Gettysburg and Stories of Valor - The Civil War | Full Movie (Narrated by Keith Carradine)

[Music] after the passage of 140 years for now quiet battlefield of Gettysburg continues to conjure up images of men desperately fighting for the cause that brought them 10,000 northerners and southerners gave up their lives at Gettysburg each and immeasurable loss both to comrades and to their loved ones at home for three intense days July 1st 2nd and 3rd 1863 Confederate General Robert E Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union General George Meade's Army of the Potomac fought in the largest and perhaps most important battle of the Civil War for the first time the south invaded a northern state colliding with Meade's army at the unsuspecting small town of Gettysburg Gettysburg was a thriving town of 2,400 people and the home of Pennsylvania College surrounding the rural community were scores of prosperous and well-maintained farms some of the very finest in the state of Pennsylvania during these three days 160,000 men fought courageously in a seesaw battle whose final outcome hung in the balance to the very last minute not long after the fighting ended at Gettysburg the battlefield became a shrine to the soldiers who fought there north and south President Lincoln referred to the battlefield in his immortal Gettysburg Address as hallowed ground after the battle the men who fought at Gettysburg were acutely aware of its importance in American history and sought to protect and memorialize its grounds in 1895 the Gettysburg battlefield became a National Military Park protected and maintained by the federal government for all Americans to visit and ponder the great deeds of bravery and sacrifice that occurred there the stories of many who fought at Gettysburg have been lost forever stories of bravery known only to dead men others were documented by fellow soldiers and are remembered to this day late in the afternoon of July 2nd 1863 Union General John Caldwell's division of the 2nd Corps fought a gory engagement in and near the landmark wheat field this is the wheat field some of the fiercest fighting during the Battle of Gettysburg occurred right in this field Colonel Edward Kraus the 31 year old Colonel of the fifth New Hampshire infantry a dynamic persona and warrior lead one of Caldwell's brigades as he led his Brigade southward across the wheat field and into a belt of timber his men came under heavy fire from elements of general George Anderson's Georgia Brigade while cross wearing a black bandana around his head cheered on his name a Confederate rifleman caught the colonel in his sights and squeezed the trigger the marksman Zain was true the bullet ripped into cross his abdomen and exited his back near the spine the mortal wounding of Colonel cross happened right on this spot cross who normally wore a red bandanna tied around his forehead when going into battle uncharacteristically tied on a black one before the Wheatfield fight having had a premonition of his own demise after being wounded Colonel cross was carried to a field hospital not far from the fighting and died during the night years after the battle gray-haired veterans of the 5th New Hampshire regiment erected this unusual monument to their Colonel Edward cross not far away from where cross was mortally wounded another young man captain David Atchison of the 140 of Pennsylvania was fighting a grim battle of his own young captain Atchison Pennsylvania company held the extreme right flank of the regiment on the south side of Wheatfield Road almost immediately after coming online the 140th pitched in to General Joseph Kershaw South Carolina Brigade a soldier in the 140th described the atmosphere is hot and heavy with smoke and alive with death or his angels screaming shells and hissing bullets the shower of bullets down many of Addison's men including the captain himself he was shot in the chest while commanding his company this is the position that the 140th Pennsylvania occupied on July 2nd in this vicinity captain Atchison was wounded as his men attempted to carry his wounded body off the field he was struck again he died within minutes captain Atchison --zz comrades recovered his body on July 4th and buried him on the field in a shallow grave not far from John T White's farmhouse he was buried right at the foot of this Boulder on which his initials DA and regiment 140 P V were scratched nine days later his family came looking for him and aided by the location and carving on the boulder located the grave and removed the body for reburial in his hometown of Washington Pennsylvania [Music] one of the most critically important fights during the three-day battle was the life-and-death struggle for Iraqi prominence known on period maps as the granite spur and today known as Little Round Top it was here that Colonel strong Vincent raced against the clock to place his Brigade literally minutes before Evander laws Alabama Brigade and Jerome Robertson's Texas regiments emerged in strength from the valley intent on taking the heights the Achilles heel of the entire Union defensive line Colonel Vincent is credited with successfully defending Little Round Top in a brilliant deployment of his brigade that is still lauded today by military historians this is the position where Vincent's Brigade fought where his men began to fall back and were pushed through these rocks all was pandemonium in Vincent's line was in danger of crumbling in the pitched battle Vincent stood on this rock personally directing the broken elements of the 16th Michigan back into battle standing high on this boulder silhouetted against the sky and cheering on his men he presented an easy target - advancing Confederate riflemen Vincent was hit on his left side the bullet traveling into his groin fatally wounding him after he went down he was carried to the rear where he died five days later in a field hospital the spot where Vincent fell was one of the first sites that early visitors to the battlefield wanted to see as early as 1864 a crude carved inscription was noted on the boulder that says Colonel strong Vincent fell here commanding 3rd Brigade 1st division 5th corps July 2nd 1863 although primitive the words are among the first permanent markers on the battlefield another marker a small marble slab about 100 yards away from the boulder said in 1878 was the first formal monument erected on the battlefield outside of the National Cemetery by veterans from Vincent's hometown of Erie Pennsylvania it states general strong Vincent wounded July 2nd died July 7th 1863 this monument reflects the fact that Vincent was promoted to Brigadier General on his deathbed after the battle and never knew it for more than a century the controversy has followed the two separate markers on Little Round Top the question has always been which one accurately marks the location of Vincent's wounding it is generally believed now that the small marble slab was erroneously placed marking instead the location where Colonel Vincent was placed undercover after being wounded the inscription on the boulder therefore stands as the historically correct and significant memorial to the 26 year old strong Vincent hero of Gettysburg [Music] Devil's Den is one of the most recognizable sites on the Gettysburg battlefield with its enormous natural rock formations on July 2nd the fierce and chaotic fighting passed through these enormous boulders which sit near Little Round Top more than 140 years ago a series of disturbing photographs were taken on the Gettysburg battlefield by Peter Weaver that continued to provoke the imagination of viewers to this day all show dead Union soldiers strewn about the boulders of Devil's Den an area on the southern part of the battlefield fought over on July 2nd 1863 scholars have long been puzzled by the subject matter especially the location and appearance of