Gettysburg Day 1

After receiving permission from A.P. Hill, Henry Heth has his division marching toward Gettysburg at 5:00 a.m. Heth's goal is to capture a supply of shoes which Jubal Early's men were rumored to have overlooked when it had passed through the town several days earlier. James Archer's brigade leads the way and runs into Federal skirmishers posted on Herr Ridge. Colonel William Gamble reports, "About 8 o'clock in the morning..., the officer commanding the squadron on picket in front gave me notice that the enemy, consisting of infantry and artillery, in column, were approaching his pickets from the direction of Cashtown....My brigade...was placed in line of battle about 1 mile in front of the seminary....Three squadrons, part dismounted, were ordered to the front, and deployed as skirmishers to support the squadron on picket....Our battery of six 3-inch rifled guns was placed in battery, one section on each side of the Cashtown road, covering the approaches of the enemy....The enemy cautiously approached in column on the road, with three extended lines on each flank, and his and our line of skirmishers became engaged, and our artillery opened on the enemy's advancing column, doing good execution....Our skirmishers, fighting under cover of trees and fences, were sharply engaged, did good execution, and retarded the progress of the enemy as much as could possibly be expected." The Federal cavalrymen, making good use of their seven-shot Spencer rifles, force Heth to deploy both of his brigades on either side of the Chambersburg Pike. This maneuver gives General John Reynolds' (I) Corps time to relieve Buford's hard-pressed cavalrymen. While Heth's motive is to "get those shoes," Reynolds and Buford are more interested in holding the high ground south of town. Reynolds sends General Meade a message: "The enemy are advancing in strong force, and...I fear they will get to the heights beyond the town before I can. I will fight them inch by inch, and if driven into the town I will barricade the streets and hold them back as long as possible."

HEADQUARTERS HETH'S DIVISION, Camp near Orange Court-House. - Capt. W. N. STARKE, Asst. Adjt. Gen., Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. - CAPTAIN: My division, now within a mile of Gettysburg, was disposed as follows: Archer's brigade in line of battle on the right of the turnpike; Davis' brigade on the left of the same road, also in line of battle; Pettigrew's brigade and Heth's old brigade (Colonel Brockenbrough commanding), were held in reserve. Archer and Davis were now directed to advance, the object being to feel the enemy; to make a forced reconnaissance, and determine in what force the enemy were...massing his forces on Gettysburg. Heavy columns of the enemy were soon encountered. Davis, on the left, advanced, driving the enemy before him and capturing his batteries....The brigade maintained its position until every field officer save two were shot down, and its ranks terribly thinned....On the right of the road, Archer encountered heavy masses in his front, and his gallant little brigade, after being almost surrounded by overwhelming forces in front and on both flanks, was forced back....The enemy had now been felt, and found to be in heavy force in and around Gettysburg....I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, H. HETH, Major-General.

Shortly after 10:00 a.m., General Reynolds is killed while deploying the brigades of Solomon Meredith and Lysander Cutler. The presence of Meredith's "Iron Brigade" in McPherson's Woods surprises the attacking Rebel infantrymen who are expecting only dismounted cavalry. Colonel W.W. Robinson reports, "The brigade was immediately moved...to the point where the cavalry were engaged, where we formed them in position behind a grove of timber and slight elevation of land....Just at the time we came up, a brigade of the enemy's infantry was advancing upon the position....We had not halted to load, and no orders had been received to do so, for the reason, I suppose, that no one expected we were to be engaged so suddenly. I, however, gave the order to load during the movement, which was executed by the men while on the double-quick, so that no time was lost by this omission....I moved the line forward to the crest of the ridge, delivered a volley, and gave the order to charge. The three regiments--Seventh Wisconsin, Nineteenth Indiana, and Twenty-fourth Michigan--rushed into the ravine with a yell. The enemy--what was left of them able to walk--threw down their arms, ducked through between our files, and passed to the rear." Confederate General James Archer is among the captured men. Lieutenant-Colonel S. G. Shepard reports: "Our position was...untenable, and the right of our line was forced back....Some 75 of the brigade were unable to make their escape, General Archer among the rest. I saw General Archer a short time before he surrendered, and he appeared to be very much exhausted with fatigue. Being completely overpowered...we fell back across the field." Cutler's men enjoy equal success as they advance along the railroad. Many of the men in Joseph Davis' (Jefferson Davis' nephew) brigade are trapped in the railroad cut and forced to surrender. The shattered Rebel attack is stalled, and the remaining grayclad infantrymen retreat to the safety of Herr's Ridge.

