May 5th,1863. The Army of the Potomac has
just suffered their most humiliating defeat of the war. The Confederates under the near
deity, Robert E. Lee had been outnumbered nearly three to one and have emerged with
their most impressive victory of the Civil War. Even today, Chancellorsville is considered
by most historians to be Lee's greatest military triumph. Overconfidence, passivity and mismanagement
had doomed Union forces under New England born Major General Joseph P. Hooker. And as his men retreat towards United States
forward in the driving rain, they wonder when, if ever, victory will come
against the formidable Army of Northern Virginia. As word filters back to Washington,
Commander-in-Chief, President Abraham Lincoln, who had followed events of the battle closely at the
telegraph office, expresses shock and dismay. "What will the country say?"
he wonders aloud. Lincoln, despite the defeat, plans to stay with Hooker,
to whom he is partial. But by mid-May 1863, Hooker's own subordinate
Commanders, Darius Couch and John Reynolds, express a severe
lack of confidence in him. Lincoln, frustrated by this, as well as Reynolds and
Couch's refusal to take command of the Army of the Potomac, stubbornly sticks
with Hooker, saying, he "is not disposed to throw away a gun
if it misfires once, he would pick the lock and try again." But it is not clear whether Hooker has
any bullets left in the gun. He has morphed into the man whom
Lincoln despises the most - George McClellan. Hooker's endless calls for reinforcements after
Chancellorsville are repeatedly denied, until finally, on June 27, Hooker
submits his resignation. And, probably to his great surprise,
Lincoln accepts it. Lincoln, addressing his cabinet the next day, makes it
clear that "he observes the same failings in Hooker, that were observed in McClellan after Antietam
- a want of alacrity to obey and a greedy call for more troops which can not be
taken from other points." George Meade was almost everybody's last choice
for Commander of the Army of the Potomac. Abraham Lincoln does not offer command
of the army of the Potomac to Meade - He orders him to take command of it. It wasn't a request like the others. It was, "I've run out of generals,
you're the only one left." Congratulations, you're now in command of
the Army of the Patomac. The disarray in the army of the Potomac
contrasts sharply with the confidence with which Lee and his 7,000 men enter Pennsylvania. Lee had put so much of his emphasis on being allowed to take the army of
Northern Virginia into an invasion of the North. His argument had been that the way to win the war,
the way to take pressure off the Union seizure of the Mississippi Valley, the way to
spare Vixpert, was to invade the North. Fight a battle on the Susquehanna,
fight a battle on Northern soil That's going to turn the Northern opinion
so much in the direction of peace, that Northerners will demand that
the Lincoln government negotiate. On the same day Lincoln addresses his cabinet
regarding Hooker, Lee at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, learns from a spy that the Federals are concentrated
just to the south at Frederick, Maryland. And more intriguing to Lee, Union troops
are fighting under a new commander. When Lee finally learns that Meade has replaced
Hooker as Commander of the army of the Potomac, His first comment is to say: General Meade will
make no mistake in my front and if I make a mistake, he'll be quick
to take advantage of it. Understand that up until this point, the army of the
Potomac had been a collection of losers! They had lost battle after battle after battle! Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, even the one quasi-victory they had won at Antehiem in the fall of 1862, was still only a quasi-victory
and everybody knew it. It did not end in the destruction of Lee's army. The presence of the Federals at Frederick
and on the move Northward causes Robert E. Lee to concentrate his army East
of the mountains. He sends riders to General Ewell at Carlyle
with orders to return his corps at once. The stage is now set,
and within days, 170,000 men will slam headlong into one another,
in the greatest confrontation of the American Civil War. The outcome will reverse the fortunes of one army,
and begin the decline of another. And an address which still resonates in the American
psyche will be delivered on hallowed ground to a war-weary nation, reminding all that those
who gave the final measure of devotion did so, so that a nation might live. Gettysburg has become the mecca for all
Civil War buffs, it just seems to symbolize what that war was about, at least
in military terms. You have this aggressive, proud, seemingly
invincible army, going up against these stalled
Union troops, who finally hold their ground and stop
the enemy cold. Veterans of the army of the Potomac would return
to Gettysburg for years after the battle partially because they were enormously proud
of what had happened there. They felt they had done their best
fighting of the war there. The Army of the Potomac was determined
to make Gettysburg its monument. And that's one reason why all those pieces of stone and
bronze litter that battlefield. That's where they chose to have
their war remembered. The thing which puts the Halo around Gettysburg is
Lincoln. Lincoln and the Gettysburg address. Because by coming to Gettysburg for
what would otherwise have simply been the dedication of a cemetery
at Gettysburg, through those brief comments that he makes,
he creates an entire universe of meaning for the Battle of Gettysburg. And that universe of
meaning has been with us for 150 years. and probably will be for a good
long time after that as well. And that address - which he never actually calls the Gettysburg address - but those words, I think give to Gettysburg the kind of 'sacred glow," that means that Gettysburg is always one of those
places in American history which remains instantly identifiable. As much as Americans may forget,
as much as our history teaching may fall very short of giving to people, and to the American people
as a whole, a sense of their past, nevertheless one of the things that certainly
every American recognizes, maybe not in all the details they should, but still,
we recognize instantly what someone is talking about when they talk about Gettysburg. The battle started here because the Confederate union
moved into the town and started poking around. And Lee had orders to all of his commanders,
"Do not bring on a general engagement." But that unit, that moved into Gettsyburg and started
the greatest battle in the history of the Continent, did so against - in violation of his orders. In an example of history placing
the right man at the right spot, Kentucky born Federal Cavalry officer
John Buford is just such a man. Buford had entered Gettysburg
two days earlier with 2,700 men and immediately realizes
the town's strategic importance. He knows the Confederates are headed in his direction,
and if they are able to seize the high ground south and east of town,
a Union defeat will be inevitable. The only question remaining is if his dismounted cavalry can hold out long enough for Union infantry to move up. General Pleasanton, my extreme left reports a large force coming from Fairfield, in a direction to strike the Emmitsburg Road
this side of Marsh Creek. Col. Gamble has just sent word that General Lee
himself has signed a pass for a citizen this morning at Chambersburg. The troops that are coming here were the same I found early this morning at Millersburg or Fairfield. General Reynolds has been advised of all I know. I am very respectably your obedient servant, J.N.O. Buford. The first line of Confederates to collide
with the Federals are the two brigades of Heath's division of A.P. Hill's 3rd Corp. Colonol Carter! Get them demoted boy!
