One Hundred Fifty Years Ago Today: Gettysburg, Day 2
The Battle of Gettysburg continued today in 1863. Union and Confederate forces continued to arrive overnight and during the morning of 2 July. Forces were positioned for and prepared for battle during that time. For many reasons, Lee’s second day attacks did not begin until relatively late in the afternoon.
Many of the engagements today and their locations are well-known: the Devil’s Den, the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard, Little Round Top, Culp’s Hill, and Cemetery Hill (significant fighting at the latter two would continue into day 3). Other sources describe these actions well. Suffice it to say that the valor displayed during all engagements was extraordinary.
One point of comparison is worth noting. Antietam is often referred to as the bloodiest single day in US military history. In terms of casualties, that is correct; close to 23,000 Americans were killed or wounded in one day at Antietam. But Gettysburg’s second day appears to have seen more intense combat, albeit for a shorter duration.
Action at Antietam lasted roughly 12 hours. In contrast, the Gettysburg battlefield was largely quiet until approximately 4 PM – and fighting had ended by 10 PM. In that six-hour period, it is estimated that roughly 16,800 Americans were killed or wounded.
Take a moment today to remember the heroism, the sacrifice – and those lost – one hundred fifty years ago today at Gettysburg. That’s worth remembering.
Category: Historical, Real Soldiers
Definitely!
Then they had to ask this silly bint to speak and she rambled on about Ghey rights, LBJ, and everything EXCEPT Gettysburg….DOH!
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/07/01/Doris-Kearns-Goodwin-A-Few-Inappropriate-Remarks-At-Gettysburg
It’s no surprise that Doris Kearns Goodwin would go on and on about LBJ after all the time she spent under him (and I don’t mean figuratively).
68W58: are you saying she is one of those ladies hired by LBJ as secretaries more for their skill in handling Jumbo than paper? (smile)
Just think, General Sickles almost cost the Union the victory by disobeying General Meade by advancing to the Peach Orchard instead of occupying Little Roundtop.
On a side note, he was also the first person in US history to succesfully use the temporary insanity defense after he killed his wife’s lover.
Hondo-yep.
Good luck to anyone trying to get around here today. Parking at the visitor center already gone to overflow (we got a space, but only just). Hordes on hand for the anniversary.
Twist: that’s the conventional opinion. It may or may not be accurate.
Some who’ve studied the battle in detail hold an alternate theory – that Sickles’ deploying his corps in the Wheatfield/Devil’s Den/Peach Orchard area caused a delay in Lee’s attack plans for the day, and that their presence disrupted the flow of the attack that would have otherwise hit the Union line’s left flank/left center pretty much simultaneously.
I tend to agree with the traditional view. But the Union forces that were eventually beaten badly in the Wheatfield/Devil’s Den/Peach Orchard did substantial damage to the attacking Confederate forces as well, and did keep them away from Cemetery Ridge and Little Round Top. The newer theory may well have some merit.
Twist-Sickles went forward into the peach orchard because it was hot and the orchard offered shade (thus creating a gap in the Union line). I don’t think he had orders to occupy Little Round Top. It was a mistake for the Confederates not to take the undefended Big Round Top and use it to enfillade the Union line.
68W58: from what I’ve read, Meade did explicitly order Sickles’ to occupy the southern portion of Cemetery Ridge and Little Round Top. On arrival, Sickles saw the slightly higher ground in front of him (which turned out to be the Peach Orchard). Sickles vividly remembered what had happened to him at Chancellorsville (the Confederates had occupied Hazel Grove – similarly high ground to his front and ground Sickles had recommended his force occupy – and had later severely pounded his forces with artillery). He then disobeyed his orders and occupied the Peach Orchard to prevent a repeat.
Just met Jeff Shaara!
Hondo-I suppose it would be possible to secure the line in front of the Peach orchard and part of Little Round Top, but they aren’t that close. The part about him trying to get shade comes from a tour guide we hired at the battlefield years ago.
68W58: not saying that Sickles did the right thing in disobeying his orders from Meade. But there was more behind his thought process than “I wanna be cool”. Getting pounded to crap by artillery on a piece of high ground to your front that you didn’t occupy tends to stick in a commander’s memory.
Precisely that had happened to Sickles at Chancellorsville about 2 months previously. Against Sickle’s objections, Hooker had ordered Sickles to abandon Hazel Grove (excellent defensive high ground) for nearby positions on lower ground. The Confederates promptly occupied Hazel Grove and proceeded to place artillery there. That artillery later severely pounded Sickles’ new positions during the battle.
Again: I am not defending Sickles for being insubordinate. But to pass off his occupation of the Peach Orchard as “I want shade because it’s hot” strikes me as either a bad joke or the ramblings of a tour guide who was somewhat ignorant regarding the history of the battle and it’s participants.