the Union bodies the bodies shown in the photographs aren't swollen or disfigured like those found in other works by various photographers who visited the battlefield before all the dead were buried normally bodies begin to putrefy or decompose about one day after death when left outside this process results in the corpse becoming swollen within 72 hours as various gases build up within the body in addition to causing the body to bloat the gas is often severely distort the face and changed the color of tissue often turning it black sometimes the dead were bloated so severely that the buttons of their uniform folks came undone a phenomenon recorded in many period photographs the natural process of decomposition should have been evident in the soldiers depicted in The Devil's Den photographs but these men exhibit no sign of it at all theories were proposed but it wasn't until 120 years after the battle that the truth was discovered when a definitive piece of the puzzle came to light in this soldiers diary kept by private Jacob Schenkel of the 62nd Pennsylvania in an entry dated Wednesday November 11th 1863 is the answer went to Round Top with an artist to take some scenes of the battlefield took one scene of dead men Sheng Cole's diary entry solved the mystery behind Gettysburg photographer Peter Weaver's famous Devil's Den photographs the photographs were staged nearly 5 months after the battle jacob Schenkel the 23 year old private was a willing participant in Weaver's ruse a clever deception that was accepted as fact for over 100 years Jacob Schenkel is easily found in many of the Devil's Den photos lying on the rocks posed as a dead man for Peter Weaver this is the exact spot where Jacob Schenkel and some of his friends posed for the photographer in November 1863 as dead men jacob Shengo participated in the Battle of Gettysburg as a musician with his regiment the 62nd Pennsylvania Infantry in the federal fifth Corps as a musician jacob performed a myriad of duties one of which was caring for the wounded after the armies departed the field jacob stayed behind to assist the army's medical corps at camp letterman he probably did not know at the time that their amusing joke that day would be immortalized in controversial photographs that would be scrutinized and talked about for more than a century [Music] [Music] this is Gettysburg National Military Cemetery an American soldiers grave is considered hallowed ground especially if he died in service to his country at Gettysburg National Military Cemetery [Music] 3618 Union soldiers killed in the great battle have been laid to rest land for the cemetery today 17 lush acres of green lawn and huge canopy trees was acquired in 1863 by the eighteen northern states whose troops died in the battle formerly dedicated by President Abraham Lincoln in November 1863 the cemetery is a sacred resting place for federal soldiers who died at Gettysburg however it is a little-known fact that a number of Confederate soldiers lie buried there as well most Confederate bodies were taken south and reburied in their states of origin after the great battle in the National Cemetery at least ten graves whose occupants were thought to be Union soldiers are in fact believed to be the final resting places of southern soldiers Samuel Weaver the man in charge of the reburial believed that no Confederate dead were buried in the cemetery however it has since been shown that a few Confederate soldiers are very dead Confederates buried in the cemetery include john johnson of company cave 11th mississippi infantry mistakenly thought to be a member of the 11th massachusetts Mississippi and CSA were marked on his gravestone by an unknown party wishing to make his southern presence known another grave marked Williams 20th Connecticut is believed to be that of corporal David Williams of Company D xx North Carolina Eli Green lies under this stone in the Pennsylvania section of the cemetery the information on the stone reads Company E 14th Pennsylvania but in fact Greene was a member of the 14th Virginia of the Confederate Army during Pickett's Charge on July 3rd 1863 private Greene was mortally wounded dying in August at Camp Letterman a federal field hospital at Gettysburg he was then laid to rest in the National Cemetery every Union soldier buried in the National Cemetery has a unique story as well some of the stories are well known and others have been buried with the men who lived them this is the grave of President Richard Nixon's great grandfather George Nixon a member of the 73rd Ohio George passed safely through the July 1st fighting but was mortally wounded on July 2nd he died several days later at the age of 42 [Music] Amos Humiston a New York soldier made famous after he was found dead and nameless on the battlefield clutching a photo of his three children rests here this photograph known as that children of the battlefield became well known throughout the north after it was copied and circulated in an effort to identify the Unknown Soldier which it did when his wife saw the picture and recognized the children as her own several Zouaves from the 114th pennsylvania a unit of General Daniel sickles 3rd Corps lie buried side by side all were wounded during the fighting on July 2nd and took shelter in a barn which caught fire consuming them in the flames because of the fire their names have been lost to history their graves simply marked unknown Zubov gettysburg civilian public cemetery evergreen is located adjacent to the National Military Cemetery established in 1854 evergreen with its landmark brick gatehouse which was standing during the battle is the location of some interesting history and the quiet days prior to the fighting in Gettysburg a wooden sign stood at the entrance of Evergreen Cemetery ironically stating driving riding and shooting on these grounds strictly prohibited any person violating this ordinance will be fined and imprisoned during the battle the sign was ignored and Confederate artillery shells rained down upon the Union troops shattering many of evergreens gravestones a shell broke this particular stone the grave of Fredrick Huber Huber was a local soldier killed in 1862 at the Battle of Fair Oaks Virginia when he was buried in his hometown of Gettysburg Huber's family could not have foreseen that his peaceful rest would soon be interrupted by the violent swirl of battle this damaged tombstone marks the remains of Sarah Mori and her infant daughter Sally both of whom died in 1855 interestingly Sarah's widowed husband William moved to Tennessee after her death and in 1861 joined the Confederate Army another battle damaged tombstone is that a Visayas J Culp a member of one of gettysburg's most well known families cope died in June 1861 just as the Civil War was getting underway the now-famous Culp's Hill was his family property Miss Virginia Wade better known as Jenny Wade is also buried here a local girl jenny was shot on July 3rd when a bullet tore through the door of her sister's home on the Baltimore Pike near the southern edge of town killing her instantly a beautiful monument erected in 1901 by the women's relief Corps marks her burial site a sad story envelops the grave of Alan Fraser a 14 year old civilian boy from Philadelphia an accident with an unexploded shell in November 19th 1863 tore the boy nearly entombed in the guardianship of a local Gettysburg man when killed Fraser was buried in a plot owned by Solomon powers his final resting place unmarked by any gravestone Confederate dead of the Gettysburg battle also found their way into Evergreen Cemetery sergeant Matthew Goodson of the the second North Carolina was wounded during the fighting but died in a federal field hospital private Hooper Caffey of the third Alabama also wounded lingered until September when he passed away on November 19th 1863 during the dedication of Gettysburg