They Did What Was Necessary THE THIRD BRIGADE, THIRD DIVISION, SIXTH CORP S AT GETTYSBURG. by Garry Adelman Few aspects of the Battle of Gettysburg are as overlooked as the critical role that the Union Sixth Corps played in its outcome. Most of army commander Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's battle plans on July 2, whether to advance, retreat or remain, hinged on the presence of the Sixth Corps.' It can be said that while most commands at Gettysburg did their duty through bloodshed, the Sixth Corps did theirs by marchinghard marching in the cool evening in Maryland and through the scorching afternoon in Pennsylvania. Only the lead elements of the corps, namely Maj. Gen. John Newton's Third Division, would complete this march in time to participate in the fighting on July 2. And of that division only one brigade, the one that led the march, fought any Confederates that day. This was the Third Brigade of Brig. Gen. Frank Wheaton. When Newton was transferred to command of the First Corps on July 1, Wheaton succeeded to command of the division. Succeeding Wheaton to command of the Third Brigade was the "impetuous and fiery" thirty-two year-old Col. David J. Nevin of the 62nd New York Infantry, formerly a coal dealer from New York City.2 Nevin's brigade contained five regiments of seasoned veterans, most of whom had fought with the eastern armies since the summer of 1861. The brigade consisted of the 93rd. 98th, 102nd, and 139th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiments, and the 62nd New York Infantry. These five regiments, totaling more than 1,800 men, had become a cohesive unit and, with the exception of the 139th. had been side by side since January 1862.' The 62nd New York Was mustered in at New York City in June 1861 and was the first regiment of the brigade to be organized. Also known as "Anderson's Zouaves" it left New York with 1,000 soldiers, but after 16 engagements, it marched to Gettysburg with barely 300.' Commanding the regiment, in place of brigade commander Nevin, was Lt. Col. Theodore B. Hamilton. The 93rd Pennsylvania was organized in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, in October 1861 and "was composed chiefly from the middle classes of society; yeoman who sprang spontaneously and patriotically to their country's call.**5 They had been organized to replace the 14th Pennsylvania, whose three-month term had expired. The regiment's creed summed up the patriotic attitude of its men: "We believed our country was good enough to live for! To die for!"' Commanding the ABOUT THE AUTHOR Garry Adelman has been studying Civil War photography for over ten years. A native of Chicago and a graduate of Michigan State University, he now resides in Gettysburg where he owns and operates the local cafe and coffeehouse. Mr. Adelman sits on the board of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association and is currently co-authoring a history and users guide to Devil's Den. regiment at Gettysburg was Maj. John I. Nevin (not related to brigade commander, David Nevin). The 98th Pennsylvania was recruited in Philadelphia in August and September 1861. It was composed of nine companies of Germans and one company of Irishmen. Most of them had already served in the 21st Pennsylvania, another three-month regiment whose term had expired. They were dubbed the "German Regulars," for their gallantry at Williamsburg in May 1862.' The regiment was under the command of Maj. John B. Kohler. The 102nd Pennsylvania was organized in Pittsburgh in September 1861 and fought its first battle on the Peninsula, alongside the 93rd Pennsylvania. Many of the members had come from the 13th Pennsylvania, whose term had likewise expired. The regiment's first commander was Col. Thomas A. Rowley, who, at the Edwin B. Coddington, The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command (New York: Charles Scribner'a Sons, 1968; revised and reprinted, Dayton, Ohio: Morningside, 1984). p. 356. David J. Nevin's census record, 1860, National Archives, Washington D.C.; The Third Brigade, Third Division, Sixth Corps will hereafter be cited as "Nevin's brigade." Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865, 5 vols. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869-1871). 3:284-85. 463-65,647-48,4:378-79; John W, Busey and David 0. Martin, RegimentalStrengthsandLosses at Gettysburg (Hightstown, New Jersey: Longstreet House, 1986). p. 76. Busey and Martin, Strengths and Losses at Gettysburg, p. 76; New York at Gettysburg: New York Monuments Commission for the Battlefields of Gettysburg, Chattanooga, FinalReport on the Battlefield ofgettysburg, 3 vols. (Albany New York: J. B. Lyon Company, Printers, 1900). 1:472. Penrose 0. Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge: A History of the 93rdRegiment Known as the "Lebanon Infantry" and One of the 300 Fighting Regiments (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Aughinbaugh Press, 191 1). p. 341., p. 342. John P. Nicholson, ed., Pennslyvania at Gettysburg: Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 3 vols. (Harrisburg, Penniylvania: William Stanley Ray, State Printer, 1904). 1528.
