The Battle of Gettysburg 5/10/2009

The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's invasion of the North.
After his success at Chancellorsville in May 1863, Lee led his army through the Shenandoah Valley for his second invasion of the North, hoping to reach as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or even Philadelphia, and to influence Northern politicians to give up their prosecution of the war. Prodded by President Abraham Lincoln, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker moved his army in pursuit, but was relieved just three days before the battle and replaced by Meade.
The two armies began to collide at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, as Lee urgently concentrated his forces there. Low ridges to the northwest of town were defended initially by a Union cavalry division, which was soon reinforced with two corps of Union infantry. However, two large Confederate corps assaulted them from the northwest and north, collapsing the hastily developed Union lines, sending the defenders retreating through the streets of town to the hills just to the south.
On the second day of battle, most of both armies had assembled. The Union line was laid out in a defensive formation resembling a fishhook. Lee launched a heavy assault on the Union left flank, and fierce fighting raged at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Devil's Den, and the Peach Orchard. On the Union right, demonstrations escalated into full-scale assaults on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. All across the battlefield, despite significant losses, the Union defenders held their lines.
On the third day of battle, July 3, fighting resumed on Culp's Hill, and cavalry battles raged to the east and south, but the main event was a dramatic infantry assault by 12,500 Confederates against the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Pickett's Charge was repulsed by Union rifle and artillery fire, at great losses to the Confederate army. Lee led his army on a torturous retreat back to Virginia. Between 46,000 and 51,000 Americans were casualties in the three-day battle. That November, President Lincoln used the dedication ceremony for the Gettysburg National Cemetery to honor the fallen and redefine the purpose of the war in his historic Gettysburg Address.


Pictures 31-36 are associated with this story.....A nutshell version: "A variation of the story behind this monument has been handed down through the years. No written source for it has yet been found. The story relates that during the heat of the battle one of the large oak trees near the position of the 90th PA was hit by a shell and splintered. A large piece of the tree and many small branches came raining down on the men. On the ground among the debris, was a robin's nest filled with unharmed, but quite shaken babies. A soldier witnessing the scene picked up the nest. Under heavy fire and at great risk to his own life, the soldier climbed up the shattered stump and replaced the nest. Whether or not the incident actually took place, the tree and the nest combine to form a unique record of the 90th PA's participation at Gettysburg."


Picture 39 is associated with this account of the battle.....Soon after the assignment of General Meade to the command of the Army, General Reynolds was directed to take command of the right wing, composed of the First and Eleventh corps, General Doubleday succeeding to the command of the First Corps, General Rowley to that of the Third Division, and Colonel Biddle, of the One Hundred and Twenty First, of the First Brigade, of which the 142d was part. Upon arrival of the brigade upon the field, it was formed in line in the open ground, to the left of the wood where General Reynolds fell, and soon became the target of the enemy's batteries in front and right flank. Its position was subsequently shifted to avoid the fire, but it stubbornly held its ground. Finally, just previous to the general advance of the enemy along the whole front, from beyond the Millersburg Road on his right, to the Alms House on his left, a part of the brigade was ordered to the support of General Stone's Brigade, which had been hard pressed by infantry. But at that moment the enemy was descried advancing in double lines, from a wood three-quarters of a mile to the left and front of the ground where the brigade was posted, and it was immediately wheeled into position to meet it, the One Hundred and Forty-Second holding the right of the line, until joined, a few minutes later, by the order of General Rowley, to fill a gap existing between this and the Iron Brigade, further to the right.
For some time the brigade maintained its position against a vastly superior force. The enemy not only poured in a rapid fire in front, but moved a body of his troops along the road to the left, completely flanked the position. With the ranks terribly thinned, the brigade could hold its ground no longer, and the left of the line began to crumble. The One Hundred and Forty-Second fell back slowly. The One Hundred and Fifty-First, on its right, held its ground a few minutes longer. Colonel Biddle, seizing a stand of colors, gallantly rode forward, and the line instinctively about wheeled and followed him. The horse of Colonel Biddle was shot. Colonel Cummins, the commander of the 142d, fell mortally wounded. His horse had been killed a few minutes previously. Near him fell the Acting Adjutant, Lieutenant Tucker. The Regiment again fell back slowly towards the Seminary. Here it joined a mass of men from various brigades and divisions, in some confusion, who were holding and continued to hold the position until the batteries had been withdrawn, and until the enemy, moving along the road south of the Seminary, had completely flanked the position. As the troops retired through the town, they were subjected to a severe fire from a flanking column, which was sheltered by fences and buildings.
On reaching the Cemetery, whither it had been ordered, the remnant of the regiment was collected, and less than a hundred were in rank. About forty, who had become separated from the rest in retreat, re-joined them before morning. The appearance of General Sickles, riding into the enclosure where the men were resting, with his staff and corps ensign, was hailed with cheers, as the first assurance that the remainder of the army was not far off. In reply to a question, the General said pleasantly that his boys were there, and were anxious for a fight.
In the action of the 2d, the 142d was not involved, but was held in reserve just back of the Cemetery, and Round Top. On the morning of the 3d, together with the 121st, the 142d was moved to the left, half a mile, and posted on the right of Stone's Brigade, mid-way between the Cemetery and Round Top. In the terrible artillery duel, which opened at a little after noon, it was exposed, in open ground, to the full effect of the deadly missiles. Almost the entire field was in full view from the position it occupied. The rebel fire was unusually accurate. Caisson after caisson on the Union side was exploded, and guns were disabled. But new caissons were speedily brought up, and fresh batteries were hurried forward to take the places of those lost, preserving an unbroken front. The grand charge of the infantry which followed (Pickett's Charge), struck with its main force to the right of the line where the 142d stood, and consequently it suffered little loss, and easily held its position. Captain Charles H. Flagg, serving on the staff of General Rowley, was killed, near the close of the day, one of the last officers of the Union army who laid down his life on the Gettysburg field. The loss to the One Hundred and Forty-Second, in the entire battle for Gettysburg, was fifteen killed, one hundred and twenty-six wounded, and eighty-four missing or prisoners; an aggregate loss of two hundred and twenty-five.

This is the short version of the Battle of Gettysburg and if anyone would like the long version just let us know and we can post it. These are just a few of the pictures that we could have taken as we would imagine that we only took about 5% of the pictures that are there to be taken. Hope you enjoy the pictures.