National Cemetery President Abraham Lincoln stood on a speaker's platform and delivered the Gettysburg Address on that fall day the platform stood here curiously on land owned by evergreen and not within the boundary of the National Cemetery itself this is the exact spot where the platform stood on which President Abraham Lincoln delivered the immortal Gettysburg Address that platform was a temporary one and is gone now nothing remains to mark the spot where that speech was given the president had read the dedication address consecrating the new National Cemetery as forever sacred and further expressing the hope that the yet unfinished work of ending the rebellion be nobly carried on he asked the nation to be dedicated to the cause for which the dead in these graves gave their last full measure of devotion [Music] in his war memoirs lieutenant George Benedict remembered looking up through the smoke during the Battle of Gettysburg at his commanding general Winfield Scott Hancock the vision clearly left an impression on the Vermont officer as he recalled the vivid scene I thought him the most striking man on horseback and magnificent in the flesh and excitement of battle when all of a sudden he uttered an exclamation and I saw that he was reeling in his saddle don't let me bleed to death get something around it quick shouted Major General Hancock as he lay wounded at Gettysburg on Cemetery Ridge during the height of Pickett's Charge on July 3rd 1863 General Hancock had seen many men bleed to death from wounds and knew that he must have immediate attention or his life would be in grave danger a longtime resident of Norristown Pennsylvania and an 18:44 graduate of West Point Hancock had been struck while commanding the federal Army's 2nd Corps as it was desperately trying to repulse Pickett's assault on the Union Center before he fell the general made a conspicuous target moving on horseback among his men it was said that officers nearby had advised hancock to dismount and remove himself from the danger but the corps commander refused preferring instead to remain visible to his men general Hancock's conduct at gettysburg was typical of the man who ranked among the finest generals in the Union Army on battlefields ranging from Williamsburg to Antietam and chancellors bill Hancock had earned the confidence of his superiors and the respect of the men he led into action wounded at the climax of the war's greatest battle Hancock's inspiring leadership contributed much to the Union victory at Gettysburg springing towards the falling hancock lieutenant George Benedict and another officer caught the general as he literally toppled from his horse into their arms major general Hancock was wounded somewhere in this field the exact spot is unknown Hancock bleeding profusely from the wound in the upper part of his right thigh was gently laid on the ground General George stanner commanding a nearby Brigade rode up and offered his handkerchief in an attempt to stop the bleeding twisting the handkerchief with the barrel of a pistol Hancock's helpers were fortunately able to stop the flow of blood general Hancock's medical director major Alexander Daugherty was sent for and when he arrived he found the general lying on the hill slope and facing the enemy he also found the wound a deep wide gash in Hancock's lake near the groin probing the hole with his finger Dougherty removed several splinters of wood in a severely bent Tenpenny nail holding it for the general to see he told Hancock this is what hit you general almost immediately a question arose as to where the strange debris splinters and a nail had come from it seems that a ball had struck the pommel of Hancock's army saddle sending the fragments into his leg but one question still remained did the bullet that crashed into his saddle also hit him Hancock was lifted from the battlefield and sent by army ambulance to Westminster and then to Philadelphia for treatment by then it was clear that there was in fact a bullet remaining in Hancock's groin an army surgeon Lewis Reed was brought into the case and performed the surgery that eventually removed the bullet Hancock's wife Elmira reported that the generals wound was probed thoroughly for six weeks before the ball was extracted by a painful operation battered and miss shaped the lead bullet removed by dr. Reid was saved for posterity and today resides in the collection of the Montgomery County Historical Society in Norristown Pennsylvania even though the wound refused to heal for many months Hancock insisted on returning to duty he continued to command his old second Corps through much of grants 1864 campaign often traveling by ambulance incapacitated by the pain and infection created by the injury by fall of 1864 Hancock's health was so bad that he could no longer function as a field commander assigned to lighter duty the end of the war found general Hancock in command of the middle military division headquartered in Winchester Virginia when Lee's army surrendered on April 9th 1865 a few days later on April 14th the elation of victory in the north turned to horror when President Abraham Lincoln fell victim to an assassin's bullet shot in the head by an actor John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford's Theater Lincoln died the following day in response to Lincoln's assassination Hancock was ordered to transfer his headquarters to Washington and take charge of the military's role in the crisis while booth died in a shootout with federal troopers on April 26th for others who had conspired with him were tried by a military commission found guilty and were sentenced to death by hanging as commander of the middle military division general Hancock once again found himself at the center of a pivotal event when on July 7th the four condemned conspirators Mary Surratt Lewis Paine David Herold and George Atzerodt mounted the gallows at Washington's old penitence general Hancock presided over the execution and upon his direction with two claps of the hands the trapdoors beneath before were sprung and they fell to their deaths following the war general Hancock the consummate soldier remained in the Army and was one of its senior generals for nearly 21 years in the election of 1880 Winfield Scott Hancock was nominated and ran for president on the Democratic ticket a close election the campaign ended in Hancock's lost to James Garfield also a Civil War veteran by a few thousand popular and 59 electoral votes Hancock never fully regained his health as a result of complications from the wound he received at Gettysburg 21 years after the end of hostilities the 61 year old Hancock died at his quarters on Governors Island New York on February 9th 1886 news of his death spread quickly words of condolence poured into his widow Elmira President Grover Cleveland spoke for the nation telling mrs. Hancock that the heroism and worth of your late husband have gathered to your side in this hour of your affliction a nation of mourners General William T Sherman spoke eloquently of the general saying he regarded Hancock as one of the greatest soldiers in history even former enemies remembered him with reverence former Confederate General Fitz Hugh Lee stated he was a noble gallant fellow Virginian and the south will deeply regret the death of a generous soldier a courteous gentleman and a strong firm and constant friend after lying in state at his residence on Governors Island Hancock's body was transported by steamer to Manhattan on February 13th a horse-drawn hearse with full military escort more the coffin of the general of Broadway to Trinity Church where the funeral service was held after the services a train carried Hancock's coffin to Norristown Pennsylvania the generals hometown arriving in Norristown the funeral procession made its way to Montgomery cemetery where general Hancock was laid to rest in a