to their houses where, if there should be actual fighting
in the town, they might be out of the way of the soldiers,
and that he had given that order in person. Still, several
of our most intelligent citizens received the order first
stated, and communicated it to those most exposed. And
if General Reynolds had lived, and fallen back to the town,
fighting from house to house, it would have been but little
less dangerous to be in the houses than in the streets, for
it is almost certain that the enemy would have shelled the
town and laid itinashes. As it was, very many of the
houses were struck and injured by the Rebel shells, and
the wonder is that only one citizen* was killed by a Rebel
ball.

Some of the citizens who, in accordance with this
advice, left their houses, found to their sorrow when they
afterwards returned, that they had been pillaged by the
Rebels during their absence; whilst most of those who re-
mained at home during the battles of the three days were
enabled to save their property from indiscriminate robbery
and destruction.

Whilst actual fighting was going on, many of the
women and children went intg the cellars as places of
greatest safety; and nothing can be more remote from the
truth than the gratuitous slander put forth by some reck-
less newspaper scribblers and extensively published
abroad, that the male inhabitants ran off like a set of
cowards and permitted the women and children to do the
best they could.t The truth requires us to state that

*Miss Jennie Wade. She was struck and instantly killed by a
Rebel bullet, while busy about her regular household duties. ‘To be
sure, it is a pity that she was shot; but the celebrity awarded her is
out of all proportion to the weight of her misfortune. —wW, A. J.

{The late 3ret Harte gave this story wide circulation in his
poem of “OLD JOHN BURNS OF GETTYSBURG.” Itisnot prob-
able that Mr. Harte was inspired by malice or ill-will, but neverthe.

 

 
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG a7

only a few of the male inhabitants were absent from home,
and they were either Government officers, or such as had
gone away with their goods or horses to places of security.
No one, as far as we know, had forsaken his home through
fear or cowardice.

That night was one of preparation. The two armies
were being brought together for the bloody work of the
succeeding day. The peaceful full moon looked down
through a thin canopy of cloud, affording her light as
cheerfully as if the hurried movements were all made. to
save, instead of to destroy life.

On Cemetery Hill the 11th Corps, under General
Howard, occupied the centre, in the order of (1), Ames
(Barlow), (2), Steinwehr, (3), Schurz; of the 1st Corps,
the 1st Division of Wadsworth was placed on the right of
the 11th, near Culp’s Hill,-the 2nd of Robinson to the left
of the 11th, and the 8rd of Doubleday to the left and front
of Robinson. About the time when the retreat to Ceme-
tery Hill began, General Hancock had arrived to represent
General Meade on the field instead of Reynolds, who had
fallen; but General Howard remained in command till the
arrival of General Meade some time after midnight.

At 7 P. M. General Slocum came with the 12th Corps,
and was placed on our extreme right, General Geary oc-
cupying Culp’s Hill with Greene’s and Kane’s Brigades;
and General Williams the line near Spangler’s Spring,
with Ruger’s and Lockwood’s Brigades, General Knipe’s
probably occupying the adjacent parts of Wolf Hill. Gen-
eral Sickles came about the same hour, with most of the
3rd Corps, a part having been left with the supply train.
He took position on our left, next to Doubleday, and near

 

 

 

 

less he seriously wronged a number of good and brave people. With
regard to old John Burns himself the poet is three or four degrees
more accurate. Mr. Burns had gone out into the woods that morn-
ing in search of a lost cow; and, returning, found himself suddenly
in the midst of Reynolds’s men, who were then forming for the
first hard struggle. He took the rifle which 4 soldier handed him,
fell into line, and fought valiantly till he was wounded and com-
pelled to retire. The male population of Gettysburg was not large
at the time of the battle, a considerable percentage being in the

army. —W. A. J.
28 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

the Emmittsburg road. Ati11P. M. General Meade left
Taneytown, and arrived on the field at 1 o’clock A. M.

THURSDAY, JULY 2.

At 7 A. M. of July 2nd, the 2nd Corps, under General
Hancock, the 5th, under General Sykes, and the rest of
the 8rd, with the reserve artillery, arrived. The 2nd
Corps took the place of the 38rd, which was now ordered to
take a position farther to the left; whilst the 5th was kept
in reserve until the arrival of the 6th at 3 P. M., from
Manchester, Maryland, having marched 36 miles since 9
P. M. of Wednesday, the day previous. The 5th Corps,
under Sykes, were then assigned to the extreme left,
having been joined by the Pennsylvania Reserves at 5 P.
M. In making these dispositions, in placing the artillery
in position, and in constructing breastworks on the right
of our line (Culp’s Hill), the morning of the day passed
away.