I absolutely agree with Sickles’ decision. The problem is that so many writers have only looked at Meade’s side of the issue without really investigating the situation Sickles found himself in. Hondo points out part of it, Sickles’ experience at Chancellorsville. IN ADDITION, Sickles suspected that the Confederates were massing to his front and perhaps maneuvering to lap around his left flank. He was quite prescient with that. He ordered a recon of that and sent 100 men of the 1st US Sharpshooters supported by the 3rd Maine infantry 210men & officers) forward. The party advanced on Pitzer’s Woods, the !st USSS deploying into a skirmish line and the 3rd Maine formed in line of battle as support. Shortly after entering the woods, the 1st USSS ran into Confederate pickets and began to exchange gunfire. The CS pickets fell back and were replaced by two regiments who advanced upon the woods. As a result the 3rd Maine came forward and deployed into skirmish line to support the Sharpshooters. Cpl Neuman, of Bath, Maine was in “A” Co. of the 3rd Maine and wrote that as they took their intervals and advanced it quickly became apparent that the Sharpshooters had taken all the available cover, and so the Mainers were forced to stand and fire in the open. The two sides exchanged fire for some 20 minutes before the Confederates fixed bayonets and charged, driving the Federals back. For some unknown reason, the Confederate halted and ceased firing and allowed the Federals to return to their lines. In the engagement, the 3rd Maine lost 48 of it’s 210 men & officers, including William Livermore, their color Sergeant. This was a foreshadowing of what was to come later that day. Capt. Briscoe, of Sickles staff, met the units at the Peach Orchard, and ordered the 3rd to remain there as the III Corps was about to advance. As a result, the 3rd found itself at the apex of Sickles’ salient, with their right flank on the Emmittsburg Road, and facing south. Throughout the day, the 3rd engaged waves of skirmishers from Kershaw’s… Read more »
Not in line with the current conversation, but tonight at 7:30 PM 2-135 IN is conducting a wreath laying ceremony at the grave site of COL Colvlill. It’s at the Cannon Falls, MN cemetery with public parking available. 2-135 IN traces it’s lineage to the 1st Minnesota.
Make what you will of it. I’m not inclined to give Sickle’s decision making process a lot of credit one way or the other considering that he was a political hack who used his connections, not his ability, to secure his command.
Visitor center, movie and museum are all vastly improved over when I was last here.
68W58: Sickles may have been a scoundrel and a political hack, but he was also apparently a reasonably competent commander. He performed well at Chancellorsville as a Corps commander. And his troops – though defeated – fought very well at Gettysburg when facing long odds.
Again, I’m not defending the man. Just saying that (1) the case that Sickles “screwed the pooch” at the Peach Orchard and single-handedly nearly lost Gettysburg for the Union is hardly a slam dunk, and (2) trying to explain, in part, why Sickles might have decided to disregard his orders and occupy the Peach Orchard.
AW1 Tim: That was some very interesting info on Gen. Sickles. Your words may cause me to re-evaluate his contributions to the Union victory at Gettysburg.
In case some of the readers were unaware, Dan Sickles had his right leg crushed by a Rebel cannonball during the second day’s battle. It was amputated, and Sickles sent it to the new Army Medical Museum (today known as the National Museum of Health and Medicine as part of Walter Reed Medical Center). Sickles reportedly visited his leg every year on the anniversary of its removal.
Sickles also returned to Congress after the war, where he was instrumental in the creation of the Gettysburg National Military Park. He was present for the 50th anniversary of the battle (1913). Someone asked him why there was no monument to him in the park, and his reply was “The whole park is a monument to me.” He died about a year later.
After reading the replies I might have to rethink my position on Sickles.
I almost forgot; Dan Sickles felt he deserved a Medal of Honor for his leadership on Day #2 at Gettysburg. He spent 34 years politicking for the MOH, finally receiving it in October (I think) of 1897.
Here’s something else to consider…….
Meade was NOT expecting an assault on the left of his line. He still expected Ewell and the Confederate II Corps to attack from the north through Gettysburg, which they at that time still held. As a result, Meade had taken his own II Corps, under Hancock, and placed them in columns facing north, BEHIND Cemetery Ridge, in order to be able to quickly counterattack the assault he believed was soon to come.
5th Corps was just about that time arriving, and 6th Corps was still force-marching to get there. Had Sickles remained where he was originally intended to be, Longstreet’s assault would likely have smashed through the Federal left, and rolled up the Army’s line, striking both 5th Corps while in march column and only partially deployed in reserve, and the 2nd Corps, facing away from the attacking Confederates.
By advancing his Corps and refusing his flank, 3rd Corps was able to meet the Confederates well away from the rest of the army, and buy time for elements of 5th Corps to move onto Little Round Top and parts of Devil’s Den, and for 2nd Corps to face about and begin to feed brigades into the defense.