private mausoleum which had been erected in 1883 for he and his family flying at rest in the Hancock mausoleum our general Hancock himself and the remains of ADA Elizabeth Hancock the generals daughter who died in 1875 the body of Almira his devoted wife who lived until 1893 does not rest with the general but is buried in st. Louis Missouri her place of birth the life of Hancock the super had been interwoven into some of the most developmental and critical moments of American history from West Point to Gettysburg to the presidential campaign trail Winfield Scott Hancock was a model soldier as well as a highly regarded national hero [Music] [Music] in contrast to modern warfare civil war generals directed their forces from the head of their battalions exposed to the same deadly fires their men the tactics of the era dictated this and their men expected it not only where the general is able to direct the battalion on the field but also they were an inspiration to the men who followed them at the Battle of Gettysburg eleven high-ranking commanders were killed or mortally wounded leading their troops on the field of battle perhaps the most memorable death at Gettysburg was that of Confederate General Luis Armstead at the height of the Confederate assault on July 3rd 1863 the assault ordered by General Lee began on seminary Ridge and consisted of 12,000 Confederate troops the spearhead of the attack was General George Pickett Virginia division composed of three brigades one of them commanded by Brigadier General Lewis farmstead the attacks objective the federal line lay across nearly one mile of open ground on Cemetery Ridge when Lee's long battle line began the assault at approximately 2:00 p.m. a spectacle of thousands of gray clad troops marching toward them left the waiting Federals in awe advancing under long-range artillery fire Pickett's Virginians held their formation together quite well until reaching the post and rail fence lining both sides of the Emmitsburg Road several hundred yards from the federal line it was there that the attackers came into musketry in canister range and began to suffer horribly many climbed or broke through the fence and surged toward the Union line but the intervening ground was a killing field and many fell dead and wounded literally in heaps general Armstead and a small number of his Virginians were among the few Confederates who reached the Union position and gallantly penetrated the portion of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge held by the 71st Pennsylvania with his hat stuck on the tip of his sword the general shouted as he ran come on boys we must give them cold steel who will follow me a hundred or so men responded to Armstead spleep and with the general surged over a low stone wall into the midst of lieutenant Alonzo Cushing's Union battery just as the Virginians came over the low stone wall at the angle the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry stepped into the breach and unloaded a crippling volley at point-blank range into armed Stead's men to balls from this volley struck general Armstead as he reached out to claim the muzzle of one of Lieutenant Cushing's abandoned guns as he fell to the ground in great pain from wounds in the arm and lake he yelled my mother is a widow a coded phrase recognized by brother members of mu Masonic Order has a distress signal fortunately the secret signal was understood and the painfully wounded Armstead soon drew help from several federal soldiers a federal officer and brother Mason Captain Henry Bingham rode up and took control of the situation the wounded arms that handed Bingham his pocket watch and asked him to relay a message to general Hancock an old army friend commanded the second core units defending Cemetery Ridge Armstead did not know but his friend Hancock was close by also severely wounded unable to walk lewis Armstead was moved from the field to the farm of George Spangler where a field hospital was in operation examining the wounded general the surgeons thought his wounds to be non mortal and were shocked when The Virginian died on the morning of July 5th one surgeon who treated Armstead remembered the general telling him he was worn out from over exertion and mental anxiety and concluded that the 46 year old Virginian died from secondary fever and prostration like many others general Armistead was initially buried at Gettysburg his remains later moved to Baltimore for final burial in December of 1887 this monument was erected by veterans of Alexander Webb's Union Brigade and Cushing's battery the very men who he faced 24 years earlier in battle those who erected the monument believed that it marked the exact place where general Armistead received his mortal wounds in fact they were in error for the general was felled 10 feet or so inside the Stonewall at the angle even though this small granite monument is incorrectly set it does commemorate an incredible moment during the battle and one of the bravest of the brave who fell at Gettysburg [Music] on July 1st 1863 the brigade of Brigadier General Lysander Cutler was the first Union infantry unit to go into action at the Battle of Gettysburg in a desperate struggle against three Confederate regiments the 140 7th New York infantry under Cutler fought hard that morning until it received orders to quit the field their gallant fight took place on McPherson's Ridge just west of Gettysburg and cost the regiment dearly [Music] by the time the New Yorkers were driven back from the field 211 men were down including 76 killed outright or mortally wounded private Henry Mayo a 30 year old native of Oswego County New York was among the dead as a soldier due to a combination of age and talent Mayo whose nickname was will and listed in the regiment as a drummer typically non-combatants drummers in time of battle were assigned to help the wounded of their own regiment back to field hospitals and once there the musicians assisted the surgeons in whatever way was needed the metamorphosis from musician to stretcher-bearer happened quickly when the noise of battle overpowered any beat a drum could sound action and an urgent need to remove the wounded meant that drums were often abandoned on the battlefield in favor of stretchers no friend or officer who witnessed will males death recorded how or where in the fight he lost his drum and his life this is where the 147th New York will males regiment was deployed Mayo died somewhere in these fields that day his family like so many others whose loved ones perished during the war grieved three years after the war ended males family was given a priceless tie to the last day of wills life when the drum was returned somehow after the battle wills drum with his name and hometown written in pencil on the head made its way south more than likely a Confederate soldier removed the instrument from the field for recycled use in the southern cause sometime during the battle the drum was hit with a heavy splash of blood the blood can be easily seen lying on top of Mayo signature written in pencil on the snare head of the drum it reads will Mayo Palermo Oswego County New York the front of the drum is decorated with a standard federal eagle and dark blue infantry background the eagle holds a ribbon in his beak with the words regiment New York infantry the hoop on the batter or top head of the drum shows just how much of a veteran this drum was drummers not only played a beat on the head but also counted time on the wooden hoop resulting in the scalloped effect on the wood seen here the iron hook on the end of the sling is where the drum was connected to the drummer to this day the drum remains an undying reminder of wills life [Music] you [Music] at sunset on July 13th 1863 Isaac Fisher sat down to write a painful letter home to his wife in Delaware eleven days before their son William had been reported