Early in the morning the Rebels began to give evi-
dence of an impression on their part, that they might
possibly have some hard work to do on that day, although,
on the previous evening they had spoken so lightly. of it.
They had ascertained that our little band had been strong-
ly reenforced during the night and early morning. They
commenced barricading Middle Street, on its south side,
from Seminary Ridge on west to Stratton Street on the
east; they also broke down the fences, on the north side,
in order to enable them to bring up reenforcements and
to send back their men, without subjecting them to a rak-
ing street fire from ours, the houses and stables serving
as a protection to them. On the previous evening they
had expected to attack and cut up our army in detail.
But as the great body of the Army of the Potomac had
already arrived, this hope had vanished, and they saw that
the contest would be a hard and bloody one between the
two armies in their united strength.

The morning was pleasant, the air was calm, the sun
shone mildly through a smoky atmosphere, and the whole
outer world was quiet and peaceful,—there was nothing to
foretoken the sanguinary struggle that was to close the
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 29

day. During the earlier part of the day the enemy kept
perfectly quiet, and not asound was to be heard, except
the firing between the pickets, and an occasional artillery
shot from our guns, for the purpose of feeling the where-
abouts and the strength of the enemy.

Having perfected his plans in silence, at twenty
minutes past 4 P.M. the enemy began the battle of the
2d, by opening a terrific artillery fire upon our guns, and
soon afterwards by an infantry attack upon our left. It
had been suspected, from some indications, that he was
meditating a decisive stroke on this wing. It became the
duty of Sickles to break the ominous silence, by throwing
himself in the way of the Rebels, and if possible, to frus-
trate their scheme. Soon the cannonading became gen-
eral along our leftand centre, answered by the guns of
the Rebels, of which more than one hundred were placed
in a circuit of more than three miles, on the Seminary
ridge round to the Harrisburg road, and on the hills to the
east of the town. Sickles’s corps, supported by a portion
of the Second, went forward with the determination to
meet the advancing enemy, and engaged them in a most
terrific struggle at Sherfy’s peach orchard and the ad-
joining grounds, near the Hmmittsburg road. Both
parties fought with a desperate determination to win, but
at last Sickles’s men began to give away. Rallied by him
in person, they arrested and hurled back the advancing
column for a short time; but finding themselves opposed
by an overwhelming mass of the enemy, consisting of
Anderson’s and McLaws’s division, numbering about
twenty-six thousand men, and being hard pressed, they
gave way a second time. This wasa most critical moment
for ourarmy. The point aimed at by the enemy was to
break our left and flank us; and this they would be able
to accomplish, if succor should not arrive speedily. The
Fifth corps of Sykes, arriving at this juncture, 5 P. M.,
was brought into action by a cross-road leading from the
Taneytown to the Emmittsburg road at Sherfy’s peach
orchard, and passing to the north of Little Round Top.
But even with this support, and other aid that was sent
over from our right during the terrific struggle, the
30 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
®

enemy were near being successful. Four pieces of Bige-
low’s battery were taken, after having expended all his
grape, but afterwards they were recovered. The enemy
had driven our men before them, and, endeavouring to come
in between Round Top and Little Round Top, they were
advancing toward the latter. At6 P. M. General Craw-
ford’s division of the Fifth corps, consisting of two
brigades of Pennsylvania Reserves, having until this time
been held in reserve, went into a charge with a terrific
shout, and drove the Rebels down the rocky front of that
hill, across the valley below, and over the next hill into
the woods beyond, taking three hundred prisoners. This
was the favourable moment, and the whole Rebel column
was forced to retire. Our left was saved from disaster;
the fight, on that part of our lines, was gloriously ended
for the day, and Little Round Top was ours. It is true
our line, which, in the morning had rested on or near the
Emmittsburg road, had receded one-third of a mile, but
the enemy had been signally repulsed; he was foiled in
his plans, and our men firmly held that natural fortress,
Littlc Round Top. The front of this our men immediately
began to cover with a network of breastworks, and on the
summit they placed twelve 30-pound Parrott guns. When
the next morning dawned, it was a second Gibraltar.
The Pennsylvania Reserves, of whom one company was
from our town and county and fought in sight of their
homes, did most effective service under General Crawford,
and held this strong-hold for forty-five hours, until the
close of the battle. The fighting here ended at 6 % P. M.
On this day, the Rebel General Barksdale fell on Han-
cock’s extreme left.

