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Pickett's Charge |
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Dec 1 15, 21:26
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Group: Gold Member
Posts: 250
Joined: 1-November 15
Member No.: 5,282
Real Name: richard chase
Writer of: Poetry
Referred By:Rhapsody
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Pickett's Charge - Gettysburg, Pa. - July 3rd, 1863
One hundred and fifty big guns, imported under some duress from the South, opened fire, commencing the bloody battle.
Colonel Gibbons’s officer luncheon guests on the flat of Cemetery Ridge were dozing contentedly on the ground after a fulsome repast when Confederate guns started firing incessantly. General Hancock, incredulous, said it was the heaviest cannonade he’d ever witnessed; horses broke their hitches and ran pell-mell, wild, riderless, through the fields of conflict.
Brigadier General Henry J. Hunt, Cmdr. Union artillery, quickly ordered return fire. After two hours of bombardment, it ceased. When the Union artillery began to slacken, Gen. Alexander, Confederate artillery cmdr., informed Pickett he was low on amunition, Union fire had lessened, it was time to charge. Pickett asked General Longstreet if he should. Longstreet, knowing the impending sacrifice, said nothing, but bowed his head in affirmation and turned to mount his horse, Pickett told him he would lead his division forward immediately.
Informed of low ammunition Longstreet told Alexander he disliked making the charge. At that precise moment General Garnett’s brigade emerged from the woods behind the two of them; there was now no turning back.
The Confederate regiments marched straight through the Union batteries toward the Emmittsburg Road in strict, cadenced formation, knowing the conflict would be a bloody one, but confident of their victory. The road was a diagonal slash across the field of battle, with fences, some as high as five feet on both sides, built of posts and rails, which eventually delayed all Confederate movement as men climbed over them.
General Pettigrew and Pickett started their advances simultaneously, a feat, being a quarter mile apart. As they marched toward the Emmittsburg Road, they were in perfect formation, but started to lose their symmetry and precisión under Union Artillery.
Brigadier General Alexander Hays, a New York Irishman, said he was fighting for his home state and loved ones, and if they lost at Gettysburg his life was worthless. He ordered his men to hunt up all abandoned rifles on the field, so when the charge began some men would have four loaded weapons at hand ready to fire. Twelve New Jersey men equipped with 69 Cal. Muskets for close-in fighting, converted them to shotguns by breaking open their buck and ball cartridges and preparing new ones with 10-25 buckshots in each. Confederate infantry struck at Hays’s 2nd Corps line, but veterans of the Union line knew enough to wait. They watched the attackers cross the Emmittsburg Road, and mass together into what seemed like a formidable group, break into a Rebel Yell and, hell bent for leather, charged. When they were at 300 feet, thousands of muskets blazed. The unexpected blasts demoralized the confederate troops
Two different commands, all from New York, the 2nd Corps under Hays, the 125th and 126th under Brown and Armstrong struck the Confederate left flank with máximum fury. Brown and Armstrong posted their men along a rail fence at right angles to the enemy and quickly decimated their ranks. Armstrong said many of the Confederates fell in great heaps. Combined fire from the two commands was too much, too heavy.
While the left flank was under siege, three Vermont regiments launched a blistering attack against the exposed right flank with seasoned soldiers, they took many lives and prisoners of Pickett’s Virginians. But the Confederates still advanced, under heavy layers of battle smoke toward the Bloody Angle.
Some Union soldiers were not so sure of ultimate victory and turned tail; Corporal Plunkett saw one man deserting and disgustedly hit him over the head with a coffee pot. The bottom gave way, the pot dropped around the man’s neck.
Just at this point, when the Confederacy had the upper hand and thrown the Union army into some confusión, at a time when success seemed imminent, their drive lost momentum. When they reached the wall Webb’s regiment was defending, they hesitated; that moment was the moment of defeat.
General Armistead saw if they stayed there, Union regiments would press in on them, and with one hundred fifty men, scaled the Stone Wall shouting, “Boys, give them cold Steel”, but they were met with hot lead from the defenders instead.
