Timeline of the First Day

 

8 AM Union cavalrymen in General John Buford's division await the Confederate advance toward Gettysburg. The rebels had been there the day before, and Buford rightly expected that they would be coming again, probably in force. Buford's division was deployed on McPherson Ridge, just east of Willoughby Run, and he had sent pickets forward to warn of the Confederate approach. Buford had decided that he wanted to delay the Rebels long enough for Union forces of the Army of the Potomac to occupy the high ground south of Gettysburg.

 

The first shot of the battle actually took place about a mile or so west of the field shown in the movie, at around 7:30 AM.

 

8:00-8:45 AM The Confederates, under General Henry Heth of A. P. Hill's Third Corps, try to push the Union cavalrymen aside by deploying a strong line of skirmishers, but the Yankees hold fast to a line on Willoughby Run.

 

8:45-9:20 AM Heth ups the stakes by unlimbering four batteries of artillery, and an artillery duel promptly starts. Grudgingly, Buford's cavalrymen yield ground, awaiting the arrival of Union infantry.

 

9:20-9:55 AM The Confederates decide to launch a full-scale infantry assault, deploying two brigades on either side of the Chamersburg Pike. General Joseph Davis's brigade is to the north of the Pike, and General James Archer's brigade to the south. Union General Reynolds (symbolized by the blue star) arrives in Gettysburg at about 9:40 AM and asks townspeople where General Buford is.

 

9:55-10:05 AM Buford and Reynolds discuss the situation while overlooking the battlefield from the cupola of the Lutheran Seminary building west of Gettysburg. They can see the Confederate brigades advancing, pushing the cavalry skirmishers back. Both agree that the Federals should stand and fight on this ground.

 

10:05-10:15 AM While Archer's brigade advances slowly into McPherson's Woods (getting tangled up in the swamp and undergrowth), and Davis's brigade begins a flanking move around the Union right, Union infantry of the First Corps arrives. General Lysander Cutler's brigade is in the lead, followed by Hall's artillery battery, and then the Iron Brigade (under General Solomon Meredith), one of the most famous units in the Union Army. The Iron Brigade was recognizable by its distinctive broad black hats. The Union cavalrymen depart the field to guard their army's flanks west and north of Gettysburg (a great many more Confederates were expected shortly from those directions).

 

10:15 AM General Reynolds is shot and killed while setting up the Union deployment (the cross shows the site of his death, at the edge of McPherson's Woods).

 

10:15-10:25 AM In the confusion following Reynolds's death, Cutler's brigade heads for the Union right piecemeal. The Iron brigade prepares to attack the Confederates advancing in McPherson's Woods. They attack "en echelon", that is, in successive waves. Unfortunately for the Confederate General Archer, his men see only the first wave through the woods, and they adjust to the left to counter it, unaware that they are exposing their flank to the next wave. Davis's brigade, meanwhile, marches in a loop around the Yankee right flank.

 

10:25-10:45 AM The first Union volley of the battle comes from Cutler's brigade as Davis's men suddenly appear on their flank. It is not long before this part of Cutler's brigade, caught in a cross-fire, is forced to retreat from the field. The Iron Brigade plows into Archer's brigade in the woods. The tired Confederates are knocked back in surprise. On the Union right, the next element of Cutler's brigade (the 147th NY regiment) prepares to meet several times its number of Confederates. It is fired on from two directions, but holds its ground, in spite of a snafu which sends the adjacent artillery back away from the lines.

 

10:45-10:55 AM The 147th NY begins to melt away under the pressure. One Union regiment of the Iron Brigade - the 6th Wisconsin - had been held in reserve near the seminary. It is called on to save the Union right flank as Cutler's brigade retreats. Meanwhile, the Iron Brigade has trapped some of Archer's brigade, including General Archer himself, in the swamps of Willoughby Run, and forces their surrender.

 

10:55-11:05 AM The remainder of Cutler's brigade, which had been guarding the orchard and farm north of McPherson's Woods, wheels about to the right to join the 6th Wisconsin in confronting Davis's Confederates. Davis's men, many of whom have little experience of battle, have become disorganized during their momentary victory. Under heavy fire from fresh Union troops who have appeared unexpectedly on their front, many of Davis's men jump into an unfinished railroad cut for protection, unaware that most of the cut is too deep to see out of.

 

11:05-11:30 AM Davis's brigade has lost a good deal of its firepower through a combination of disorganization and being in the railroad cut. The Union regiments advance on the cut, fighting hand-to-hand up to its edge. While much of Davis's brigade retreats to the west, many are forced to surrender while looking up at Yankee bayonets from the bottom of the railroad cut.

 

Thus ends the first hours of the Battle of Gettysburg. This brief but bitter fire-fight has set the stage for the remainder of the Battle. With possession of the ridges west of Gettysburg, Union forces will be able to hold off an overwhelming Confederate attack in the afternoon long enough to build a solid defense south of town.