Private Edwin Jenkins of the 12th Regiment, United States Infantry sat upon a stump. He had started a letter, and was debating how to finish it.
His sergeant came over and offered a few words. No, Jenkins said, that wouldn't be right. The sergeant walked away. Three hours later, Edwin Jenkins and his sergeant would be dead. Another 256 of his comrades would also be dead, wounded, or missing: a 62% loss.Dear Annie:
I am just sittin a spell right now, the corps has woken up for the mornin. I am well, and we will be marchin acros the state of Pennsylvania and Mary-land to defend our capital from those rebs. We are gonna have a battle real soon. Our regiment is gonna beat back thos rebs and then head on to Richmond again.
Brigadier General Joseph Kershaw and his brigade were moving north through Gettysburg. McLaws' Division was attempting to catch up to the Yankee army and bring it to a halt. Just the previous day, Kershaw and his brigade had been the hammer that destroyed the Federal First Corps. His men were in jubliant moods and talk of taking Washington was in the air. Within two hours, over 400 men would never return to the brigade's ranks, along with another 900 wounded.
Earlier that morning, General Lee worried over a map: how to destroy the Union Army of the Potomac. Last night, the Federal First Army Corps was destroyed by two divisions of Longstreet's Corps a mile south of Gettysburg. Scouting reports indicated that a Federal Corps, the Fifth, was moving against his left flank to the north of Gettysburg.
Guessing that Meade was sending his army back to defend Westminister, Lee came up with a daring plan: he would divide his army into three parts, each of which would smash its way through the defending Yankee troops, then march quickly to Westminister to arrive before the remaining Union corps could. He ordered Longstreet to take McLaws and attack the Fifth Corps. Hood would take his division and resupply it, then march to McLaws' aid.
Meanwhile, General Sykes, in command of the Fifth Corps, was hotly debating with General Meade. Sykes was worried that he was going to be attacked by Longsteet's entire corps without support, rightly so. However, Meade was attempting to halt the Confederate drive so he could organize the army at Westminister, and he had made up his mind to sacrifice the Fifth Corps to that task. Sykes continued to argue for support, and eventually pressed a sore spot of Meade. Meade's staff remembers the conversation ending with: "Go back to your command, or I shall relieve you!" Sykes left, understanding that his 10000 men were attempting to hold back as many as 19000 veterans of Longstreet's Corps without support.
Riding back to his command, Sykes told a staff officer to alert the men to be ready to fight. He ordered Barnes to deploy in a position that would block the Confederate advance, while hiding the strength of the command. Ayres' division of regulars would hold Barnes' left and Crawford with the Pennsylvania Reserves would be in the rear. "There will be no support. We will hold the chosen position as long as there are men left in the corps."
McLaws moved his division out of town, heading east. Pickets moved steadily ahead, moving towards the covered bridge to their front. Suddenly, a Union battery moved into position on the rise to the front. McLaws turned to Semmes and said, "General, the Yanks are trying to make a fight of this. Take that battery!"
Semmes moved his brigade off the road and formed into line. McLaws organized the rest of the division and sent if forward in support. Batteries moved up in line and Semmes ordered his regiments forward.
Yankee skirmishers of Colonel Tilton's brigade sighted Rebel infantry as they moved into the creekbed which framed Benner's Hill.
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They fired a few shots, then retreated up the hill towards safety. Semmes' men scrambled up the hill after them.
At that moment, Sykes arrived at the top of Benner's Hill. Noting the strong nature of the position Barnes selected, as well as the fact that all of his troops were hidden behind the reverse slope, Sykes directed Tilton to advance his brigade.
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Cannon from the heights dropped case shot on the advancing Confederates as Tilton's brigade advanced down the slope.
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The brigade halted and delivered a volley. Semmes ordered his men to halt and volleyed in return.
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After several more volleys and volleys in return, Semmes ordered his men back.
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He would await the rest of McLaws' Division to advance before he would push the Yankee's off the ridge.
McLaws, as far as he could see, was opposing a rear-guard of the Federal Fifth Corps. He sighted three artillery batteries and a brigade; in a likeliness, a division was opposing his advance. He would rather have had Semmes push forward more aggressively, but it was too late for that. The opposing brigade marched back up the hill while McLaws swung his division into position.
To take the heights, McLaws ordered two brigades forward: Kershaw to the south of the turnpike and Wofford to the north. The previous day, the two brigades together had routed two divisions of the First Corps and three artillery batteries. A division and three batteries would be pushed back by this force, he reasoned in his battle report. With a wave of his hat, both brigades stepped of to capture the heights.
Barnes and his staff rode down the hill to where the First Brigade was posted. Sensing the build-up, Barnes said to Tilton, "You will be overrun if you stay here; move your brigade back up the hill." Tilton looked at his men and replied, "Even after we have lost so many?" They would lose many more before they were finished suggested Barnes. By the end of the battle, Tilton's men would charge down the hill three more times.
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Kershaw looked up the hill as his troops advanced. There were too many Yankee guns, he thought. As his men waded the creek, the strode up the incline, they were shelled by the 14 guns on top of the heights. Wofford fared no better, ten men were wounded in the 24th Regiment (Georgia) by one shell. The men accelerated to the double-quick.