killed in battle at Gettysburg Pennsylvania fearing the worst Isaac traveled as soon as possible to the wrecked battlefield in an effort to confirm the fate of their son and the letter Isaac wrote that evening he told his wife that their worst fears were realized and that our William is no more lieutenant william fisher was just one of thousands killed at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2nd 1863 the 19 year old officer in the 10th United States Infantry was slain fighting in farmer John Rosa's woodlot this was the position taken by the tenth and it was here that lieutenant Fisher was mortally wounded after recovering his sons body from the Gettysburg battlefield and returning at home for burial in Delaware Isaac Fisher gathered information about Williams death from his comrades in the 10th Infantry several of his fellow soldiers responded to the grieving father's request his friend lieutenant George Hamilton wrote that he was within two feet of lieutenant Fisher and was able to catch him as he fell [Music] [Applause] Hamilton also noted that Fisher did not speak one word from the time he was struck until his death just as lieutenant Fisher was shot the 10th infantry received orders to fall back Confederate troops were dangerously close to surrounding the small battalion unable to carry Fisher by himself lieutenant Hamilton called for help to remove the dying officer from the field several rushed to his side including lieutenant Robert Wells who had also witnessed Fisher's wounding Fisher was carried some distance where Wells and the others laid him down for a moment soon another man a sergeant from Lieutenant Fisher's company came along and joined Wells and Hamilton and raising the bleeding lieutenant from the ground they had barely gotten underway when the sergeant was hit taking charge Wells then raised Fisher in his own arms and carried him down the hill the dying Fisher was carried across this field to plum run just in front of Little Round Top at some point during their flight to the rear Fisher died Welles noted that he felt the young man straighten and grow rigid as if he was going to sleep as lieutenant wells followed closely by lieutenant Hamilton reached the stream plum run he too was hit by a bullet and disabled Fisher was laid down here with both the sergeant and lieutenant wells wounded and the enemy flushed with victory closing in lieutenant Hamilton now by himself reluctantly gave up Fisher's body and made good his own escape shortly after lieutenant Fisher was carried back and at last left by lieutenant Hamilton more Union troops arrived on the field stopping the Confederate thrust and ending the fighting on that portion of the field by sunset the following morning William Fisher's body was recovered from where it had been left and was buried by private john buchan of the 10th infantry like others private Buchan also took time to write an emotional letter to the elder Fisher Buchan surmised that poor William had been shot just below the heart on the left side and had expired quickly you can went on to explain that after digging her grave the body was wrapped in a clean blanket and carefully lowered into the ground private Buchan who admired the youthful lieutenant was moved to say that he thought as much of the departed as if William had been his own brother to mark the spot of lieutenant Fisher's burial private Buchan found a piece of a wooden cigar box on which he cut the lieutenant's name with a pocket knife filling in the carving with a lead pencil to make it readable this made it possible for Isaac Fisher to find his son's grave located on the farm of Jacob Weichert along a cropped fence when mr. Fisher shipped his son's remains home a carved wooden tag reading WJ Fisher late 1st lieutenant 10th US Infantry went with it both of lieutenant Fisher's shoulder strap insignia were saved as a memorial cut from the coat he was wearing at Gettysburg the careful labeling and removal of William Fisher's body enabled the former lieutenant to go home to rest most of gettysburg's dead were not as fortunate [Music] the first day of battle at Gettysburg July 1st 1863 was particularly devastating for the men of the one hundred and forty ninth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry the Union regiment four hundred and fifty men strong part of Colonel Roy stones bucktail Brigade came under intense Confederates shell fighter as it deployed along McPherson's Ridge remembering the deadly barrage years later Captain John Basler of the 149th recalled the havoc created by a shell exploding as it struck along the men of Company B and how one wounded man came hopping down along the line on hands and feet crying out I am killed I am killed the regiment posted in a shallow ditch along the south side of the Chambersburg pike faced north in an effort to escape the Confederate artillery fire coming from Oak Hill Confederate batteries posted along her Ridge to the west observed the 149th changed position and opened fire raking the regiments left flank the bucktails change of position had brought them under an intense and deadly crossfire captain john Basler likened it to jumping out of the frying pan into the fire the Confederate batteries continued to rain shells into the ranks of Colonel stones brigade for the bucktails who lay hugging the ground there was no place to escape the barrage shells exploded in and around them one shell exploded directly under the captain of Company B Alfred so Field Vasiliy witnessed the horrific explosion commenting later that so field was literally cut into his heels in contact with his head the battle continued to be hard on the Pennsylvanians they made a valiant stand along the Chambersburg Road and later near Macpherson's barn but were forced to retreat as the federal line was overwhelmed and began to disintegrate by the end of the day the regiment had lost nearly 75 percent of its number 336 men of the original 450 captain so field lies buried in Gettysburg National Cemetery along with many other bucktails who died bravely defending the Union line at Gettysburg these are captain alfred so field effects retrieved from his body among them are his shoulder straps which were cut from his uniform after his demise showing his rank captain of infantry [Music] his wallet with bellowed compartments was suitable for carrying papers letters or money also taken from his body as so fields embroidered infantry insignia with his regimental number 149 so field would have been wearing this regulation insignia on the front of his hat when he was killed the rare bucktail hat insignia is stained by the sweat of captain Sol field from many hard days of campaigning before his death at Gettysburg on June 19th 1863 David Meyers a private in the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry returned to his hometown of Gettysburg Pennsylvania just four days earlier in Winchester Virginia David's regiment had been bloodied and driven from the battlefield by General Richard Ewell's Corps of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia Winchester a strategic town in the Shenandoah Valley was occupied at the time by Union forces under General Robert Milroy who just happened to be in front of Lee's army as that moved north toward Pennsylvania in June 1863 On June 14th and 15th the greatly outnumbered Federals were attacked by Ewell's Corps and after a sharp engagement were put to rout fleeing from the battlefield during the battle private meyers was wounded by a musket ball in the right shoulder but managed to evade capture with his hometown of Gettysburg Pennsylvania only a short 80 miles away David Meyers was granted permission to go there to recover the wounded David Meyers arrived home to Gettysburg wearing his bloodied and torn uniform which is preserved in the collections of the Gettysburg National Military Park the rent or