Scarcely had the tumult of battle ended on our left,
when it was renewed on our right. Previous to that hour.
there had been some sharp fighting on this part of the
line, but it had ceased. Ewell, who, it is said, had sworn.
that he would take and hold, at all hazards, the hill east of
the Baltimore turnpike, on which our right was resting,
began to mass his men in that vicinity. Rhodes’s division
was hurried forward from the west end of the town to
unite with Harly’s and Johnston’s (then arrived from
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 31

arlisle), already near the scene of action, and at 7 P. M.
well was ready for the attack. Barly attacked that
ortion of the Eleventh Corps lying on the flank of the
ortheastern knob of Cemetery Hill, and resting near a
tone wall which extended southward from Houck’s brick-
ard, for the purpose of breaking our centre and captur-
1g our guns. One portion moved obliquely across the
row of a hill, behind which they were lying, and came up
1 front of the wall, whilst another moved upa low valley
tretching from Rock Creek along the northern flank of
vulp’s Hill. To the Louisiana Tigers was committed the
erilous task of making the charge upon the guns. They
ashed forward with furious determination, and although
hey lost half their men in killed and wounded, some
ushed over the wall up to the cannon, which were then
00 hot,to be worked, and cried ‘‘surrender,’’ but were
eaten off by the gunners with clubs and stones. If they
ad been victorious in this charge, the battle would have
een lost to us. But the enemy was successfully met,
laughtered in great numbers, and driven back with
2rrible loss.

Ewell had directed a similar attack to be made, at the
ame time, against the Twelfth Corps, in the rear of Culp’s
ill, through a valley leading up from Rock Creek towards
pangler’s Spring. It is possible that he may have known
‘hat force we had there to oppose him—he may have an-
cipated that, during the quiet of that vicinity, Meade
ad sent a portion of our men to support those who were
ressed so fearfully on our left, and he consequently may
ave felt certain of an easy victory. Two divisions of the
‘welfth Corps formed our right flank west of Rock Creek;
1e first, under General Williams, was located near the
reek, and the second, under General Geary, occupied
‘ulp’s Hill. Only one brigade, the third, under General
reene, remained of Geary’s division, the other two, the
rst and second,. not having yet returned from the conflict
1 our left. The enemy came up under cover of the forest
ad approaching darkness, as if to the accomplishment of
1 easy task. With desperate courage Greene’s brigade
xceived them, literally covering the hills, in front of our
32 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

works, with the wounded and dead. The scarred timber
in the vicinity well attests* the obstinacy and effectiveness
with which our men fought. The enemy’s loss was fear-
ful—compared with ours, it was eight to one. In one of
our regiments there was only one man wounded. Never
did men fight with greater determination to be the victors.
From 7 to 9 % P. M. the roar of musketry was continuous,
and so terrible as to make the very earth quake.

But whilst General Greene succeeded, on his part of
the line, in staying and hurling back the advancing
columns of the enemy, that part near Spangler’s Spring
was left without adequate defence by the temporary with-
drawal of the firstand second brigades. There the Rebels
were successful in crossing our works, and advancing to
a point within a short distance of the Baltimore turnpike.
This might have proved disastrous to us had it not occurr-
ed at so late an hour, and had they not been apprehensive
of falling into a trap if they should advance further. With
this exception, Thursday ended with decided advantages
to the Union army. The enemy was finally repulsed on
the left, and he met with heavy losses on both flanks, but
especially in the last charges he made on our right.

To us, however, who were at the time within the
Rebel lines, the result seemed doubtful; and gloomy fore-
bodings filled our minds as we laid ourselves down to
catch, if possible, a little sleep. The unearthly yells of
the exultant and defiant enemy had, during the afternoon,
been frequently heard, even amidst the almost deafening
sounds of exploding cannon, of screaming and bursting
shells, and of the continuous roar of musketry; and it
seemed to us, judging from the character and direction of
these mingled noises, that the enemy had been gaining
essentially on our flanks. At about6 P. M., itis true, we
heard ‘‘cheering’’ different from that which had so often
fallen dolefully upon our ears; and some of the Rebels
said to each other, ‘‘Listen! the Yankees are cheering.”’
But whilst this—which we afterwards found to have been
the cheering of General Crawford’s men, as they charged
and drove the Rebels down the face of Little Round Top—

*Even at the present date, 1909 --W. A. J.
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 33

afforded us a temporary encouragement, the movement of
Rhodes’s division, which we saw hurried forward on a
“double-quick”’ for the purpose of uniting in a combined
attack upon our right centre and flank, the incessant and
prolonged musketry fire, and the gradual cessation of the
reports of our artillery on Cema2tery Hill,caused us to fear
that our men had been badly beaten, and that our guns
had either been captured or driven back from the ad-
vantageous position they had occupied. The battle ceased,
and the outer world sank into ‘‘its usual repose;’’ but we
lay down, not to sleep, but to indulge in sad and gloomy
reflections. Intensely anxious to know, we had no means
of finding out the relative condition of the two armies; and,
“like drowning men,’’ we were ready ‘‘to catch‘ at
straws.”’