HDQRS. SIXTH WISCONSIN VOLUNTEERS. - Capt. J. D. WOOD, Asst. Adjt. Gen., First Brig., First Div., First Corps. - CAPTAIN: When my line had reached a fence on the Chambersburg turnpike, about 40 rods from the line of the enemy, I ordered a fire by file. This checked the advance of the rebels, who took refuge in a railroad cut (an unfinished railroad cut through the ridge west of the seminary), from which they opened a murderous fire upon us. I immediately ordered the men over the fence, with a view to charging the cut. The Ninety-fifth New York and Fourteenth Brooklyn here joined on my left....The men of the whole line moved forward upon a double-quick, well closed, in face of a terribly destructive fire from the enemy. When our line reached the edge of the cut, the rebels began throwing down their arms in token of surrender. Adjt. Ed. P. Brooks, with promptness and foresight, moved a detachment of 20 men in position to enfilade the cut from the right, when the entire regiment in my front, after some murderous skirmishing by the more desperate, threw down their arms....I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. R. DAWES, Lieutenant-Colonel, Comdg. Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers.

After Heth's men retreat, a lull falls over the battlefield. Abner Doubleday, now in command of I Corps, welcomes Oliver O. Howard and the XI Corps to the field. As Doubleday's senior, Howard assumes command of the field and orders Carl Schurz and Francis Barlow to deploy their brigades north of town to protect Doubleday's flank. Realizing the importance of Cemetery Hill, General Adolph Frederick Von Steinwehr's brigade is left behind to maintain that position. As Howard's men are filing forward, the van of Richard Ewell's Corps arrives, marching up Mummasburg Road. General Rodes reports, "When within 4 miles of the town, to my surprise, the presence of the enemy there in force was announced by the sound of a sharp cannonade, and instant preparations for battle were made. On arriving on the field, I found that by keeping along the wooded ridge, on the left side of which the town of Gettysburg is situated, I could strike the force of the enemy with which General Hill's troops were engaged upon the flank....To get at these troops properly, which were still over half a mile from us, it was necessary to move the whole of my command by the right flank, and to change direction to the right....Before my dispositions were made, the enemy began to show large bodies of men in front of the town, most of which were directed upon the position which I held, and almost at the same time a portion of the force opposed to General Hill changed position so as to occupy the woods on the summit of the same ridge I occupied." Robert Rodes' first battle as a division commander turns into a nightmare. One brigade stalls almost immediately, another drifts away from the intended target, and Alfred Iverson's brigade runs into an ambush as Federal troops, deployed behind a stone fence, rise, fire, and decimate his ranks.