moment the Sixth Corps was marching to Gettysburg, was under arrest for allegedly being drunk while in command of the Third Division of the First Corps.' The regiment was under the command of Col. John W. Patterson. The 139th Pennsylvania was organized in Pittsburgh, September 1,1862. Three days later the regiment found itself performing its first official duty-burying, in the Virginia soil, the ghastly dead bodies of the Second Manassas campaign. The 139th joined the brigade after the battle of Antietam, September 18,1862, and was the last regiment to do ~ o.~it was commanded at Gettysburg by Col. Frederick H. Collier. would be no sleep that evening for any of them. Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick, commanding the numerically strong Sixth Corps, had just received word of the fighting at Gettysburg and was issuing orders for what would be one of the great marches of the Civil War. Although five regiments made up the brigade, only four would march with the Sixth Corps to Gettysburg. The 102nd Pennsylvania was detailed to guard trains and picket roads in and around Manchester and Westminster." The remainder of the brigade, nonetheless, put itself at the head of the Sixth Corps and, about 9 p.m., marched out of Manchester and into the darkness. The Sixth Corps had initially received orders from General Meade to march to Taneytown that evening. Meade, having sent these marching orders at 4:30 p.m., was not yet certain he was going to concentrate the entire army at Gettysburg. The corps had not been on the road long before Sedgwick received the following order: Major-General Sedgwick: General: The major-general commanding directs me to say that a general battle seems to be impending to-morrow at Gettysburg: that it is of the utmost importance that your command should be up. He directs that you stop all trains that impede your progress, or turn them out of the road. Your march will have to be a forced one to reach the scene of action, where we shall probably be largely outnumbered without your presence. If any shorter road presents itself, without difficulty in getting on, you will use your discretion in taking it.... l3 Sedgwick chose to continue his current route and march to Gettysburg by way of Taneytown, probably so as not to disturb the march. This order had turned a sleepless, twenty-mile journey to Taneytown into a roughly thirty-two mile forced march which would test the men to the limit of their endurances throughout the night and most of the next day. It was not long, however, before Sedgwick received a third order directing him to "move up toward Gettysburg by Littlestown, as [it is] a better and clearer road."i4 Since the head of the column was already almost two miles beyond that road, it Roger D. Hunt Collection Col. David J. Nevin As horrendous as the afternoon of July 1, 1863, was for the Union First and Eleventh Corps, it was every bit as enjoyable for the Sixth Corps, lounging around Manchester, Maryland, unaware of the fighting at Gettysburg. The Sixth Corps deserved a rest at that point, having marched 100 miles in the previous five days.i0 Unable to hear the distant guns at Gettysburg, more than thirty miles away, the men spent the day resting their feet, socializing with local girls and eating the best food Manchester could offer." As 8 p.m. approached, many of the men were about to complete this memorable day by drifting into slumber. They were soon to find there For a detailed account of this episode tee: Lance D. Herdegen, "The Lieutenant Who Arrested a General." Gettysburg Magazine, no. 4 (January 1991):25-32. Bates, History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 4:647. John W. Schildt, Roads to Gettysburg (Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing Company, 1978). pp. 282, 504. Frederic Shriver Klein, Just South of Gettysburg: Carroll County, Maryland in the Civil War (Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Wickersham Printing Company, 1963). p. 139; Schildt, Roads to Gettysburg, pp. 503-4. Nicholson, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, 1541-42. United States War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 79 vols. in 128 parts (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), series 1, vol. 27, pt. 3, pp. 467-68. (Hereafter cited as OR.) OR, series 1, vol. 27, pt. 3,pp. 469. Sedgwick received this order around midnight. 92 GETTYSBURG: Historical Articles of Lasting Interest
turned onto the small, winding Meadow Branch Road. which eventually took them to the Gettysburg- Littlestown-Baltimore Pike.I5Much time was wasted in this rerouting. Furthermore, it increased the distance of the march by another one or two long miles for the troops near the head of the column. Soon after the rerouting was complete, a brief halt was called and food was the first thought of many a soldier. A member of the 93rd Pennsylvania remembered: A few fires were kindled, and an attempt made to secure a rude breakfast. Some were trying to boil coffee when the order sounded, "Fall in!" and some lingering a few moments around the fires, officers approached and kicked over the coffee pots and all." The march was resumed at sunrise. Sedgwick had lost time but was anxious to get his corps to the scene. But the men had many enemies that day besides the Rebels in Gettysburg. The sun was beginning to shine; dust was being kicked up; and the lack of food and sleep were beginning to take over: "Many men fell, fainting