End of the Road: Slaughter on Cemetery Ridge

I'm writing this as thunder shakes my house and reminds me of the terrible sound cannon fire produces.

July 3, 1863 marked the third and final day of the battle of Gettysburg. It also marked the day of Pickett's Charge, a failed Confederate assault on Union General George Meade's troops who were stationed on Cemetery Ridge. The attack not only proved futile in the end, it mentally damaged the minds of the southern soldiers who escaped with their lives, leaving a bloodstain that would never wash away. The Confederate war efforts did not recovered.

The charge was named after Major General George Pickett, one of three generals involved in the charge. However, it was General Robert E. Lee who ordered the attack and General James Longstreet who held overall command. Pickett's division led the charge and was followed by Brigadier General Johnston Pettigrew and Major General Isaac Trimble, consisting of troops from Longstreet's First Corps and Lieutenant General A.P. Hill's exhausted Third Corps.

Major General George Pickett

Brigadier General Johnston Pettigrew

Major General Isaac Trimble

General Longstreet did not like the idea of charging the ridge. He felt the Union line was too strong for a southern success and the Union soldiers were too well prepared. Instead he told Lee that moving between the Union and Washington DC would force the northern soldiers to fight in a position they did not choose. Lee didn't listen, feeling his forces could accomplish what Longstreet warned was impossible. Longstreet walked away believing the plan to be disastrous. He was right. "My heart was heavy," he wrote. "I could see the desperate and hopeless nature of the charge and the hopeless slaughter it would cause...That day at Gettysburg was one of the saddest of my life."

General James Longstreet

One of the main problems began when the Confederates opened fire. Though the 150 artillery guns numbered the largest southern bombardment of the Civil War, they began firing too high, missing the ridge where the Army of the Potomac (Meade's troops) were waiting. In contrast, Meade's headquarters just over the ridge crest was shattered to pieces. Meade himself almost had his leg ripped off with a shell as he stood in the doorway. Another shell killed a few horses. In the constant commotion, it was impossible to bring or send information from the building. It was abandoned under the hailstorm of fire power and later turned into a hospital for the wounded. Another problem was that about 14,000 Confederates had to march three quarters of a mile across an open field to reach the entrenched and well supplied Union.

Early attack of the ridge

The attack was ordered by Longstreet around 3:00 PM.

Artist rendition of the attack

The Confederates were wrong about the Union artillery guns being taken out in an earlier attack. They had actually just stopped firing to lure the Confederates out of hiding. As the various southern divisions made their way across the field, the guns suddenly roared to life again and filled the air with shots and shells alike. With the two sides firing, smoke soon obscured the battlefield. In the confusion, the Confederate soldiers couldn't see until they were almost on top of their targets. Orders that were supposed to be carried out to protect Pickett and his men went array. Other units marched too far to do anything when they were needed. The southern plans shattered to pieces. General Lewis Armistead, with his hat on his sword, barely broke the first Union line before his hand was blown off and he perished, followed by those behind him.

The death of General Lewis Armistead

The charge lasted only a half hour but less than half of the 14,000 men returned. Pickett's division alone lost two thirds of his men, including three brigadiers, all thirteen colonels, and 12 out of the 15 battle flags.

The dead on the field

However, Meade, who had been in command for all of six days, was unaware just how hurt the Confederates were and did not launch a counter attack to destroy them. Lee rode among his startled troops saying, "It's all my fault....It is I who have lost this fight." The next day, the Fourth of July, heavy rain halted further assaults and Lee soon retreated.

Since Meade was stationed on the ridge, he had the better vantage point. The Union had the clear advantage of being able to see each move the Confederate troops made. Pickett's charge was actually a rather reckless order by Lee. While it lessened the number of southerners, it barely chipped away at the northerners. In the end, Cemetery Ridge was an ultimate disaster for the Confederate States of America. This is how it and its various memorials appear to visitors today.

The stone wall on Cemetery Ridge

The High Water Mark (the farthest point the Confederate soldiers reached on the ridge)

Until next time.

XOXO, Kate