CAMP NEAR DARKESVILLE, W. VA. - Maj. H. A. WHITING, Assistant Adjutant-General. - SIR: I advanced at once, and soon came in contact with the enemy, strongly posted in woods and behind a concealed stone wall. My brigade advanced to within 100 yards, and a most desperate fight took place....Brigadier-General Daniel came up to my position, and I asked him for immediate support, as I was attacking a strong position. He promised to send me a large regiment....At the same time, I pointed out to General Daniel a large force of the enemy who were about to outflank my right, and asked him to take care of them. He moved past my position, and engaged the enemy some distance to my right, but the regiment he had promised me..., did not report to me at all....When I saw white handkerchiefs raised, and my line of battle still lying down in position, I characterized the surrender as disgraceful; but when I found afterward that 500 of my men were left lying dead and wounded on a line as straight as a dress parade, I exonerated...the survivors, and claim for the brigade that they nobly fought and died without a man running to the rear. No greater gallantry and heroism has been displayed during this war. I endeavored, during the confusion among the enemy incident to the charge and capture of my men, to make a charge with my remaining regiment and the Third Alabama, but in the noise and excitement I presume my voice could not be heard. The fighting here ceased on my part....I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, ALFRED IVERSON, Brigadier-General.

Shortly after 2:00 p.m., Robert E. Lee, riding to the sound of the guns, approaches the battlefield. A frustrated Lee speaks to General Richard Anderson. "I cannot think what has become of Stuart. I ought to have heard from him long before now....I am in ignorance of what we have in front of us here. It may be the whole Federal army....If it is..., we must fight a battle here." Lee finds Heth's brigades in line of battle waiting for the order to go forward. It is evident that Rodes' division is being well handled, but Lee is not willing to risk a general engagement as, he explains, "Longstreet is not up." It is not long before Lee changes his mind as a third gray column, Jubal Early's, is spotted advancing up the Harrisburg Road. Early's division is perfectly placed to strike at O.O. Howard's exposed right flank and Lee, sensing the opportunity for a sweeping victory, gives A.P. Hill permission to launch the rest of his corps against the stubborn Federal defenders on McPherson's Ridge. Howard's defensive line is exposed because the aggressive Barlow has pushed his men too far forward in an attempt to attack Rode's flank near Oak Hill. General Schurz reports, "Feeling much anxiety about my right, which was liable to be turned..., I dispatched one of my aides...with the request to have one brigade of the Second Division placed upon the north side of the town....After having taken the necessary observations on my extreme left, I returned to the Mummasburg road, where I discovered that General Barlow had moved forward his whole line, thus losing on his left the connection with the Third Division....I immediately gave orders to re-establish the connection by advancing the right wing of the Third Division....Suddenly the enemy opened upon the First Division from two batteries placed near the Harrisburg road, completely enfilading General Barlow's line."

HEADQUARTERS GORDON'S BRIGADE. - Maj. JOHN W. DANIEL, Assistant Adjutant-General, Early's Division. - MAJOR: About 3 p.m. I was ordered to move my brigade forward to the support of Major-General Rodes' left. The men were much fatigued from long marches, and I therefore caused them to move forward slowly until within about 300 yards of the enemy's line, when the advance was as rapid as the nature of the ground and a proper regard for the preservation of my line would permit. The enemy had succeeded in gaining a position upon the left flank of Doles' brigade, and in causing these troops to retreat....Moving forward under heavy fire over rail and plank fences, and crossing a creek whose banks were so abrupt as to prevent a passage excepting at certain points, this brigade rushed upon the enemy with a resolution and spirit, in my opinion, rarely excelled. The enemy made a most obstinate resistance until the colors on portions of the two lines were separated by a space of less than 50 paces, when his line was broken and driven back, leaving the flank which this line had protected exposed to the fire from my brigade. An effort was here made by the enemy to change his front and check our advance, but the effort failed, and this line, too, was driven back in the greatest confusion.... I was here ordered by Major-General Early to halt....I am, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. B. GORDON, Brigadier-General.

Determined to redeem themselves after being swept from the field at Chancellorsville, the German soldiers of the XI Corps put up a fierce resistance, but cannot stand up to the Rebel assault hammering upon their right flank. General Howard reports, "At 4.10 p.m., finding that I could hold out no longer, and that the troops were already giving way, I sent a positive order to the commanders of the First and Eleventh Corps to fall back gradually, disputing every inch of ground, and to form near my position, the Eleventh Corps on the right and the First Corps on the left of the Baltimore pike." The retreating units of Howard's Corps collide with elements of I Corps who have also been forced to flee the field. In the massive confusion of the narrow streets of Gettysburg, all semblance of order is lost as the Union soldiers make their way to Cemetery Hill.