bullet hole shows the entry point of the bullet into Meyers right shoulder causing the wound that sent him home after the Battle of Winchester the army fatigue blouse was also known as the for button and was a loose-fitting cheaply made everyday uniform jacket for the Union soldier the unadorned collar was loose and could be rolled down these general service Eagle buttons adorned all army made fatigued blouses the sleeves were loose-fitting and permitted an easy range of motion for work or combat details the light blue thread seen in the coat is part of the restoration process which preserves Meyers jacket for history dress coats were tight fitting at the cuff in contrast the four button was open and comfortable to the soldiers the loose-fitting garment resembled a flower sack and was given the nickname sack coat it was so comfortable and inexpensive to produce that it became the preferred fighting uniform of the Union Army what was once cheap and plentiful is now one of the rarest Union civil war uniforms months later David Meyers recovered from his Winchester wound and wearing a new uniform jacket returned to his regiment and it's campaigns however on May 6th 1864 during fighting in the wilderness Meyers was captured and sent to Andersonville Prison in Georgia on September 27th 1864 he died in captivity and today lies buried in Andersonville National Cemetery although he was destined never to return home again to Gettysburg David Meyers bullet torn sac coat remains a fascinating relic of the Civil War [Music] these fields west of Gettysburg were the scene of the opening of the great battle by evening on July 1st the ground and the day belonged to the invading Confederate Army among the thousands of wounded lay a 69 year old colorful local resident John L burns earlier that day Burns shouldered his outdated flintlock musket and Powderhorn then made his way to the battlefield to fall in with the Federal Army apparently he was not willing to wait out the fight like the majority of the citizens in town the old man was a well-known character in Gettysburg before he won the title Patriot during the battle he was a veteran of the war of 1812 a longtime city constable and the target of pranks by local boys in town he tried to enlist twice the first time with a company being recruited in the Gettysburg area and the second time in Maryland but was refused both times due to his age it was his willingness to join the fight on July 1st 1863 that propelled him into the national spotlight walking from his home on Chambersburg Street Byrnes headed directly to the sound of the guns nearly half a mile west of town through these field on approximately this spot he approached a federal officer and asked permission to fall in and fight dressed in what was certainly an odd costume for the day a black top-hat Swallowtail coat flintlock complete with powder horn and a pocket full of bullets the rumpled elderly man approached several federal officers the first Colonel Langhorne Wooster of the one hundred and fiftieth Pennsylvania question the prickly burns about his intentions and ability to fight satisfied with a sauce the old man's patriotic commitment but uncomfortable with risking the life of a civilian Wooster directed burns to take up a position in the cover of the woods close by disappointed but not done trying to join the fight in open ranks burns made his way to the woods and found the commander of the 7th Wisconsin near this spot and pleaded with him to join the fight after listening he gave Burns permission to fall in with the Wisconsin boys and fight in these woods although Burns's wish to fall in was granted he grew impatient with waiting for the enemy to advance and left the ranks of the seventh to go forward and join the skirmishers it was there that a Wisconsin soldier observed burns take aim and drop a mounted Confederate officer Burns was never out of danger during the fight he was hit by at least three bullets one in the arm one grazed and paralyzed his leg and another glanced off his belt knocking him speechless for a brief time Bern shrugged off the arm wound saying he felt a stinging sensation in his arm and noticed the blood on his hand but supposing at a flesh wound kept on fighting the wound to the leg though ended his spirited fight and he was left on the field unable to move later the crippled burned was rescued and taken to his home where he began the road to recovery in the search for immediate heroes after the battle the press was naturally drawn to the story of the Asian wounded veteran Matthew Brady as well as other photographers visited and photographed the hero at home while he recovered from his leg wound old burns enjoyed the attention that a once lonely man craved John Burns had many visitors in the months after the battle but none more recognizable than President Abraham Lincoln who had come in November to deliver his dedication speech at the new National Cemetery after touring the battlefield Lincoln sought out the unlikely celebrity and the two walked arms linked around the town square and up Baltimore Street to attend a service in the Presbyterian Church for the nine remaining years of his life Burns remained a local celebrity and often was asked to guide tours of the battlefield on one visit Burns claimed he saw the ghost of a man he had seen during the fight on that very spot the apparition beckoned to Burns but he chose not to answer it he left the field never to return stating he could face live men but was not ready for warfare when the dead came back after his death from pneumonia in February 1872 at the age of 78 Burns was buried in gettysburg's Evergreen Cemetery the present stone marking his grave was erected in 1904 the word Patriot prominently carved on its face the contribution made by the wiry old man was immortalized 40 years after the battle with this bronze statue [Music] the fighting that raged over the wooded and rocky Pennsylvania slopes of Henry Culp's farm was some of the bloodiest and most sustained combat that occurred during the conflict at Gettysburg for two days July 2nd and 3rd control of Culp's Hill located on the right of the Union line seesaw back and forth between the two contesting armies the Army of the Potomac was the first to occupy the strategic position on the evening of July 1st but by the following evening July 2nd the fortunes had shifted as the federal troops defending Culp's Hill were overrun by a daring and decisive attack by Confederate forces of General Richard Ewell's Corps in an attempt to reoccupy their lost position Union generals on the field developed a plan to counter-attack and retake Culp's Hill the attack opened is planned on the morning of July 3rd Union forces colliding with a furious simultaneous Confederate attack for the next 7 hours fighting raged back and forth over Culp's Hill by noon on July 3rd the action had come to an end as Union troops were once again in possession of most of the ground that they had lost the previous evening today some 140 years later the landscape of Culp's Hill is serene and austere with its combination of woods rock outcroppings and open meadow granite and bronze monuments connect the dots between where Union and Confederate regiments surged and crashed into each other on those bloody July days in 1863 dozens of monuments along the winding defensive lines of Culp's Hill were erected to honor the regiments who fought here including three southern markers that stand majestically the first commemorates the service of the 2nd Maryland infantry and was dedicated by veterans of the battle in 1886 the 2nd Confederate monument is to the 43rd North Carolina and was placed on Culp's Hill by the state of North Carolina in 1988 125 years after the battle a third more unusual Confederate marker can be found just off the beaten path among the boulders near Spangler's meadow at the foot of