The Rebels returned again to our streets at 10 P. M.,
and prepared their supper; and soon we began to hope
that all was not lost. Some of them expressed their most
earnest indignation at the foreigners—the Dutchmen—for
having shot down so many of their men. This led us to
believe that the Eleventh Corps,—9sf whom many were
foreign Germans, and whom, on the previous evening,
they tauntingly told us they had met at Chancellorsville—
had done their duty, and had nobly redeemed their
character. We afterwards found the explanation of this
indignation when we learned what had taken place that
evening, on the eastern flank of Cemetery Hill. Then
again, soon after this, some were heard to say: ‘‘The
Yankees have a good position, and we must drive them out
of it to-morrow.’’ This assured us that our men had been
able to hold their position, and that our lines were un-
broken. There seemed now to be an entire absence of
that elation and boastfulness which they manifested when
they entered the town on the evening of the 1st of July.
Still later at night, one said to another, in tones of great
2arnestness, ‘‘I am very much discouraged,’’ from which
we learned that the results of the day were not in accord-
wmce with their high expectations, although they said,
luring the evening, they had been driving us on our right
ind our left.
34 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

Some time after supper, about midnight, nearly all
of those who had returned to town, instead of lying down.
to sleep, moved eastward again to our right. Soon after-
wards, some of those who remained as a guard, and for
the purpose of plundering the houses and cellars of citi-
zens, said to us, ‘“To-morrow, Longstreet, who has just
arrived this evening, and has not yet been in the fight,
will give the Yankees something to do.’’ Of course this
was mere boasting, for two of Longstreet’s divisions had
been in position during the day, and McLaws’s was active
in the fight. Only Pickett’s division had arrived during
the evening.

There was some readjusting of their lines during the
night. Pickett was placed to the left of Anderson and to
the right of Heth, and directly opposite our left center;
and Rhodes moved his division, at 2 A. M., to join the rest
of Ewell’s corps on our right; so as to be ready, by the
dawn of day, to improve the temporary advantage he had
gained the evening before, and obtain possession of Culp’s
Hill and then the Baltimore road. Thus massed, Ewell
designed, like his predecessor, Stonewall Jackson, to
throw his whole force upon and break our right. This
was the work which it seems was assigned to him to do on
Friday, the 3d of July; whilst it was made the duty of
Longstreet to perform a similar work on our left center.
Such was the Rebel programme for the morrow.

FRIDAY JULY 3.

On the previous evening, just as the fighting at Culp’s
Hill had ceased, a portion of the Twelth Corps, which had
been sent to the left to support Sickles, returned again
to the right. During the night Shaler’s brigade, of the
third division of the Sixth Corps, was transfered to the
same vicinity, and to these was also added Lockwood’s
Maryland brigade. Such was the preparation on our part
to resist the Rebel shock.

At the dawn of day, 4% A. M., our artillery (Best’s
Battery) opened upon the Rebels at the point where they
had, on the previous evening, penetrated our lines. At
sunrise this was followed by a general infantry attack.
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 35

The battle waged furiously, and was maintained with
desperate obstancy on both sides. At eight o’clock there
was a cessation for a short time; after which it was re-
newed with increased earnestness. From 4% to10 % A.
M., with terrible slaughter, our men pushed the enemy
backward, until they drove them over our breastworks en-
tirely broken to pieces. In this work of death, a battery
of artillery (Best’s) placed on a hill to the right of the
Baltimore turnpike, and some distance south of the Ceme-
tery, was found to have performed a prominent part.
Shot and shell were thrown thence over the Twelfth Corps,
into the retiring enemy. The cannonading lasted for
about an hour anda half. At10A. M., the fighting had
nearly ceased on our right, after which it was not renewed
on that part of the line. From 11A.M.tol P. M. there
was a perfect lull, each party apparently waiting to see

‘ what the other was about to do, and at what point the
attack was to be made. :

At seven minutes past 1 P. M., the awful and porten-
tous silence was broken. Probably not less than 150 guns
on each side belched forth the missiles of death, produc-
ing such a continuous succession of crashing sounds as
to make us feel as if the very heavens had been rent
asunder—such as were never equalled by the most terrific
thunder-storm ever witnessed by mortal man. The air
was filled with lines of whizzing, screaming, bursting
shells and solid shot. The enemy had placed his guns on
the hills near the Bonaughtown road, near the York road,
near the Harrisburg road, and on the Seminary ridge
along its whole line toa point beyond Round Top, so as
to subject our artillery on Cemetery Hill toa circle of cross
fires, and to enable him to dismount and destroy them.
By this means he hoped to brake our front centre; but in
this he was not successful.