Just on the other side of the cannon, Colonel Day of the United States Infantry had just recieved word to charge down the hill towards the Confederate troops. Private John Weatherby remembered the command: "Right shoulder shift, double-quick, charge and drive those rebs to Richmond!" The men of the First Brigade, Second Divison, scrambled over the crest and down into the Confederate line. The Union artillery, fearful of hitting its own men, ceased firing cannister and bombarded the supports on the lower slopes.
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As the opposing sides closed in, the Confederates stopped first and fired a point-blank volley. As the Regulars halted on command and took aim, Kershaw and Wofford ordered their brigades back. "There was no sense in taking the ridge at the cost of our commands without proper support," wrote Wofford in his report, "So we moved our men back and awaited the next attack."
McLaws was beside himself with anger. He collared a staff officer, "You tell Kershaw to move up the hill and take that battery. You tell him that Wofford and Semmes are on his left; he had better take those heights."
Kershaw recieved the order, then contemplated. He had recieved word that of the three prisoners his men captured, two divisions of the Fifth Corps were represented. Perhaps there wasn't just a division ahead of him, but a full on army corps in a good defensive position. As Semmes moved into position, Kershaw moved his men up the hill another time.
To the Union troops, it was evident that the pressure was building. Colonel Tilton remembered, "The enemy could not have performed the assault better. Each time he advanced, he advanced with more and more strength against a weaker and weaker line. We were hard pressed for the entire fight." This attack, three brigades moved forward against the line.
Kershaw, Wofford, and Semmes moved forward and hit a wall of fire half-way up the hill. There, the veteran troops stopped and returned fire. Their triumph of the previous evening was well remembered as the brigades forced the regulars back up the hill.
In the center, Wofford had pushed Tilton so far back that he could see down the reverse slope. He sent word back to McLaws: "Facing the entire Fifth Corps. Send Barksdale in."
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Batteries on either side blasted cannister into the advancing troops.
Barnes sensed the overwhelming pressure exerted on Tilton's brigade. An aide galloped off to Vincent, "Attack to the front."
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Colonel Chamberlain of the 20th Regiment (Maine) recalled: "The firing was hot and heavy to our left. We moved to greet it with open arms and give a little of it back."
Semmes refused the line to meet Vincent's attack, but the converging fire decimated the ranks. A man in the Fiftieth Georgia remembered rifle fire going off on three sides of him. His exposed regiment lost 61% of its men within 30 minutes.
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Kershaw urged his men forward through the galling fire. "Take the crest boys!" he shouted. The brigade surged forward into the regulars.
General Ayres of the Second Division was worried that his batteries would be overrun if Kershaw kept on going up the hill. He ordered General Weed to advance his brigade up the hill and push the Rebs into the creek. A second courier told Colonel Day to make room for Weed's brigade to advance.
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Private Sam Helsey of the 2nd Regiment (South Carolina) remembered the doom of his regiment: "And out of the smoke I saw a fresh brigade moving down onto us. It was no use. We were massacred like hogs." Kershaw's men met the charge at ranges less than 20 yards. Men no longer aimed, they fired their weapons and reloaded. "We couldn't help but hit them," said a sergeant in the 8th Regiment (South Carolina).
The men of Weed's brigade were superbly drilled, and had won Zouve uniforms for it. In quick step, his men advanced down the hill towards the Confederate line. "Gaps opened and closed all around us. We couldn't worry, we performed in battle as we did on the parade ground," boasted a survivor of the 146th Regiment (New York). This performance cost the regiment 58% of its men.
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With the arrival of fresh troops on both flanks, Kershaw, Wofford, and Semmes had no choice but to fall back. Union troops followed them down the hill, and Wofford's slow retreat caused a heavy crossfire to fall upon his men.
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Barksdale moved his brigade to Kershaw's right flank, as ordered. He looked upon his men, remembering their gallant charge of the previous day: "Soldiers of Mississippi, you have advanced when every other man has faltered. You have charged when others would retreat. Remember, do your duty and long live Mississippi!" His soldiers roared the rebel yell and advanced up the hill.
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Kershaw, seeing Barksdale charge up the hill, encouraged his men to do the same, "Men, do you want to live forever?" His South Carolinians moved up the hill for a third time. He sent word to Wofford and Semmes to advance one last time. Unbeknownst to him, Wofford and Semmes were attempting to stop the Union drive from capturing rebel cannon. Tilton advanced with Vincent on his right; they annilated any fragment of a line ahead of them. "No finer men fell that day to stop the rebel advance," wrote Vincent. Colonel Chamberlain noted that the rebels fought with tremendous fury. "Although we had the advantage of position, the enemy was able to put down such a fire that many of my little regiment were killed. The 20th Regiment's losses were comparatively light, with only 125 casualties.
Sykes saw that with Barksdale's brigade, Weed would not be able to hold his own. As Kershaw charged again, Sykes hurriedly sent for another brigade. Crawford ordered Colonel McCandless' Brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves forward. As McCandless set off at the double quick, Sykes hoped that they would arrive in time. "There are not a lot of your men left," he told Weed.
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To be continued...