This losing skirmish was the beginning of the end for the South, historically known as the “High Water Mark of the Confederacy.” George Edward Pickett rode off from the defeat head lowered, into a questionable future and a quickly fading military career. Longstreet attributed the defeat to the disarray among troops, and the falling away of discipline and order in the assaulting lines, not to mention the overwhelming Union power on both flanks.
Some of Meade’s friends, and every last one of his enemies, excoriated him for not pursuing the enemy after defeating him.
The Army of the Potomac, Lincoln the Emancipator's great hope, headed south across the river and into "God-fosaken" Virginia, and so the bloodiest war in America's history went cruelly on.
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Dec 7 15, 19:14
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Ornate Oracle
Group: Praetorian
Posts: 8,875
Joined: 27-August 04
From: Bariloche, Argentine Patagonia
Member No.: 78
Real Name: Sylvia Evelyn Maclagan
Writer of: Poetry & Prose
Referred By:David Ting
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Hi again Richard, Wow, this is impressive. I've read books, stories, listened to songs and seen movies about this bloody war, North against South. Plus the aftermaths...really terrible for the South. A way of living gone forever... tho' racism is hard to eliminate, judging by recent events in the U.S.
Gone With The Wind...seen it dozens of times!
QUOTE Armstrong said many of the Confederates fell in great heaps. Combined fire from the two commands was too much, too heavy.
Just so. I saw a movie about Pickett's Charge, if I remember correctly. Long ago.
Great to read you, Richard. I must do some chores, with this contribution in mind. I still see 'replying to' and wonder about that.
Cheers, Sylvia
QUOTE (RC James @ Dec 2 15, 00:26 ) Pickett's Charge - Gettysburg, Pa. - July 3rd, 1863
One hundred and fifty big guns, imported under some duress from the South, opened fire, commencing the bloody battle.
Colonel Gibbons’s officer luncheon guests on the flat of Cemetery Ridge were dozing contentedly on the ground after a fulsome repast when Confederate guns started firing incessantly. General Hancock, incredulous, said it was the heaviest cannonade he’d ever witnessed; horses broke their hitches and ran pell-mell, wild, riderless, through the fields of conflict.
Brigadier General Henry J. Hunt, Cmdr. Union artillery, quickly ordered return fire. After two hours of bombardment, it ceased. When the Union artillery began to slacken, Gen. Alexander, Confederate artillery cmdr., informed Pickett he was low on amunition, Union fire had lessened, it was time to charge. Pickett asked General Longstreet if he should. Longstreet, knowing the impending sacrifice, said nothing, but bowed his head in affirmation and turned to mount his horse, Pickett told him he would lead his division forward immediately.
Informed of low ammunition Longstreet told Alexander he disliked making the charge. At that precise moment General Garnett’s brigade emerged from the woods behind the two of them; there was now no turning back.
The Confederate regiments marched straight through the Union batteries toward the Emmittsburg Road in strict, cadenced formation, knowing the conflict would be a bloody one, but confident of their victory. The road was a diagonal slash across the field of battle, with fences, some as high as five feet on both sides, built of posts and rails, which eventually delayed all Confederate movement as men climbed over them.
General Pettigrew and Pickett started their advances simultaneously, a feat, being a quarter mile apart. As they marched toward the Emmittsburg Road, they were in perfect formation, but started to lose their symmetry and precisión under Union Artillery.
Brigadier General Alexander Hays, a New York Irishman, said he was fighting for his home state and loved ones, and if they lost at Gettysburg his life was worthless. He ordered his men to hunt up all abandoned rifles on the field, so when the charge began some men would have four loaded weapons at hand ready to fire. Twelve New Jersey men equipped with 69 Cal. Muskets for close-in fighting, converted them to shotguns by breaking open their buck and ball cartridges and preparing new ones with 10-25 buckshots in each. Confederate infantry struck at Hays’s 2nd Corps line, but veterans of the Union line knew enough to wait. They watched the attackers cross the Emmittsburg Road, and mass together into what seemed like a formidable group, break into a Rebel Yell and, hell bent for leather, charged. When they were at 300 feet, thousands of muskets blazed. The unexpected blasts demoralized the confederate troops
Two different commands, all from New York, the 2nd Corps under Hays, the 125th and 126th under Brown and Armstrong struck the Confederate left flank with máximum fury. Brown and Armstrong posted their men along a rail fence at right angles to the enemy and quickly decimated their ranks. Armstrong said many of the Confederates fell in great heaps. Combined fire from the two commands was too much, too heavy.