During the day General Lee had reconnoitred our
position from the College cupola—although, being a
hospital, that edifice, by all principles of military hunour,
should have been free from every hostile use—and had
come to the conclusion that our left centre was the weak
est part of our lines. Anderson and McLaws had failed
36 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

to turn our left flank on the previous evening; Ewell had
most signally failed in the morning to take Culp’s Hill and
turn our right; and now some other point must be assail-
ed—that point was the position held by Hancock. .
When 2 % P. M. came, it witnessed a determined
effort on the part of the enemy to accomplish this result,
so important and desirable to him. Atthis time, Pickett’s
division of Longstreet’s corps, consisting of the brigades
of Garnet, Kemper and Armistead, was seen to emerge
from the wooded crest of the Seminary Ridge, just to the
south of McMillan’s orchard, and to move in two long,
dark, massive lines, over the plain towards our left centre.
This division was supported on our left by Pettigrew’s
brigade of Heth’s division, and on the right by Wright’s
and Wilcox’s brigades of Anderson’s division. When
this mass of men had moved over about one-third of the
space between the two opposing lines, our batteries, plac-
ed in a grove near Bryan’s house, opened upon them, and
threw shells and grape into the advdncing column; now
for a few moments they seemed to hesitate; then, with a
terrific yell they rushed forward. In a few moments a
tremendous roar, proceeding from the simultaneous dis-
charge from thousands of muskets and rifles, shook the
earth; then, in the portion of the line nearest us, a few,
then more, and then still more Rebels, in all to the num-
ber of about two hundred, were seen moving backwards
towards the point from which they had so defiantly pro-
ceeded; and at last two or three men carrying a single
battle flag, which they had saved from capture, and sev-
eral officers on horse back, followed the fugitives. The
wounded and dead were seen strewn amongst the grass
and grain; men with stretchers stealthily picking up and
carrying the former to the rear; and_ officers for a moment
contemplating the scene with evident amazement, and
riding rapidly towards the Seminary Ridge. Our men
having quietly waited until the Rebels came to the
Emmitsburg road, poured'a deadly fire into them, and
cut them down like grass before the mower’s scythe. The
rank and file had been made to believe that they were
making this charge upon the Pennsylvania militia; but
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 37

their delusion was now broken, and in surprise they ex-
claimed, ‘‘The Army of the Potomac!’’ But still they
pressed onward. General Gibbon had ordered his men
to fall back, to enable the artiHlery to use grape. The
enemy came up to the cannon’s mouth, and were blown
away or cut down by hundreds. Seeing them waver,
General Webb cried out, ‘“Boys, the enemy is ours!’’ and
his brigade rushed upon them and captured: eight hun-
dred prisoners; Stannard’s Brigade took as many more:
and still others were captured, swelling the number of
prisoners to 3,500 Fifteen stands of colours were taken.
So sudden and complete was the slaughter and capture of
nearly all of Pickett’s men, that one of his officers who
fell wounded amongst the first on the Emmittsburg road,
and who characterized the charge as foolish and mad, said
that when, in a few moments afterwards, he was enabled
to rise and look about him, the whole division had dis-
appeared as if blown away by the wind. In this charge,
two of our generals, Hancock and Gibbon, were wounded.
Of the Rebels, Kemper was seriously wounded, Armi-
stead mortally, and Garnett was killed.

But whilst these things were in progress, we must
not suppose that the enemy was inactive on his extreme
right. He showed considerable signs of vigour opposite
Little Round Top. Hood’s division was trying all the
afternoon what success they might meet with in driving
our men from that stronghold and turning our flank. To
complete our victory on our whole line, the Pennsylvania
Reserves were called upon to make a charge upon a battery
which the enemy had been using to annoy them, placed on
the hill just in front, and from which they had been driven
the evening before. Our men took the battery, 300
prisoners, and 5,000 stand of arms, and drove the enemy
half a mile beyond the line they had occupied during the
day. This took place about 5 P. M., and with it ended the
battle of Gettysburg.

At that time the enemy began to exhibit signs of un-
easiness and fear. They gathered up the wounded and
sent them to the rear as fast as possible. They now feared
that our men would dash upon them, a thing for which
38 : THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

they evidently had no very great relish. They said to us,
“The Yankees intend, this evening, to charge upon us in
the streets;’’ and when asked upon what authority they
spoke, they only answered that they knew that such was
to be the case, being evidently influenced by their fears.
Apprehensivé of such a result, they took a hasty supper,
and, about midnight, formed in two ranks, and were under
arms, as if dwaiting a charge.