in their tracks; these were loaded into the ambulances until they were full; others were pulled aside into the shade and left."i7 Some officers, lucky enough to be on horseback, fell asleep in the saddle." With dust in their eyes and throats, the men marched on, driven by a desire to reach the scene and by the proddings of their officers.i9 The head of the column was, finally, marching over the Pennsylvania line by 10 a.m. The men of the brigade cheered, as many of them had come back to their state for the first time since leaving home amid the parade-like atmosphere of 1861. Colors were unfurled, the pace was quickened, caps waved in the air and the men sang, "Home, Sweet Home."20 Even home, however, can be a grim place as the men soon encountered wagons filled with wounded men from the battle of July The wounded were forced to take side roads, as the approaching troops had the right of way. The exhausted, yet spirited, men marched on, bathed in sweat, and soon they heard the familiar sound of cannon fire in the distance. Closer and closer they moved toward the sound of the guns when, at last, they turned into a field on the left of the road and feasted their eyes upon a cool, running stream: "At 2:00 p.m. Rock Creek at Gettysburg was reached; a halt was ordered, the men, too much exhausted to eat, threw themselves wearily to the ground and lay like logs."22 Other commands of the brigade bathed their feet in Rock Creek's cool waters," and still others waded the creek and visited with their acquaintances in the 62nd Pennsylvania of Col. Jacob B. Sweitzer's Fifth Corps brigade, in reserve on the opposite bank.24 The remainder of the brigade arrived at Rock Creek within the hour." They had completed roughly seventeen hours of straight marching. Prior to the arrival of the Sixth Corps, Meade had been holding the Fifth Corps as the general reserve for the army. With Sedgwick's arrival, however, the Fifth Corps was sent to the left flank, thus making the Sixth Corps the general reserve." This provided the men of Nevin's brigade with a much needed rest and allowed the remainder of Wheaton's division to arrive at Rock Creek. Most important is the fact that it was the arrival of the Sixth Corps that allowed the entire Fifth Corps to enter the fray. One can only imagine how different the battle on the south end of the battlefield could have been, had not the entire Fifth Corps arrived when it did. Only one or two hours had passed, however, until Sedgwick came galloping up to the brigade calling, "Fall in boys, move quickly!"27 A member of the 139th Pennsylvania remembered: Instantly the lines were formed, arms were taken and following the old General right through the creek, over the field and up the hillside, we were soon at the road to the right of Little Round Top.28 It was about 6:30 p.m. and the brigade was ordered to bolster the Third and Fifth Corps on the left flank. Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's Corps had broken the Peach Orchard salient, and was driving its beaten defenders toward Little Round Top and Cemetery Ridge. As the men of Nevin's brigade, now somewhat refreshed, moved toward the fighting, a command that was to figure into the history of the brigade was having its troubles. This was the 3rd Massachusetts Light Artillery, Company C, commanded for the first time in battle by a former bookkeeper from Boston, Aaron F. Walc~tt.~~ Company C belonged to Augustus P. Martin's artillery brigade of the Fifth Corps. Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, commander of the Third Corps, was furiously trying to bring reinforcements to Coddington, Gettysburg Campaign, p. 715. The distance traveled by different brigades of the corps varies, as only pan of the column had to be rerouted. Estimated distances in Official Records and other correspondence vary from thirty-two to thirtynine miles. Actual distances for Nevin's brigade by modem road, charted by the author and Tim Smith, are: Manchester to the Meadow Branch road = 12.2 miles. Meadow Branch road to the Baltimore Pike = 2.2 miles, juncture of the Baltimore Pike and the Meadow Branch Road to Rock Creek = 15.6 miles. for a total of 30 miles. While the distance by the old, winding roads was longer. it nonetheless appears that many of the estimates were excessive, especially due to the fact that most of the corps did not need to reroute. The rerouting was roughly 1.6 miles. Nicholson, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, 1506; Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge, p. 213. Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge, p. 213. Daniel Bauer, "They also Serve Who Only March and March," Civil War Magazine, vol. 27 (April 1989):26. Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge, p. 215. Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge, p. 213; Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, 2:678. Bauer. "They also Serve," p. 26. Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge, p. 213. Nicholson, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, 2:678. Coddington, Gettysburg Campaign, p. 399. Nicholson, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, 2:678. The Adjutant General, Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and, Marines in the Civil War, 8 vols. (Norwood, Massachusetts: The Norwood Press, 1931-1935). 5:82. July 1, 1994Ã Issu Number Eleven 93