Get them on line 1! Keep your fire hot dammit!
Let's go! Second rig! Ready! Aim!
FIRE! Load it all! Brigades! Load it all! Let's go! Fire all barrels! Let's go!
Go on, fire all barrels! Bring 'em down more, bring 'em down more!
Go go go! Buford, in his battle to buy time,
stations his troops on three ridges north and west of town; Herr,
McPhereson and Seminary ridge. And from his And from his vantage point in the Cupola at the Lutheran Seminary, he reports his status to General Meade. General Meade, the enemy forces, A.P. Hill's,
are advancing on me at this point and driving my pickets and skirmishers very
rapidly. There is also a large force at Hiedlersburg that is driving my pickets at that point from
that direction. General Reynolds is advancing and is within three miles of this point with
his leading division. I am positive that the whole of A.P. Hill's force is advancing.
- J.N.O. Buford. General John Reynolds soon arrives with
troops of the First Corp. He confers briefly with Buford to determine if he can hold the line while Reynolds
directs more men into the fight. Buford isn't going anywhere but his men have been
engaged in battle going on three hours. And the Confederates keep coming
in ever increasing numbers. Reynolds, directing his men in the midst of the smoke and confusion, is felled by a fatal bullet to the head leaving no infantry commander
in charge of the field. In a urgent message, Buford reports
the situation to his cavalry commander. General Pleasanton, I'm satisfied that Longstreet
and Hill have made a junction. A tremendous battle has been raging since
9:30 AM with varying success. At the present moment the battle is raging on the road to Cashtown, and within a short cannon range of this town. The enemy's line is in a semicircle
on the height from North to West. General Reynolds was killed early this morning.
In my opinion, there seems to be no directing person. We need help now.
- J.N.O. Buford. Although John Buford really did perform
amazingly well on the morning of July 1st, the whole strategy of using dismounted cavalry to hold
off and delay a Confederate occupation of Gettysburg - That was a great deed, but it wasn't the only deed. And there are a long list of people who do
remarkable things that first day, improvising ways of trying to prevent the army of Northern Virginia from seizing not only Gettysburg, but the really important piece of real estate, which was
Cemetery Hill, just on the South edge of the town. Certainly the most important in that was was
Oliver Otis Howard, the Commander of the 11th Corps. Because it is Oliver Otis Howard who secures
Cemetery Hill with one of his divisions, and who spends all of July 1st making sure that
Cemetery Hill is going to be not just a fallback position, but in fact is going to be held by the Union Army, because if the army of the Potomac can hold Cemetery Hill, it can hold everything else. Take away Cemetery Hill, abandon Cemetery Hill, and there's almost no good position in South
central Pennsylvania for the army of the Potomac to confront the Confederate army. So Otis Howard's decision, hold Cemetery Hill,
is itself a key decision, maybe the single most important decision,
made during the course of the battle. Then, in connection with Howard, Abner Doubleday,
who takes over command of the first corps, after John Reynolds,
is killed. Abner Doubleday does a very good job,
and a surprisingly good job, as a temporary corps commander, in
holding off the onslaught of Lee's army. as they are marching in from Cashtown,
on the road to Gettysburg. Deploys his men well, holds that
ground for over 6 hours, and finally makes a last stand at the
Lutheran Seminary on Seminary Ridge, in which he himself takes personal part - he actually is
assisting cannoneers in the artillery batteries to sight their guns, he takes his own headquarters guard and deploys them in line, and they make this remarkable
last stand on Seminary Ridge. Which is the final factor, really, in holding off the
Confederate onslaught in the direction of Gettysburg. As the battle rages, an unwitting young General from New York, Francis C. Barlow, commanding the 1st Division of the 11th Corp, moves his men forward to an elevated but exposed position. Much like the error Gen. Dan Sickles will commit in the
Peach Orchard on July 2nd, Barlow on Blocher's Knoll extends his line far forward of his 11th Corp.