The third day closed, leaving them iu a condition far
different from that in which they entered the town on the
évening of the first. They came in exultant, and fiushed
with victory. They were in good fighting condition; had
an easy day’s work; had killed, wounded, and captured
many of our men, and had lost a far smaller number of
their men; and there were as yet only two of our corps to
oppose them. The first was the day of their triumph; the
second ended without securing them any decided advant-
age—it was rather ominous of disaster, yet they were
hopeful; but the third closed, leaving them repulsed at
every point, not only showing the futility of any further
attempt to carry any portion of our lines; or. of doing us
serious damage, but the probability of a disastrous result,
should our men, as they feared, act on the offensive.

Lee could therefore do no better than hastily remove
Ewell’s division from its exposed position in the town and
the hills southeast of it, under cover of which he lay, and
place them behind his defences on the Seminary Ridge.
Accordingly, by 3 A. M. of the 4th, all the Rebels had
been withdrawn from the town and placed in the rear of
that ridge, where, during the day, they occupied some
time in strengthening their breastworks and preparing
for an assault. This was, however, no doubt’ done as a
precautionary measure, to enable their rear, if necessary,
to make an obstinate resistance, while the main body of
the army was retreating. In fact, there is sufficient evi-
dence that Lee’s retreat began soon after the night of the
8d had set in, and that he was hurrying his wounded, his
stores, his ammunition and waggon train forward all night
and all Saturday (the 4th) by the two roads leading to the
Cumberland Valley; the one by the Chambersburg turn-
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 39

pike, as far as to Greenwood, and thence towards Waynes-
boro; and the other, directly towards the latter point and
Hagerstown. After the experience of Friday, the 3d, the
retreat from Gettysburg and from the presence of General
Meade’s army became to General Le a military necessity ;
and as Sunday dawned upon us, only a few Rebel pickets
remained in this region of country, unless we except the
multitudes of stragglers from his army, and a larger num-
ber of his wounded, which were literally emptied out of
his waggons into farm-houses and barns in his hasty re-
treat.

This battle of three days will compare, in magnitude
and far-reaching consequences, with any of the great
battles of modern times. Inthe battle of Waterloo, the
Allies had 72,000, the French 80,000 men; in this the
Rebels had 90,000, the Federals about 60,000 men. The
British had 186 cannon, the French 252; the Rebels had
upwards of 200, and we had anequal number. The
Allies lost 20,000 in killed and wounded; the French
40,000 in killed, wounded, prisoners and deserters; the
Federals lost 2,834 killed, 14,709 wounded, and 6,643
prisoners, or in all, about 24,000; whilst the Rebels lost
5,500 killed, 21,000 wounded, 9,000 prisoners, and 4,000
stragglers and deserters, or a totalof about 40,000. The
proportion of men and of losses, in both battles, is nearly
the same. The battle of Waterloo resulted in effectually
crushing the power of Napoleon and the grinding des-
potism that he was exercising over Europe. It broke to
pieces that army in whose track followed desolation and
famine, and whose final triumph must have resulted in
the destruction of all the then existing governments of
the civilized world. The battle of Gettysburg resulted,
first, in checking the progress and then destroying the
power of a well-disciplined and defiant army, which had
come to the North for the express purpose of robbery
and of spreading terror and desolation in its track, and,
by the capture of Baltimore and Washington, of dictating
tous the most humiliating terms of peace. The sway
of Napoleon over subject Europe would not have been
40 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

more tyrannical and destructive of the vital interests of
the people, than would have been the establishment, by a
decisive victory of Lee, of an overbearing slave-power as
a controlling influence in our country. The fall of Vicks-
burg and of Port Hudson, which followed immediately
after the battle of Gettysburg, though of the highest im-
portance to the country, is, nevertheless, not equal. in: its
influence to the breaking of the power of an army which
was striking a blow at the heart of the nation. In the de-
feat, therefore, of Lee the corner-stone of that fabric,
which the rebellion sought to erect on human bondage
and the distinction of the races of men, which God has
made of one blood, is crushed to pieces, and the bright
days of a happy future loom up before our vision, when
we shall once more be a united and prosperous people.

THE END
(The following letter from General Howard is quoted
with his permission)
Burlington, Vt.,
April 22nd, 1909.
Mr. William Arnold Jacobs,
Johnstown, Penn.

Dear Mr. Jacobs:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * Your grandfather’s ‘‘“NOTES,”’ which I saw when
they were first issued, I read with deep interest. They are
valuable as a true history of those wonderful days before
and during the great battle of Gettysburg. His testi-
mony and my own, as you have doubtless found it in my
Autobiography, I am sure will be independent testimony,
all things seen, of course, from different standpoints.