U.S. Anny Military History Institute Col. Frederick H. Collier (seated left) with officers of the 139th Pennsylvania. his ever thinning line and felt he and his staff had the authority to deploy the troops and guns in the vicinity as he saw fit. Martin, wary of any of his guns being "stolen," warned one of his other battery commanders. While giving orders to Capt. Almont Barnes, commanding 1st New York Light Battery C, he said, "Follow the Regulars and don't let Sickles get y~u."~~unfortunately Walcott never received such a warning. As his battery was behind Brig. Gen. James Barnes' division, a Third Corps officer discovered it and, as Martin said, "gobbled" Walcott's batter^.^' The officer, who remains unidentified, ordered the six Napoleons placed on a slight rise north of the Wheatfield Road, just east ofplum Run."Although this position provided a sweeping view and a good field of fire, boulders, marshy ground, and a stone wall rendered it extremely difficult to move and place the battery. The greatest fault of the position, however, was the lack of any organized infantry support. Capt. Augustus P. Martin, who was on Little Round Top, was unaware of Walcott's difficult and untenable position. Walcott's battery remained where it was, expecting supports, but soon met with disaster in the form of Confederate Brig. Gen. William T. Wofford's Georgians: When the battery had remained about 2 hours, and some of the men and horses hit with spent balls. General Wofford's Confederate Brigade leaped over the wall, driving back the Regulars, and demanding the battery to surrender. No one seemed to know where they came from, because they sprang over the wall and came up to the guns so quick.... Lieutenant Walcott seeing no chance to save his guns ordered them spiked just as the Rebels got to them." The battery was only able to spike one gun before making for the rear, saving all its men but losing all six cannon to the Ge~rgians.~~ New York at Gettysburg, 3:1189; OR, series 1, vol. 27, pt. 1, p. 661; Harry W. Pfanz, Gettysburg: The Second Day (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1987). p. 239. A. P. Martin, "Artillery Brigade, 5th Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg," p. 3. Joshua Chamberlain Papers, Manuscript division. Library of Congress. Pfanz, Gettysburg: The Second Day, p. 239. Watson's 5th U.S., Company I, also of Martin's Brigade, was "stolen" in the same manner as Walcott's battery. John L. Parker and Robert G. Carter, Henry Wilson's Regiment History of the 22nd Massachusetts Infantry, the 2nd Co. Sharpshooters and the 3rd Light Battery in the War of the Rebellion (Boston, Massachusetts: Press of Rand Avery Company. 1887). p. 313. There is some possibility that only five guns were captured, as Company D of the 139th Pennsylvania claimied to have "saved" one gun the men of the battery were bringing off (See footnote 65). 94 GETTYSBURG: Historical Articles of Lasting Interest
Meanwhile, Nevin's brigade was climbing the slope at the north-east end of Little Round Top. As they crested the hill, they were greeted with both the unwelcome sound of whistling artillery projectiles and a desperate situation; all the Union troops in front were retreating toward Little Round Top and Cemetery Ridge. The retreating troops were mostly U.S. Regulars of Ayres* division of the Fifth Corps, who had been outflanked in the Wheatfield. The Regulars were closely pursued by Wofford's Georgians, who were preparing to assault Little Round Top north of the Wheatfield Road. In addition, remnants of the Confederate brigades of Joseph Kershaw, Paul J. Semmes, and George T. Anderson were preparing to assail Little Round Top farther south. Forming to meet this threat were the Fifth Corps regiments of Pennsylvania Reserves, under Col. William McCandless of Crawford's division and the 1st Ohio Light, Battery L, under Capt. Frank C. Gibbs. The Reserves were forming mostly on the south side of the Wheatfield Road, their line going south up to Little Round Top, while the battery straddled the road. The area north of the road was void of organized Union troops for hundreds of yards except two of Gibbs'g~ns.~~ Upon seeing the urgency of the situation, Sedgwick turned to Nevin and said. "Hurry up there; never mind forming your brigade; pitch in by regiments!"" As they went into line, mostly on the north side of the Wheatfield Road, another regiment had been separated from the brigade. The 98th Pennsylvania, led by a staff officer, got ahead of the rest of the brigade and ended up far to the brigade's left, on Little Round Top, behind and to the left of the Pennsylvania Reserves. The three remaining regiments went into line atop the ridge with the 139th Pennsylvania on the left, 62d New York on the right, and 93rd Pennsylvania in the center. As the men got a closer look, the situation seemed better. The Rebels who were in their front, although many in number, were disorganized from the fighting around the Peach Orchard and Wheatfield. Several men noted the weakness at this point. One officer remembered, "The attack of the enemy in front reminded me then of the last wave on the beach, stopping and being pushed up a little more and a little more from behind."37 Allowing the Regulars and remnants of other Fifth Corps brigades to pour through their lines, the men were ordered to hold their fire in order to bait the enemy into a trap.3a Had the command been obeyed, the entire Rebel line could easily have been captured, but impatience got the better of obedience and discretion, and a premature fire