While the left flank was under siege, three Vermont regiments launched a blistering attack against the exposed right flank with seasoned soldiers, they took many lives and prisoners of Pickett’s Virginians. But the Confederates still advanced, under heavy layers of battle smoke toward the Bloody Angle.
Some Union soldiers were not so sure of ultimate victory and turned tail; Corporal Plunkett saw one man deserting and disgustedly hit him over the head with a coffee pot. The bottom gave way, the pot dropped around the man’s neck.
Just at this point, when the Confederacy had the upper hand and thrown the Union army into some confusión, at a time when success seemed imminent, their drive lost momentum. When they reached the wall Webb’s regiment was defending, they hesitated; that moment was the moment of defeat.
General Armistead saw if they stayed there, Union regiments would press in on them, and with one hundred fifty men, scaled the Stone Wall shouting, “Boys, give them cold Steel”, but they were met with hot lead from the defenders instead.
This losing skirmish was the beginning of the end for the South, historically known as the “High Water Mark of the Confederacy.” George Edward Pickett rode off from the defeat head lowered, into a questionable future and a quickly fading military career. Longstreet attributed the defeat to the disarray among troops, and the falling away of discipline and order in the assaulting lines, not to mention the overwhelming Union power on both flanks.
Some of Meade’s friends, and every last one of his enemies, excoriated him for not pursuing the enemy after defeating him.
The Army of the Potomac, Lincoln the Emancipator's great hope, headed south across the river and into "God-fosaken" Virginia, and so the bloodiest war in America's history went cruelly on.
······· ·······
Mis temas favoritos The Lord replied, my precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.
"There is no life higher than the grasstops Or the hearts of sheep, and the wind Pours by like destiny, bending Everything in one direction."
Sylvia Plath, Crossing the Water, Wuthering Heights. Nominate a poem for the InterBoard Poetry Competition by taking into careful consideration those poems you feel would best represent Mosaic Musings. For details, click into the IBPC nomination forum. Did that poem just captivate you? Nominate it for the Faery award today! If perfection of form allured your muse, propose the Crown Jewels award. For more information, click here!MM Award Winner
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Dec 7 15, 23:03
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Ornate Oracle
Group: Praetorian
Posts: 8,875
Joined: 27-August 04
From: Bariloche, Argentine Patagonia
Member No.: 78
Real Name: Sylvia Evelyn Maclagan
Writer of: Poetry & Prose
Referred By:David Ting
|
QUOTE (Psyche @ Dec 7 15, 22:14 ) Hi again Richard, Wow, this is impressive. I've read books, stories, listened to songs and seen movies about this bloody war, North against South. Plus the aftermaths...really terrible for the South. A way of living gone forever...but freedom for black workers. Tho' racism is hard to eliminate, judging by recent events in the U.S.
Gone With The Wind...seen it dozens of times!
QUOTE Armstrong said many of the Confederates fell in great heaps. Combined fire from the two commands was too much, too heavy.
Just so. I saw a movie about Pickett's Charge, if I remember correctly. Long ago.
Great to read you, Richard. I must do some chores now.
Cheers, Sylvia
QUOTE (RC James @ Dec 2 15, 00:26 ) Pickett's Charge - Gettysburg, Pa. - July 3rd, 1863
One hundred and fifty big guns, imported under some duress from the South, opened fire, commencing the bloody battle.
Colonel Gibbons’s officer luncheon guests on the flat of Cemetery Ridge were dozing contentedly on the ground after a fulsome repast when Confederate guns started firing incessantly. General Hancock, incredulous, said it was the heaviest cannonade he’d ever witnessed; horses broke their hitches and ran pell-mell, wild, riderless, through the fields of conflict.
Brigadier General Henry J. Hunt, Cmdr. Union artillery, quickly ordered return fire. After two hours of bombardment, it ceased. When the Union artillery began to slacken, Gen. Alexander, Confederate artillery cmdr., informed Pickett he was low on amunition, Union fire had lessened, it was time to charge. Pickett asked General Longstreet if he should. Longstreet, knowing the impending sacrifice, said nothing, but bowed his head in affirmation and turned to mount his horse, Pickett told him he would lead his division forward immediately.