Kindly send me a copy of the book as soon as you pub-
lish the same, and greatly oblige a friend of your grand-
father’s and of yourself.

Very sincerely yours,
Oliver Otis Howard,
Maj—Gen’l., U. S. A. (Retired.)
T the dedication of the Gettysburg National Ceme-
Biers November 19, 1863 President Lincoln’s never-tc-

be-forgotten address was preceded by an oration by
the Hon. Edward Everett, orator of the day. In the course
of his oration Mr. Everett said: ‘“* * * * * * the highly valu-
able ‘‘Notes’’ of Professor Jacobs of the university of this
place, to which I am greatly indebted, will abundantly
supply the deficiency of my necessarily too condensed
statement.’’

This book of Professor Jacobs’s was at that time the
only book on the battle as yet in existence. Published
originally in October, 1863, his ‘‘“NOTES ON THE REBEL
INVASION OF MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA
AND THE BATTLE OF GFTTYSBURG”’ was the earliest
history of the battle to appear, and there has been scarcely
an historian of the battle since then who has not been in-
debted, either directly or indirectly, to this little volume.

It has never been replaced by any other work, and
never will be: it occupies a unique position in historical
literature, its value is permanent. And itis far more than
a mere account of the battle. Professor Jacobs, who was
a citizen of Gettysburg—a member of the faculty of
Pennsylvania College—presents in his ‘““NOTES”’ a vivid
picture of the days which immediately preceded the
battle. The reader is given an idea of the excitement
which prevailed in the town and surrounding country dur-
ing the troubled week or so when it was rumoured almost
daily that Lee had crossed the Potomac and the Rebels
were coming; when the citizens were holding meetings in
the Court-House, and companies of home-guards were be-
ing organized and drilled in the streets; when at length it
was known positively that Lee had crossed the Potomac,
and when finally the camp-fires of the Enemy could
actually be seen twinkling one night upon the slope of old
South Mountain.

This, with the subsequent approach of the Rebel
army, the hasty assembling of the Union troops, tired and
dusty from long marches, the preliminary skirmishes
between the two forces, the opening of the battle, and
then the story of the tremendous battle itself—all this
constitutes the wonderful narrative written within a few
weeks of the conflict.
Continuously in the Photographic business in

Gettysburg since July 1863.

 

W. H. TIPTON
The Battlefield Photographer

Gettysburg Photographs, Guide B >oks,
Maps, Souvenir Albums, Souvenir Post
Cards, Lantern Slides &c.

Anything and Everything in the way of Literature,

or pictures pertaining to the Battlefield.

W. H. TIPTON

20 & 22 Chambersburg St.
J. l. MUMPER

Photographer
41 Baltimore St., Gettysburg, Pa.

Write to me for anything you want in the Photo-
graphic line from the Gettysburg Battlefield.
I have negatives of every monument on the Battle-

field,
Publisher of
Historic Views of Gettysburg

(Revised edition now ready)

This album showing in halftone all the monuments,
important views and historic places on the Gettys-
burg Battlefield.

Five double page Panoramic Views. 550 pictures.

Thorough and instructive Historical Text.

Price socts. By mail 6octs. —

 

BUEHLER’S DRUG STORE

Established in 1818
L. M. BUEHLER, Proprietor.

Drugs, Books and Stationery

The Battle of Gettysburg,
by the COMTE de PARIS

The most complete'and accurate history of the
battle, constantly in stock.

Tourists who wish to make a study of the battle
should not fail to procure a copy.
The Jennie Wade House

Gettysburg’s Public Museum

is always open for inspection of Tourists.

The house in which Jennie Wade was killed stands
in original condition showing hundreds
of bullet marks.

Battlefield Relics. Gettysburg Souvenirs

PITZER HOUSE
J. E. PITZER, Prop.

POST 9, G. A. R.
143 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, Penn’a.
RATES $100 A DAY.
If you want a truthful and reliable story of the
Battle of Gettysburg and a satisfactory trip over the

field secure your guide at the
PITZER HOUSE

where you get a drive of 22 miles for one dollar or
dinner and ride for $1.25.

S. J. BUMBAUGH
Newsdealer, Bookseller & Stationer
Cigars and Tobacco
Souvenir Post Cards, Books of
Gettysburg Views, Guide Books
and Maps

CENTRE SQUARE, GETTYSBURG, Pa..
TrabE SUPPLIED
Special attention to Photographing tourist parties
and reunions

M. F. WILLIAMS

Official National Park Photographer

204 West High Street
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Phone 117

Having made thousands of Plates we can guarantee

satisfaction.