was opened from part of the line (139th Pennsylvania), checking the enemy's advance and caused them to be wary.39 Gibbs' battery poured double canister into the confused Confederate ranks.40 With the discouraging sight of yet more fresh troops in their front, the Confederate line halted to return fire. Wofford's Georgians began to turn Walcott's captured guns onto their enemies and Nevin's men were immediately trading volleys with them4' At roughly the same time, the 98th Pennsylvania, detached from its brigade, witnessed some "disorganized parties" of the enemy, "placing a couple of guns that our men were trying to save, in apparent jeopardy of being captured."42 This may have been First Lt. William Walworth's section of Gibbs* battery, which was positioned on a lower slope of Little Round Top. It was only moments before the "German Regulars" fixed bayonets and advanced upon their enemies:.., and forward we did go, advancing through the line of the [Reserves], they apparently willingly opening their ranks to let us through: we charged through the marsh of Plum Run, advancing to the foot of the ridge on the west side of the swamp....43 In this advance the "Regulars" met little resistance but were easy targets for the Confederates near Devil's Den. While charging down Little Round Top, Sgt. George Styles, of Company K, received a horrible bullet wound in the left temple. The ball was to remain imbedded in his head for three days before being extracted, along with seventeen pieces of his skull.u McCandless' command, at this time, had swelled to five regiments on Little Round Top: McCandless' four regiments; the 1st. 2nd, 6th and 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, plus the 11 th Pennsylvania Reserves of Col. Joseph W. Fisher's brigade, also of Crawford's division. When the 98th Pennsylvania was near Plum Run, the Reserves advanced in two lines.4s Together, or roughly so, the 98th and the Reserves advanced and the remainder of Kershaw's, Semmes' and Anderson's brigades fell back to the western side of the Wheatfield. The advancing line did not stop until it was beyond the stone wall on the eastern side of the Wheatfield/' The 98th reported eleven casualties in this charge." Martin, "Artillery Brigade, 5th Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg", p. 5. There remains confusion as to the disposition of Gibbs' guns. Gibbs states that four of his guns were on the north side of the road, (OR, series 1, vol. 27, pt.1. p. 662) but Martin and several others maintain that two of these guns were moved to the south side of the road. Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge, p. 217. T. W. Hyde, Following the Greek Cross (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company; The Riverside Press, 1894). p. 144. OR, series 1, vol. 27. pt. 1, p. 688. Bates, History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 3:288; Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge, p. 217. OR, series 1, vol. 27, pt. 1, p. 662. Nicholson, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg. 2:679., 1525; Letter from the 98th Pennsylvania Regimental Association to the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association (GBMA), May, 31, 1888, GNMP library microfilm. George Styles* pension record. National Archives, Washington, D.C. The Confederates near Devil's Den were probably Georgians of Benning's brigade. OR. series 1, vol. 27, pt. 1, p. 654. Nicholson, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg. 1525; 98th Pennsylvania to GBMA. July 1, 1994Ã Issu Number Eleven 95
Wheaton and Crawford attack. 7p.m.. July 2. Map by John Hciscr 96 GETTYSBURG: Historical Articles of Lasting Interest
Meanwhile, Nevin, having dealt several volleys to the Georgians, advanced his three regiments and drove the enemy back easily." "... We commenced firing soon after being deployed, and we fired all the way down the hill and until we were halted some distance beyond where the monuments of the [brigade] are lo- ~ated."'~ In his official report, Nevin said, "Never did troops advance upon the enemies of their country with more cheerfulness and spirit."50 Dozens of prisoners were captured in the charge. The 93rd Pennsylvania claimed to have bagged twenty-five themselves." A member of that regiment remembered one such capture upon a visit to the battlefield in 1884: "... as we halt at the stone wall, I see the large rock from behind which a rebel shook his white handkerchief. I can see brave, goodhearted Dave Bowman of Co. A, go out between the lines and bring him in."" Some of the men of Company D of the 139th Pennsylvania claim to have captured twenty of their former acquaintances, with whom they had traded coffee for tobacco on the Rappahannock the previous winter." The weary Confederates, unable to bring off Walcott's guns, reluctantly abandoned them. It turned out that the position so poor for the battery, was equally poor for its captors. One Georgian remembered, "In most instances, the horses were killed and the intervening stone fences prevented our men from drawing [the cannon] from the field by hand."s4 Wofford retired through the deathstrewn Wheatfield and beyond, giving up ground purchased at a fearful price. Nevin's command, having reached the eastern tip of Trostle's Woods, retired about 100 yards to the stone wall along the Weikert Lane, a much better position than the low, wooded, marshy ground of Trestle's Woods. At this juncture, Nevin located and recalled the 98th Pennsylvania to join the remainder of the brigade on Weikert Lane. The regiment took its place in line to the right of the 62nd New York as the sun finally set on this fateful day." Attempting to sort out, with certainty, the order in which the 98th Pennsylvania, the Reserves, and Nevin's three other regiments advanced is difficult. Many men of Nevin's brigade remembered "touching elbows with the Reserves" during the advance and several others recalled, "closing up on the reserve^."