Informed of low ammunition Longstreet told Alexander he disliked making the charge. At that precise moment General Garnett’s brigade emerged from the woods behind the two of them; there was now no turning back.
The Confederate regiments marched straight through the Union batteries toward the Emmittsburg Road in strict, cadenced formation, knowing the conflict would be a bloody one, but confident of their victory. The road was a diagonal slash across the field of battle, with fences, some as high as five feet on both sides, built of posts and rails, which eventually delayed all Confederate movement as men climbed over them.
General Pettigrew and Pickett started their advances simultaneously, a feat, being a quarter mile apart. As they marched toward the Emmittsburg Road, they were in perfect formation, but started to lose their symmetry and precisión under Union Artillery.
Brigadier General Alexander Hays, a New York Irishman, said he was fighting for his home state and loved ones, and if they lost at Gettysburg his life was worthless. He ordered his men to hunt up all abandoned rifles on the field, so when the charge began some men would have four loaded weapons at hand ready to fire. Twelve New Jersey men equipped with 69 Cal. Muskets for close-in fighting, converted them to shotguns by breaking open their buck and ball cartridges and preparing new ones with 10-25 buckshots in each. Confederate infantry struck at Hays’s 2nd Corps line, but veterans of the Union line knew enough to wait. They watched the attackers cross the Emmittsburg Road, and mass together into what seemed like a formidable group, break into a Rebel Yell and, hell bent for leather, charged. When they were at 300 feet, thousands of muskets blazed. The unexpected blasts demoralized the confederate troops
Two different commands, all from New York, the 2nd Corps under Hays, the 125th and 126th under Brown and Armstrong struck the Confederate left flank with máximum fury. Brown and Armstrong posted their men along a rail fence at right angles to the enemy and quickly decimated their ranks. Armstrong said many of the Confederates fell in great heaps. Combined fire from the two commands was too much, too heavy.
While the left flank was under siege, three Vermont regiments launched a blistering attack against the exposed right flank with seasoned soldiers, they took many lives and prisoners of Pickett’s Virginians. But the Confederates still advanced, under heavy layers of battle smoke toward the Bloody Angle.
Some Union soldiers were not so sure of ultimate victory and turned tail; Corporal Plunkett saw one man deserting and disgustedly hit him over the head with a coffee pot. The bottom gave way, the pot dropped around the man’s neck.
Just at this point, when the Confederacy had the upper hand and thrown the Union army into some confusión, at a time when success seemed imminent, their drive lost momentum. When they reached the wall Webb’s regiment was defending, they hesitated; that moment was the moment of defeat.
General Armistead saw if they stayed there, Union regiments would press in on them, and with one hundred fifty men, scaled the Stone Wall shouting, “Boys, give them cold Steel”, but they were met with hot lead from the defenders instead.
This losing skirmish was the beginning of the end for the South, historically known as the “High Water Mark of the Confederacy.” George Edward Pickett rode off from the defeat head lowered, into a questionable future and a quickly fading military career. Longstreet attributed the defeat to the disarray among troops, and the falling away of discipline and order in the assaulting lines, not to mention the overwhelming Union power on both flanks.
Some of Meade’s friends, and every last one of his enemies, excoriated him for not pursuing the enemy after defeating him.
The Army of the Potomac, Lincoln the Emancipator's great hope, headed south across the river and into "God-fosaken" Virginia, and so the bloodiest war in America's history went cruelly on.
······· ·······
Mis temas favoritos The Lord replied, my precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.
"There is no life higher than the grasstops Or the hearts of sheep, and the wind Pours by like destiny, bending Everything in one direction."
Sylvia Plath, Crossing the Water, Wuthering Heights. Nominate a poem for the InterBoard Poetry Competition by taking into careful consideration those poems you feel would best represent Mosaic Musings. For details, click into the IBPC nomination forum. Did that poem just captivate you? Nominate it for the Faery award today! If perfection of form allured your muse, propose the Crown Jewels award. For more information, click here!MM Award Winner
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