 

Automobile Tourists

Desiring the best of Accomodations
can have their wants filled

At the

Crescent Automobile Co’s.
New Fireproof Garage

One block East of Centre Square
Gettysburg, Penna.
Have Your Work Done by

The Battlefield Photo Co.

Our specialty is group and view work.

 

EVERY ADVERTISER
IN THIS BOOK

Is Thoroughly Reliable

None but those we can recommend
will be admitted.

 

 

GEO. W. CHRITZMAN

Jeweler and Optician.

23 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg, Pa.

Souvenir Spoons and Forks, View China and Glass,
View Bullets and Relics, Battlefield Wood Novelties.

FINE REPAIRING
EAGLE HOTEL.

Gettysburg, Pa.
Capacity, 400 guests

Rates $2.00, $2.50, and $3.00 per day.
American plan.

The Eagle is under new management since
’ March ist, 1909. It is the only new and modern
’ hotel in Gettysburg, and is headquarters for
t automobile tourists. The only hotel in Gettys-
' burg that has rooms with private baths and ele-
vator service. Open all the year. There is also
a fire-proof automobile garage in connection with
3 the hotel.

Frank Eberhart, Prop.
299339999 5799S3395593999993 SS SS SSSS SESE SESE See
Caine Motor Car Co.§
Geo. F’. Eberhart, Proprietor

Fire-proof Garage, Storage, Repairs, Accessories

25 and 27 South Washington St.
Near Eagle Hotel
GETTYSBURG, PA.

IESESSSESE SEES SESS SESS SS SESESESS SESE SESE SEE SESE

goer
 

The Best Route to Gettysburg
From all Eastern Towns
and Cities.

For information or time tables, write t)

Edson J. Weeks,

General Passenger Agent,
Room 405, Reading Terminal.
9

ai ay
ey My ia
MPT haan omen

 

so

e
o
Rp e
SMITy sap
~
Spangle
yong TS

 

&
i
HAYES
Te Divi Sion
Wh
Stile

 

 

: S Fwy”
wh aN
Wy ‘s§ 3 /

 

lad

 

 

GoRDO
an
EAR

         

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

          

Stuy, unig) i an
briny ath, bli nl i Ceaser ne
fii ves nseteress £2
wr \\) S“teas cS See Es 8

at

ile
Wee

tly, es wW
oN

lh cn wilt, stllty
melita

 

 

 

t oh
il lg aS
Nl atu wconltn mit),

3
NUMAN SOA toa gmaiy \

 

>"

S
Sa7nx018 aes

                                                             
               

 

 

          

    

 

     

 

  

    

YON
a Xe d
ob 9 Y aw NY Ze 5
| Watt\ =
% A a YY o — Bre seeo
OTS 3 ‘ ei ___to Faneytown_- So Te OPO oi
a Q ps EPR a Fea = age o' sty
4 oi SESE AG GEE OC aes tp se oo4 as 2EgEoes ze Y
oD —=S 3 pos BOGS ae 3 REoe FeeSnseg sox? GU oF
Bs _ a3 ERROR” Soa Ge [ew g2eGe
12 7 $6 Sie
fa a) . Aimer Be te . Sf a
o wW oA 49 ee"
a : ‘M903
2 ofoormu az
x on
q

eA

2

SX gear
ae

   

°
gf
AB |

TTY A RONAN

SCALE 4.mctes I mile

 

 

            

 
as»

               

momen D707 LOPE?

1863

 

Mr wunyy,. rey
Ny nits
IIIS

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2d. @ 3d.,

        

JULY Ist.,

      
       

   

 

 

BATTLEFIELD OF GETTYSBURG

   

Ati hat fy, tn,

HEATH ©

ss
Bean atte at Taal NTA wut, 3

aA CaNY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

i 4
o See
@
- iN
e@ N yw a 37
eo 2
7 S\V
\ =
wo | 2g
ay
bob =
Of >
ey al |
|
&
| (feoseltean
oa
s, 9 Be
oe ss a3
; by bT3 NVQ.
f
(
freemnn-. k
5

 

Altlltyy,

lili

 

oe 5
( 5. a
Nt i

Nl Wa iy
= caait\ = “il
W Mn Sally,
ay : Wii: \ as Oe
NAAN 3 ‘lg
i Mcvmg: Seat i HN
NOUN wf

i

ry Atel:

NOISIAIC

  

 
 

: aN Ming ANNU Wanalty ai
Ig
ees roel

 

DO aN ANC Hitmen, Wn, ;
Gees ‘ tO Noa

a
» |
; WH nc ay

    

ly

i ly, ; 2
i 7
= = ili, ‘T

   

   

         
     

Nac NN agi Ny

ear Tay
PAMPHLET BINDER

Syracuse, NLY.
Stockton, Calif.