HEADQUARTERS EARLY'S DIVISION. - Maj. A. S. PENDLETON, Asst. Adjt. Gen., Second Corps. Army of Northern Virginia. - MAJOR: As soon as Gordon was fairly engaged with this force, Hays' and Hoke's brigades were ordered forward in line, and the artillery, supported by Smith's brigade, was ordered to follow. After a short but hot contest, Gordon succeeded in routing the force opposed to him....Hays' brigade entered the town, fighting its way, and Avery moved to the left of it across the railroad, and took his position in the fields on the left, and facing Cemetery Hill, which here presented a very rugged ascent....A very large number of prisoners were captured in the town, and before reaching it, their number being so great as really to embarrass us.....As soon as my brigades had entered the town, I rode...to find General Ewell and General Rodes, or General Hill, for the purpose of urging an immediate advance upon the enemy before he should recover from his evident dismay, in order to get possession of the hills to which he had fallen back with the remnant of his forces....Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. A. EARLY, Major-General, Commanding Division.

Instead of pressing the attack, Jubal Early halts his men in the town and attempts to find General Ewell for further instructions. As the Federal troops on Cemetery Hill regroup, General Lee asks A.P. Hill if his men can carry the Federal position. Hill replies that his men are too used up to be of further service. Lee then sends orders to General Ewell to take the hill, if he found it "practicable," but to "avoid a general engagement until the arrival of the other divisions of the army." Ewell decides that it would be unwise to attack before the arrival of Edward Johnson's division, and, as Johnson is still several miles away, any further assault would be impracticable. General Winfield Hancock is now commanding the field for the Union army. Sent by General Meade, Hancock agrees with Howard's decision to fight a battle at Gettysburg. "I think this is the strongest position by nature on which to fight a battle that I ever saw." Hancock, nicknamed "The Superb," immediately advances troops to the stone wall on the northern face of the hill as a show of strength and to discourage any further advance by the Rebels. Carl Schurz finds Hancock's presence "most fortunate," and comments: "It gave the troops a new inspiration....His mere presence was a reinforcement, and everybody on the field felt stronger for his being there."

HEADQUARTERS ELEVENTH CORPS.- Brig. Gen. S. WILLIAMS, Asst. Adjt. Gen., Hdqrs. Army of the Potomac. - GENERAL: After an examination of the general features of the country, I came to the conclusion that the only tenable position for my limited force was the ridge to the southeast of Gettysburg...known as Cemetery Ridge. The highest point at the cemetery commanded every eminence within easy range. The slopes toward the west and south were gradual, and could be completely swept by artillery....I...dispatched Major Howard, my aide-de-camp, to General Slocum, to inform him of the state of affairs....He met the general on the Baltimore pike, about a mile from Gettysburg, [Slocum] replied that he had...ordered a division to the right, and that he would send another to cover the left..., but that he did not wish to come up in person to the front and take the responsibility of that fight....General Steinwehr's division, of the Eleventh Corps..., were so disposed as to check the enemy attempting to come through the town, or to approach upon the right or left of Gettysburg....At 4.30 p.m. the [retreating] columns reached Cemetery Hill, the enemy pressing hard. He made a single attempt to turn our right, ascending the slope northeast of Gettysburg, but his line was instantly broken by Wiedrich's battery, in position on the heights. General Hancock came to me about this time, and said General Meade had sent him on hearing the state of affairs; that he had given him his instructions while under the impression that he was my senior. We agreed at once that [it] was no time for talking, and that General Hancock should further arrange the troops, and place the batteries upon the left of the Baltimore pike, while I should take the right of the same. Respectfully, O. O. HOWARD, Major-General.