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tlon gave him. Bat to the'BATTLE OF THE FIRST BAT.Hearing ol Meade’s approach, Gen. 'Lee, on the 30th nit., pnt the’forces about. Chasabers-burg in motion.’ -Pendw’s and Heth’a division# orHOl’B C0rpr’Wtru ttae'firet•to cross-tba'Donth mountain by the Cajhtown' turnpike.: Theyapproached Gettysburg on the lit instant, and; finding the enemy in position between_h!mself. and ther iowD, Gen. Hill proceeded at once to give him battle. The attack was. made with vigor and success; the enemy was driven bsck wsih-beavy loss throags the town to the range j, of hills which he finally occupied. daring the! remainder of the conflict. The battle did not pen until after midday. Late In the afternoon Early and Roiies of Ewell’s corpi came up oh the left from York, and contributed largely to the success of our arms Several flags, including the colors,of the 104th N. York regiment, nearly allof the enemy’s wounded, and about 3,0C0 prisoners, fell Into onr hand#, General Reynolds, who commanded the Federal force® (Gen-. M ;ade with, the main body of the army not having then arrived) and Geni Paul were killed. Had not night pnt an end to the conflict, we should have gained theetrong position which the enemy finally occupied. We lost a few prisoners on onr part, including Brigadier General Archer oYMarylsnd, who commanded the Tennessee brigade Johnson’s division of Ewell’s corps, and Anderson’s division of A. P. Hill’s, reached the ground just at night,- bnt not in time to participate in the conflict. Longstreev’s corps, except Pickett’s division, arrived within three miles of the battlefield late at'sight, preceded a few hours by Gen. Lee. Toe whole of the Federal army, .largely reinforced by the troops stationed at Washington,-Baltimore, Harper’s Ferry, and other avaiiable.points, came up the night; and Gen. Meade assumed the immediate command of the Federal troops, as Gen. Lae did oure. Thus concentrated, the two armies were ready forTHIS 8EC05D DAY’S TIGHT.the courier has saddled his hors? end hi rr*:L to leave. I trust be may get through safelyr and that my “letter may reach you is £ 2season. ~ The attack on the centre, unfortunately, wj not made simultaneously with that on thj right. JXhxtMame- may.ha. the left. The artillery opened .about the a si time all aloi j the line, bnt McLaws and Hood had been engaged some time before Hill’s in-Jantry advanced to the charge; and when t'.fy did advance, their movement nofr. gclar and systematic as it should have been. Per instance, Anderson’s division of Kill’a corps, .which was posted on the left of McLaws, never did get fullv into action, while Pehdc. ’a di~!-ston did not fie a pnn until ia'.e In tha dsyAndersen’s div.aion, for example, was posted Wilcox’s brigade onIt was late’m the afternoon of the 2d before either army got fully into' position. Gen. Lee deslred’to make the attack immediately, feeling confident that his infantry were able to carry any position however strong. Bnt little disposition was shown to undertake a proper, recon-noissacce of the ground—an omission which every man in the army now deeply regrets. It was well known that Meade bad chosen a formidable position, bnt the extent and strength c*f.his line, the disposition of his forces, as well as the nature of the ground, and especially the ; relation his line bore to the mountain spurs on the right, were bnt little understood.L’ngstreet was posted on-the right, Hill in I the centre, and Ewell on the left. It war. deemed advisable to make an effort to turn the eneaj’lelL- Ian k, and Longatreet was'charged with that Important duty. For this purpose McLaws’ and Hood’s divisions were pnt in motion,, .bnt thelatter discovered, -after -pro-Iceeding some distance by a circuitous route, [that be pould go noifnrther -in that direction without bringing his colamn within, view of the enemy, and thus disclosing the whole movement. It became necessary, therefore, for him to retrace his steps, and to advance by another route In this way much time was lost beforo .the movement upon the enemy’s 11 ink could be executed,.,and whicajnight have been-avoided by a previous examination of-* the. f*ronad. McLaws’ proper position waChit the extreme rght, bnt in the hurry to make'tb.e attack Hood was placed,on the right iand-McLawp next to him Both of these excellent officers desired that a :reconnoisence of the ground should precede the assault, in order to apcerbun.-IT-gossibie, whether ?he,enemy occupied the high ills in their front.’ .and in what force; bnt the decision of Generals .Lee and Lonfcstreet was against-$t, and the' assaulting column was ordered to move forward. _Itira fscknot generally “known, and which it may not be imprope^}Oj»£ate in this connec tions that in all „ hi* famoustflan)c movements Gen. Jackson was careful to examine .he rouniand .to learn'the exact pdsltion of-thb enemy, and hence his’blows were always .well dnrrd andTefflBle In tffecL JBnch, .too, la Gen. Lie’s practice; ibnfliL the present case it was probably supposed that an .immediate: attack before the enemy could get into position, would more than counterbalance the disadvantages resulting from Inexact knowledge of the ground. 1 Jin the following order: the right, Mahone’s on the left, Wiigbt’SfUt tbs csntre, Perry’s on the right centre, and To sej’acra the left centre., Wilcox was to advanre firet, to bo followed by the other brigades in their order to the left. Wilcox and his ur oon* qaerable Alabamians moved out at the ap-poin'cd time and fought long and desperately. Ferry’s brigade (Perry was not present uinueif) advanced short dissnee, but dut did not be come fully engaged. Wright went boldly forward, and excelled, if possible, all his previous performances, though, at a fearful cost to h*» command, as will be seen when a list of his losses shall come to be published. His brigade captured a battery of 20 guns, and two of his best officers—Maj. Ross and Capt. Redding, of Macon—were shot down while endeavoring to move off the guns. The first was badly wounded and left on the field; the other was killed Bnt Posey,- who was to move next in order, was unwilling, it is reported, to advance, contending that his lelt flank would be.uncovered, and that Mahone should move first, Mabone, on the other hand, declined to proceed unless Posey and Pender’s division on his left should do so at the same time. Upon this fact being made known to Pender be rode forward to examine the ground, when he received a wound and was disabled. The question then arose among his Brigadiers as to who was the senior’ officer, and this point wa not settled until about sunset. Meanwhile, Wilcox and Wright ware struggling with mortal odds against them, but their valor erd- blood were expended to little . purpose, since the effect of their courageous efforts was defeated oy the unpardonable conduct of o her portions oi the division. Wilcox’s lore, aa well as Wright’s was very heavy. Among the kiiied in the brigade of the latter was Col. William Gibson, of the 4S:li Georgia. *I am not yet well informed in regard to the ;order in which Ewell’s corps bec.'-a-e Engaged, and cannot, therefore rnier into details. It is ;reported, however, that tte attack on tha left was made jrllttle late, and not witb ev tn and well sustained lines, I know not whether thia account Is entirely correct; but it may be safely 'affirmed thatthe corps'fought well, and was skillfully handled after it did become engaged. •It is said that on the left, as on the right and centre, the enemy was driven from several strong positions; but that it was found impossible to hold them, owing to the commanding fire of batteries posted in the rear, and to the right and left;The results of the second day’s fight may be summed up In a few words : The Confederates Inflicted a tremendous loss upon the enemy, drove him--a mile and a half on the right, ct -tured a bo at two thousand prisoners, a large nnmber of flags and batteries, and wohtbe gronnd bn which ihe conflict for the most part had been waged, but owing to the great strength of the enemy’s position—far exceeding that at Malvern Hill—the skillful arrangement of his Numerous and admirably served artillery, and the want, of previous knowledge on.onr part ef the precis., nature of the ground, they found it impracticable to bold the posi ions or bring off many of the gnus they bad taken. Law’s brigade, of Hood*# ul-vision, carried one of the jbatteriea on the mountain, and turned the guns upon the enemy- but being raked by a cruel fire from other positions, he found it necessary, finally to abandon It. For the most part, however, Long-street maintained the groend be bad won on the right, until late next day, when he voluntarily withdrew from it to his original line. Oar own loss was very heavy, especially in Hood’s and Me’Laws’ divisions, and Wright’s and Wilcox’s brigades of Ancerson’a division.
Newspaper Details
Savannah Republican
Savannah, Georgia, US
Sun, Jul 19, 1863
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 22 Aug 2023
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