Culp's Hill during the 50th reunion of the battle Augusta Scoble of the 1st North Carolina infantry took his granddaughter here to show her the site where he had fought so many years before to preserve the experience for her he carved his name and regiment into the very boulder where he spent two days fighting on the hill it reads al : 1st North Carolina regiment nearby on the southern slope in an open field known today as Spangler's meadow a gallant and desperate charge was made on July 3rd by a Union regiment the 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry against General William Smith's Virginia Brigade which held a position in the woods just beyond the meadow a simple monument currently marks the disastrous end of forward progress made in the charge by the brave Hoosier soldiers at the cost of 110 casualties all sacrificed in a matter of minutes the now peaceful hill and meadow was anything but serene after the fighting ended on July 3rd 1863 wrecked landscape and human carnage littered the ground the dead and wounded of both armies lay everywhere more damaged the Confederate Army retreated across Rock Creek leaving all of their dead and most of their wounded behind the immense task of removing the wounded and burying the dead was left to the Union Army in the case of the dead enemy soldiers were collected and buried unrecorded in mass graves near where they fell because no attempt was made to identify the bodies of the Confederate dead their identities were lost for all time those mass graves are gone now the human remains removed from the battlefield in the 1870s and reinterred with honors in southern cemeteries a hollow depression the shadow of one of the mass graves can still be seen today on Culp's Hill in the woods behind the monument to the 2nd Maryland CSA infantry the men fighting and dying on Culp's Hill were not the only casualties of the tremendous struggle all around them as the fighting raged the trees and rocks were being struck by small arms and cannon fire Union General John Geary who commanded the second division of the Union 12th Corps one of the unit's defending Culp's Hill reported that his men fired two hundred and seventy-seven thousand rounds of ammunition on July 3rd alone a sure indication of the intensity of the raging battle photographers who visited Gettysburg days after the battle and in the years to follow were fascinated by the destruction evident on the wooded eminence and took many images documenting the shattered nature of the forest today most of the timber that stood on Culp's Hill during the great battle is gone replaced by a century-old growth of large trees as a result the forest that stands on the hill today is denser and much more expansive than it was in 1863 when battle enveloped its slopes war knows no boundary its appetite often consuming far more than the battlefield and those on it frequently the advancing war machine damages the stability of the local population as well as causing devastating collateral property damage on July 1st 1863 the well kept farms of Gettysburg Pennsylvania lay directly in the path of approaching armies bent on destroying each other one Gettysburg farm a hundred and fifty acres owned by John Forney was located on the south side of the mumma's burg Road near Oak Hill just north of Gettysburg it was in the center of Hell on the afternoon of July 1st that day General Alfred Iverson's North Carolina Brigade deployed in line of battle swept through Forney's fields intent on striking the Union 1st Corps a crippling blow little did the Confederates realize what was waiting for them just out of sight behind a stone wall a line of Yankee regiments waited for the right moment to deliver a deadly volley Iverson's men came from the right the Union soldiers General Henry Baxter's Brigade waited until Iverson's lion approached to within 100 yards of their position and with a crash let loose a deadly volley shocked by the surprised enemy fire a North Carolina officer on the unfortunate receiving end douve to the ground and recounted later that every man who stood up was either killed or wounded another member of Iverson's Brigade recalled his regiment lying down on a hollow for protection but as such they were unable to advance and unwilling to retreat trapped by crippling fire the battalion fought the best it could hundreds of Iverson's men were shot down within minutes victory at hand Union General Henry Baxter ordered his boys to rise and shouted give them steel the motivated Federals jumped over the wall rushed forward and began to take many of the pin down Confederates prisoner Iverson's once fine Brigade had been destroyed the general himself remarking that his men were lying dead in a line as straight as a dress parade while the fight raged in Forney's field his home and barn were being peppered by small arms and artillery fire when the fight was over Forney who fled his property before the battle erupted returned to find his home barn and field showing the scars that only battle can deliver in addition to the outright damage many fallen Confederate soldiers were buried where they fell in his field in this area more than 150 of Iverson's men were buried in a mass grave the area later became known as Iverson's pits for many years after the battle the pits were avoided by superstitious local farmers who considered the fields haunted by the dead five years after the battle in 1868 John Forney like 800 other Gettysburg residents filed a damage claim with the state government to reclaim some of the loss of property as a result of the battle his claim lists three thousand eight hundred and ninety-one fence rails burned shell and bullet damage to the house and barn window curtains lost much household property carried away or destroyed 30 acres of grass and ten acres of oats used and 22 acres of wheat destroyed Forney's loss both in personal property and real estate came to one thousand one hundred and sixty two dollars or roughly fifteen thousand dollars today it is almost certain that little if any money was ever paid him by the government the Forney house and barn no longer stand on the battlefield raised in 1937 after it was determined that they were dilapidated and beyond the resources of the Park Service to save pieces of its structures however were salvaged and are part of the collection of the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum a shell hole is visible near the knee brace in this section of timber preserved from the Forney barn as seen here the house took a direct hit from a three inch shell that plowed through the structure just between the first and second floors the trajectory of the shell can be traced through eight of the wood boards near the end of its path had lost a lead sabot which remains in the preserved framework today a sabot is a lead sleeve attached to the iron shell which expands and the rifle grooves in the cannon when the shell is fired giving it spin where the shell landed is unclear but its path of destruction is evident this pitcher and basin set is from the Forney house they too were damaged during the battle amazingly the basin was not shattered but has a clean hole through it and the handle of the pitcher has been blown away this quaint English pastoral scene on the basin is quite a contrast to the violent battle that raged over the Forney farm on July 1st 1863 [Music] the Battle of Antietam in September 1862 provided civilian photographers the first chance ever to record the images of human carnage on a battlefield until then the public north and south had only been exposed to woodcut images of dead soldiers in illustrated newspapers but these artists created prints were by their very nature sanitized lacking the devastating impact only a real photograph could deliver when Alexander Gardner an accomplished camera operator and photographer working for the famed