^^ Still other members of the brigade recalled charging before the Reserves. Just as many of McCandless' men stated the contrary. No official report from McCandless' brigade nor any correspondence from them indicated that any Sixth Corps command charged with them on July 2 on their right or their left. The reports of other observers conflicted as well. While most accounts failed to mention the presence of the Sixth Corps at all, one of the Regulars who was falling back remembered seeing, "a line of troops wearing the Sixth Corps badge..." and as he retired farther, he met the Reserves still in column of fours."a lieutenant of the 4th Michigan, wounded in the Wheatfield, remembered that the Sixth Corps sent the enemy "tearing back in retreat" but made no mention of the Reserves whatever.5a With the enormity of the chaos at that time, the conflicting reports of observers are understandable. It is possible the two commands were often "lumped" together and treated as one whether it was the Reserves or Nevin's brigade. The fact that the Reserves made no mention of the Sixth Corps charging with them may stem from division commander Samuel Wiley Crawford. He claimed to have "turned the tide" of the battle for the Union and, furthermore, that his command alone saved the Union left flank.59 Crawford's official reports and postwar correspondence display his habit of ignoring the help given to him by any other commands. After the war General Wheaton himself commented to a member of the brigade about Crawford's selfishness: I quite agree with you that Crawford's innate modesty never prevented his appropriating his full share of all that was done by his own division and by Newton's, temporarily under my command, that afternoon, the 2nd. at Gett~sburg.~O Crawford's attempts had become desperate when, after the war, he offered former Confederate Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws, "a grade in the army" in exchange for a written acknowledgment that the Pennsylvania Reserves had driven back his forces (Semmes, Kershaw. Wofford and [William E.] Barksdale) on July 2." McLaws declined. Crawford's methods, however, did have considerable impact as his division did receive recognition, much more than any Sixth Corps command, for "saving" the left of the army. It is reasonable to assume the men of the Reserves saw no need to give OR, series 1, vol. 27, pt. 1, p. 686. Accounts from different commands in the brigade range from two volleys to ten volleys fired before the advance. Mark, Red. White and Blue Badge, p. 993. The brigade monuments are located along Weikert Lane and will be discuned later. OR, series I, vol. 27, pt. 1, p. 685. Bates, History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 3:288. Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge, p. 224. Nicholson, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg. 2:679. This story is questionable as they claim to have captured the Louisiana Tigers in the charge instead of Wofford's Georgians. Unidentified correspondent from the Savannah Republican, printed in the Charleston Mercury, July 23,1863. It is not certain that this quotation pertains to Walcott't battery as it is not identified. Nicholson, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, 1526.. 2:679: Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge, pp. 219-20; OR, series 1, vol. 27, pt. 1, p. 684. Thos. Scott of Hazlett's battery on Little Round Top also recalled seeing the Sixth Corps charge with the Reserves. See "A Batteryman's Reminiscences of Gettysburg," National Tribune, Aug. 2, 1894. Letter from John Henry Page, Third US. Infantry, to "unknown addressee," from William H. Powell, The Fifth Army Corps. (New York, 1896). transcribed to GNMP library vertical files. 0. S. Barret, Reminiscences, Incidents, Battles, Marches and Camp Life of the Old 4th Michigan Infantry in War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1864 (Detroit: W. S. Ostier, 1888), p. 99. Coddington, Gettysburg Campaign, pp. 409,753. W. George, "Wheaton's Brigade: The Splendid Advance at Gettysburg on the Afternoon of July 2nd," National Tribune, Feb. 11, 1909. Glenn Tucker, Lee and Longstreet at Gettysburg (Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1968; reprint, Dayton, Ohio: Morningside, 1982). p. 66. July 1,1994Ã Issu Number Eleven 97
Charge to the Wheatfield through Plum Run, 7:15 p.m. Map by John Heiser 98 GETTYSBURG: Historical Articles of Lasting Interest