The entire 2nd Day’s battle was a very near-run thing, and these United States can thank God that not only was 3rd Corps deployed far enough out to slow down and disrupt the Confederate attack, but that Longstreet also didn’t have his 3rd Division (Pickett’s) available. Pickett was still on the march, and wouldn’t be available for the assault. Had he been there, those extra troops might well have given Longstreet the edge, and the outcome of the entire battle been quite a bit different.
As for Medals of Honor issued before WWI or so, each bears intense scrutiny. M&Ms comes to mind.
Twist: I tend to think Sickles screwed up, and that the Union’s position had he occupied the high ground he was ordered to occupy (southern parts of Cemetery Ridge and the Round Tops) would have been quite strong enough to hold on Day 2. But the case isn’t as open-and-shut as I was once prepared to believe.
Any number of things at Gettysburg could have changed the outcome entirely – either way. But if I had to pick one general who “lost” Gettysburg, my vote would be for Stuart. His ride around the Union army was nothing but a damned joyride, bereft of serious military value. And in doing that, he deprived Lee’s entire Army of it’s only real intel (other than Longstreet’s spy “Harrison”) for virtually the entire Gettysburg campaign.
@2. I was at Gettysburg yesterday, visiting relatives who are avid Civil War buffs and there for a week. I can tell you that ALL of the talk was about two things. First, that idiot’s speech which some folks worked mightily not to boo. Second, the light crowds. I zipped into Gettysburg in the a.m. via Chambersburg Pike from 81 and never saw a rear bupmer once out of Chambersburg.
AW1 Tim raises some very interesting points, bur bear in mind that by moving his forces forward Sickles created a gap in the Union line that the Confederates exploited. Meade was in command and had to make decisions based on the entirety of the situation. As Jose Ferrer’s Barney Greenwald reminds us “…he’s got the job or your no good.” Sickles failed to consult with his commander before acting so he is at fault.
AW1 Tim: actually, Meade was correct – in part. Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill were indeed attached on Day 2. They just weren’t the main effort.
Had Sickles garrisoned the high ground of Cemetery Ridge and the Round Tops, Longstreet’s forces would have had to attack a position at least as strong (and probably stronger) than they found in the Peach Orchard and Little Round top. They’d also have been hammered on approach by artillery supporting the defense. The Round Tops would also have been much more strongly defended.
I don’t think the same Confederate attack would have prevailed against even stronger positions than they actually attacked, even given an extra 2 hours of daylight.
We’ll never know.
Oh, and one other thing, aside from light traffic, I noticed something else yesterday: no blacks. I saw three black re-enactors and one black woman with a white husband. I was astounded. This was billed (rightly or not) as the war against slavery wasn’t it? This was a major, albeit not decisive, CW battle, wasn’t it? This was the battle for which Lincoln authored and delivered the immortal Gettysburg Address wasn’t it? I mean, what the hell am I missing? So, I and mentioned to one of my relatives that the Parks Dept should put out the rumor that blacks are not allowed at the battlefield–and 10,000 will show up by Saturday, led by mumbles and Dr Greasehead.
68W58: gap in the lines? Um, no. As the forces were arrayed, Sickles corps was the original right flank of the Union line. Sickles’ lines were continuous; they just wasn’t where the commander wanted them, and left an exposed flank.
What the Confederates tried to do on Day 2 at Gettysburg ended up being an attempt to turn the Union left flank vice exploit a gap. It was always designed to do that; Hood even proposed making it a wider sweep, but Longstreet – possibly smarting from being reproached by Lee earlier after counseling disengagement – wouldn’t deviate from his orders regarding where to attack. The just-in-time arrival of V Corps forces (including the 20th Maine and others) extended the Union line to include Little Round Top and prevented the Confederates from turning their flank. Barely.
V Corps forces, including the 20th Maine, arrived just before Confederate forces of Hood’s division. The 20th Maine reportedly had been in place about 10 minutes before the 15th Alabama attacked.
A salient then-in any event it was incumbent on Sickles to communicate with his superior.
AirCav-tons of people here today, but not many blacks.
@27. Do yourself a favor. I mean it. There’s a private museum that looks like hell with a 13 ton mil tractor out front of the place. It’s called the Battlefield Military Museum and it’s at 900 Baltimore Pike, near Cupl’s Hill. The place looks like trash–but, brother, if you go inside you will be amazed at the goodies in there. It costs $7 and if you get the owner talking –a Vet named George Speros–you may never leave. I kid you not. If you like militaria and no frills, this is the place!
68W58: yes, Sickles did create a salient, with resulting headaches – for both sides.
Fully agree that Sickles was insubordinate, and should have complied with his orders. He easily could have been court-martialed after the battle.
As it turned out, Gettysburg effectively ended Sickles’ career as a wartime commander as well as costing him a leg. He never again commanded troops in the field. Only his wound plus known political influence kept him from being court-martialed for insubordination.
AirCav-thanks for the tip. Difficult to get around today, but that sounds like my sort of thing, so I’ll try to get there.