artist Matthew Brady traveled to Antietam immediately after the battle he captured on glass plates a series of stunning portraits of the Dead littering the field that when published changed forever the public perception of the war large quantities of those battlefield photographs were circulated in the north the Antietam series became a commercial success for the Brady gallery as curious people purchased them intrigued by the dark subject matter from that time on post battlefield scenery became a commodity to enterprising primarily northern photographers nearly as soon as the fighting ended photographic wagons were seen on the field searching for interesting subject matter by the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 fertile ground was available to the growing trade the enterprising Alexander Gardner now the owner of his own photographic gallery was the first photographer to capture the horrible aftermath of the great battlefield in Pennsylvania arriving at Gettysburg from Washington DC on July 5th Gardner and his crew of two photographers found many unburied dead both north and south still lying on the ground the morning of July 6th found Gardner busy at work recording images many bodies mostly Confederate remained unburied with a sizeable number in the vicinity of the Rose woods there Gardner captured several now famous graphic images finished with the woods he ventured into an area of the battlefield now known as Devil's Den the scene of heavy fighting on July 2nd were more unburied dead lay there Gardner found a number of severely bloated Confederate bodies among the jumbled rocks at the den and captured many intriguing and historically important photographs one gardner image in the series particularly caught the public's eye as it became perhaps the most famous after battle photograph ever recorded extensively published over the past 100 years the photo shows a young Confederate soldier lying dead on the ground behind a stone breastwork erected between two large boulders his personal belongings scattered about and a musket leaning nearby another of gardeners Devil's Den photographs reveals a youthful almost tranquil Confederate lying on his back his uniform coat unbuttoned muskan and cap lying close by when both photographs are compared side-by-side it becomes clear that the deceased individual in each view is the same man how is it possible that one dead soldier is present in two locations the answer may never be truly known but some historians theorized that Alexander Gardner's crew moved the body from one position to another to capitalize on the unusually well-preserved corpse and photograph it as many times as possible what is unclear is where did Gardner first encounter and photograph that dead Confederate and in what direction was the body moved in order to obtain the second image a Union artillery officer captain Augustus P Martin in action near Devil's Den wrote an account of visiting the jumbled mass of boulders after the fighting on July 4th Martin's account written 36 years after the battle in 1899 describes finding a dead Confederate soldier lying on his back behind the wall the captain noted that the Confederate didn't have a mark on his body leading Martin to think he was probably killed by the concussion from an exploding shell nearby if this report is correct then it firmly establishes the dead soldier as originally being killed near the Stonewall unless a new period account surfaces historians will likely never know which photograph was taken first [Music] how is it going here shouted Army of the Potomac commander General George Meade to a staff officer after Pickett's Charge on July 3rd 1863 the officer responded I believe general the enemy's attack is repulsed Meade retorted thank God as he halted momentarily to survey the battlefield spread out before him what the Union commander saw in the open field between cemetery and seminary ridges was the wreckage of three heroic Confederate divisions intermingled with thousands of dead men and blue slaughtered horses and debris the Army of the Potomac had just turned back one of the largest infantry assaults of the war Pickett's charge in doing so the Federals suffered the tremendous loss of 1,500 men dead and wounded scattered about the still smoking battlefield Confederate casualties were far worse the Fallen Confederates were men of spirited divisions of General George Pickett James Pettigrew and Isaac Trimble the veteran butternut soldiers had charged confidently from seminary Ridge with 12,000 men in a battle line that covered nearly a mile in front but now the Confederate divisions were a shadow of what they had been 5,000 men falling to devastating close range Yankee musketry and cannon fire and more than 1,500 additionally escorted to the rear as prisoners of war as the survivors of the gallant Confederate charge fell back across the fields to seminary Ridge their beloved commander General Robert Ely was there to meet them in a concerted effort to rally his battered battalion among the retreating men wrote General George Pickett dejected and stunned by the repulse of his Virginia division seeing Pickett General Lee wrote up and ordered him to ready his division to repel any Union counter-attack that might be forthcoming overcome with emotion Pickett replied General Lee I have no division now Armstead is down garnet is down and Kemper is mortally wounded lead the consonant commander responded to Pickett's emotional Proclamation come general Pickett this has been my fight and upon my shoulders rests the blame although the attack was clearly over some Confederate soldiers were still full of fight crying out to their officers to allow them another go at it but Lee's reasoned triumphed over bravado there would not be another attack that day Union General Meade inspected his line concluding that his forces could not mount an immediate counter-attack against Lee's position on seminary Ridge an ill-conceived attempt on Meade's part could result in disaster and he was not about to turn an apparent victory into a defeat the federal army remained poised on Cemetery Ridge tending to the wounded and dying of both sides the fighting at Gettysburg was over casualties had been massive in both armies 51,000 in three days of fighting numbers unequal in the annals of American military history on the 4th of July general robert e lee withdrew his wounded army from the field and headed back to virginia to fight another day perhaps Abraham Lincoln best understood the significance of the events and sacrifice that transpired there his eloquently short speech delivered on November 19th 1863 says everything four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal now we are engaged in a great Civil War testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure we are met on a great battlefield of that war we have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this but in a larger sense we cannot dedicate we cannot consecrate we cannot hallow this ground the brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract the world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget what they did here it is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] you

Channel: Janson Media

Views: 812,851

Rating: 4.7579274 out of 5

Keywords: General Winfield, General Lewis Armistead, Gettysburg, Stories of Valor, Battle Of Gettysburg (Military Conflict), gettysburg, gettysburg documentary, civil war stories, gettysburg stories of valor, gettysburg and stories of valor, battle of gettysburg documentary, civil war hero stories, gettysburg carradine, battle of gettysburg (full documentary), gettysburg dead soldiers, battle of gettysburg, gettysburg movie, american civil war, Keith Carradine, keith carradine movies

Id: _jWlxQdp1Rc

Length: 83min 38sec (5018 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 01 2013