Adams County Historical Society Original Monument to the 93rd Pennsylvania. near Weikert Lane, showing the original carving. up this recognition by mentioning the aid rendered by Nevin's brigade. Although the Pennsylvania Reserves did render excellent service the 2nd day, they did not accomplish their feats alone. Evidence indicates the 98th Pennsylvania advanced first. Testimony, signed by twenty-four members of the regiment, demonstrates specifically that they charged through the line of the Reserves and that they were at "the foot of the ridge" when the Reserves advanced." Furthermore, the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association endorsed this claim and allowed the 98th Pennsylvania monument, placed on Little Round Top, inscription to read: "Arrived here July 2nd. about 5 p.m. immediately charged the Wheatfield and woods to the left." The Reserves then began their advance and, according to the 98th. the left of the Reserves joined the right of the 98th. and they charged to the wall on the east side of the Wheatfield together." In the same manner that thereserves caught up to the 98th. Nevin's remaining regiments caught up to the Reserves. When Nevin's brigade was lucky enough to have been mentioned by the Reserves, it was given a supporting role. Since the majority of testimony from Photo by the Author Current Monument to the 93rd Pennsylvania. The rock has been cut, removing most of the carving. Nevin's three regiments focuses on "closing up on the Reserves," the implication is that Nevin's three regiments charged slightly after Crawford's people. The resistance the Reserves met in their advance may have slowed them down enough to allow Nevin to "close up" temporarily on their troops. The advance of all of these forces may have been timed better than some thought, as Longstreet claimed he had ordered Wofford to retire and reform at that point, leaving Kershaw without support on his left.64 This would account, in part, for the ease encountered in driving Confederates from their advanced positions. The question of who recaptured Walcott's guns is equally confusing. The 139th Pennsylvania and the 62nd New York claimed to have recaptured two guns each. Additionally the 139th claimed to have "saved" one gun Walcott's men were bringing off.65 Oddly enough, Nevin claimed his brigade recaptured only two 62. Nicholson, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, 1526; 98th to GBMA. 63. 64. James Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1896). p. 373. 65. Abraham Brown, "The 2nd Day Fight at Gettysburg," National Tribune. Feb. 8, 1883. July 1, 1994Ã Issu Number Eleven 99
guns of the battery." Neither Walcott, Martin, nor any other artillery officers' records offer any help, as none mentioned the loss of the guns in the first place. Perhaps all parties involved thought it better not to mention a loss of cannon that were recovered so quickly, especially considering the fact that Walcott's battery had been commanded by Martin only months earlier. In any event, all six guns were recovered and Walcott's battery was removed to the southeastern slope of Big Round Top between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on the 3rd." Nevin's men spent the night of the 2nd along Weikert Lane, resting on their arms, thinking about the work done and anticipating what the morrow would bring. Casualties had not been high that day, but losing even a single comrade or neighbor was cause for reflection. Several men were forced to forgo sleep so the wounded in and around the Wheatfield could be tended."during the afternoon and evening the remainder of the Sixth Corps arrived and was distributed to different parts of the Union line. The Union left received most of these troops and more or less secured that portion of the field from further assault. In the early morning hours of July 3, the brigade was pleased to find a detachment of the 102nd Pennsylvania had made a grueling march from Westminster and was coming into line to bolster the brigade. This detachment included 103 men under the command of Lt. R. W. Ly~n.'~ Most of the men spent the morning of July 3 keeping their heads down. Members of the 139th Pennsylvania, on the left of the line in the Plum Run valley, were particularly susceptible to the dangers presented by Confederate sharpshooters: We were compelled to lie prone on the ground to escape the balls of the annoying sharpshooters of the enemy, who were perched in every corner and nook of that rocky Devil's Den yonder to the left and the high trees that stood in our front.70 Colonel Collier of the 139th Pennsylvania dispatched "a number of [his] best marksmen" to return the favor. Regardless, the 139th soon felt the sting of the sharpshooters as twelve men were killed or wounded as a result of this action.71 Among the mortally wounded was the beloved Capt. Jeremiah Sample of Company E. Sample left a widow and five children and would never see his sixth child, born just four months after his death.72 Colonel Collier said of him, "He was an old man when he went into the service. His father was a soldier in the War of 1812. A nobler man never died for his country."73 Colonel Collier, too, felt the sting of a bullet when he, "accidentally shot himself through the foot with a pistol ball, and was compelled to leave his command."74 This embarrassing incident put Lt. Col. William H. Moody in command of the regiment. The late morning and early afternoon of July 3 passed with relative quiet until 1 p.m. when Confederates commenced their famous artillery barrage preceding thepickett, Pettigrew, and Trimble assault. Nevin wrote that his entire line was shelled but reported no injurie~.~~ After the Confederates were repulsed from the Angle, Longstreet began to withdraw from the positions around the Wheatfield and Devil's Den. All his brigades did so with the exception of Brig. Gen. Henry Benning's Georgians. One regiment, the 15th Georgia, remained in an advanced position in the woods on the south and west sides of the Wheatfield. Crawford had been ordered to advance his command to clear these woods.76 At Crawford's request for assistance, Nevin detached two regiments, the 139th Pennsylvania and the 62nd New York, to support Crawford and to cover his right flank during this advance. The 139th advanced down the Wheatfield Road on Crawford's right, drove the enemy skirmishers through Trostle's Woods and in the process claimed to have recaptured, "one brass piece and three caissons belonging to the Ninth Massachusetts batter^."^^ The 62nd New York advanced in the rear of Crawford and assisted in pushing the 15th Georgia out of the area. while the remainder of Benning's brigade retired with very little 10~s.~' Indeed, it was an excellent movement, as the 15th Georgia had difficulty extracting itself at all. Crawford, however, was not content in having attacked asingle regiment and claimed that he had, "completely surprised and routed" most of Hood's division." The remainder of the day and the next passed with the brigade performing tasks ranging from reconnaissance to burial of the dead. Casualties for the brigade had not been heavy in this battle, totaling fifty-three (two killed and fifty-one wounded, at least eight m~rtally).~~ The Sixth Corps suffered fewer casualties in the battle than several regiments did. Nevin's brigade and the Sixth Corps, however, "did all that was necessary or possible to do."" Their presence on the battlefield allowed Meade and his army to face emergencies more confidently and presented Confederates with a demoralizing show of force. This show of force was a primary reason given by Longstreet and several other Confederate officers for their failure to take Little Round Top on the evening of July 2. After the war Longstreet summed up the effect of Meade's fresh troops: "While Meade's lines were growing my men were dropping; we had no OR, series 1, vol. 27, pt. 1, p. 685., series 1, vol. 27, pt. 1. p. 660; Martin, "Artillery Brigade, 5th Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg," p. 5. Martin's Official Report claimed the battery moved at 3 a.m., but in a later report he says 1 a.m. Mark, Red, White and Blue Badge, p. 219. Nicholson, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, 1:542., 2:679. Brown, National Tribune. Feb. 8, 1883. Jeremiah Sample's pension record. National Archives, Washington D.C. Bates, History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 4:380. OR, series 1, vol. 27, pt. I, p. 688.. p. 685., series 1, vol. 27, pt. 2, pp. 417, 423., series 1, vol. 27, pt. I, p. 655. Busey and Martin, Strengths and Losses at Gettysburg, p. 252. The figures in Busey and Martin are accurate although there were several mortal woundings not counted. Mark, Red. White and Blue Badge, p. 215. GETTYSBURG: Historical Articles of Lasting Interest
others to call to their aid and the weight against us was too heavy to carry."*2 The Pennsylvanians and New Yorkers of the brigade were proud of the part they had played in the battle. Each regiment, like many others, formed organizations, through which the deeds and sacrifices of the soldiers would be remembered in publications and monumentation. The brigade monuments, however, are as obscure as the brigade's actions to most visitors. Tucked away north of the Wheatfield road. stands a monument to each of the brigade's five regiments plus the monument of the 3rd Massachusetts Battery. Additionally, the 93rd has a monument on Sedgwick Avenue; the 98th has a second monument on Little Round Top; and the 139th has another on Sickles Avenue, near the Peach Orchard, denoting the point to which it advanced on July 3. Visiting the monument to the 93rd. along Weikert Lane, is particularly interesting. Survivors of the regiment, in October 1884, placed a seven-foot granite monument on a large rock near Weikert Lane."Into the rock, in large letters, is carved: 3RD BRIG. 3RD DIV. 6TH CORPS. JULY 2ND & 3RD 1863. When, in 1887, the Pennsylvania State Legislature appropriated $1,500 to each Pennsylvania regiment that fought at Gettysburg, the survivors decided a larger monument should be put in its place."* The smaller monument was moved to its current site on Sedgwick Avenue, while the new monument was to be put in place of the old. The new monument, more than twice as tall, necessitated cutting the beautifully carved rockinto six pieces, thus making the rock almost two feet shorter. All that remains on the rock is the last line of the carving: JULY 2ND & 3RD 1863. The remainder of the carving can be visited today. It sits silently scattered about the monument in four large chunks of rock in the tall grass. Although the men of the brigade had not been there very long, it was a place they would never forget, for they had been pushed to the limits of human capacities to reach it and upon so doing performed with the strength, courage and spirit that would carry them, with pride, through Virginia with U. S. Grant, into the Shenandoah with Philip Sheridan, and to Appomattox Court House to witness the surrender of the foe they had fought so long." 82. Longstreet, Manassas to Appomattox, p. 273. 83. "The 93rd Pennsylvania Tablet," National Tribune, Nov. 4, 1884, 3:3. 84. Gary Lash, "The Philadelphia Brigade at Gettysburg," Gettysburg Magazine, no. 7 (July 1992):lll. 85. Bates, History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 3:292-93, 467-69, 651-52, 4:380-82. Reader's Notes: July 1, 1994Ã Issu Number Eleven 101