His troops are now vulnerable to attack from multiple sides. And in a timed assault upon
Barlow's men at 3:00 p.m. 2700 Georgians raise the Rebel yell and coordinate their attack
from two directions, enveloping Barlow. The Confederates steadily push Union troops back
through town in a disorderly route leaving behind Barlow, shot twice and
helpless on the field. Barlow, however, thanks to Confederate Commander
John B. Gordon, will survive the battle, and go onto survive the war being only one of a handful of men who enter the conflict
as an enlisted man and emerge a general. A lot of people talk about what caused the battle
and whether it was about shoes or about this and that, and essentially the battle happened
for very practical military reasons. When you have two armies of that size wandering around on road systems, sooner or later, some guy on one army and some guy on the other
army are gonna shoot at each other. When happens when they do, in the civil war period,
is the two armies collapse on that point because if a piece of your army engages
a piece of the enemy, the army that gets the most people to that
point quickest will generally win the battle. And if you're attacked at the very rear by
the middle of the other army, they're gonna concentrate their troops and
destroy your army piecemeal. What was fortunate for the Confederates was that
that one guy took that shot at one other guy. right in the middle of the Confederate line of march,
which happened to be in front of the front of the Union line of march, so basically there were more
Confederates close to that spot when it happened than there were Union troops and so the first day's fight was a Confederate victory because they got more people here sooner. Over night, on the first night, the Union troops arrived
and by the second day they had more people. But it basically simply happened, because,
one guy took a shot at another guy. People were wandering around, two armies close to
each other with a few gaps in the mountains, and at one point a unit of the Confederate army
got near to the the Union cavalary and the Union army and
one guy took a shot at a guy. And then two more and two more, and before long they were in what's described as a general engagement. which led to the battle. So, a lot has been said about
the Confederates are coming to find shoes, they knew there were no shoes here.
There weren't any shoes here, and they knew that. And people come up with reasons, 'cuz what you have is the greatest battle in
the history of the American continent, and it has to start for some better reason than,
a couple guys started shooting at each other. It's just- But that's the military reality of it,
that's how battles generally happen in many cases. And so, we like to make it more - because that sounds kinda boring: Why did the battle happen? Well, a couple guys started shooting at each other. *LAUGHS* But it, it, um. We try to make more of it than it is, so we create
shoe factories and myths and other things. Point after point after point on July 1st,
it's not only Buford, but it's division commanders, it's brigade commanders,
right down the ladder of command, who do extremely well and perform these wonderful,
self-initiated deeds holding that ground, trying to stave off a complete collapse,
trying to prevent - and successfully presenting - Robert E. Lee and the army of North Virginia
from just rolling into Gettysburg, rolling into Cemetery Hill and occupying what would
otherwise be an extremely difficult position for the army of the Potomac to have
evicted them from. July 1st ranks as the 10th bloodiest day
of the Civil War and numerically, the Confederates
gain the advantage. By day's end Union forces suffer
almost 9000 casualties, 3000 more than the troops
under Robert E. Lee. Each army Each army will begin the next day battered and bruised
and the second day at Gettysburg will witness some of most intense fighting yet in the war. One of the things that people don't always get
when they come to the battlefield and visit, is the tremendous experience of
the people who lived here. This is a very small, carriage-making, farming town that suddenly had thrown on it 170,000 troops
and their ammunition and explosives, and fence destruction, and all that kind of stuff. So the experience of the people who were here
is really compelling, you know. The army left a couple of days after the battle.
And left behind 20,000 wounded and dead horses, and munitions, and broken wagons, and all that.
And these people in the midst of their summer growing season had to try and
recover from all that before fall. and then, just sort of get on with their lives
despite all the destruction. July 1st is a great day for heroism but
July 2nd outdoes it. Lieutenant Charles A. Fuller,
61st New York. I think it was between 5 and 6 o'clock when
our orders came, and we were ready. It was preferable to advance into action, rather than
to wait in expectation of the order to move. In front of us across the road was a wheatfield,
which was bounded by a fence. We were ordered forward; we scaled the fence
and advanced into the wheatfield in line of battle. As soon as the alignment
was perfected, the officers and file closers passed through the ranks and got in rear of
the men. Up to this time, not a confederate had been seen in our front. The 61st took 90 muskets into the fight.
They are in an exposed position on the right flank of the line in
the middle of the field. Heading straight towards them are troops from
Anderson's Georgia Brigade. Third company! Close on the sergeant! Move! The Wheatfield at Gettysburg is considered among the bloodiest pieces of ground in the
entire Civil War. The 19 acre field of wheat will change hands six times and claim more
than 6000 men, either killed, wounded, or captured. Like the bloody Cornfield at Antietam, survivors
of the intense fighting in the Wheatfields swore a man could walk across the field on
bodies alone without ever touching the ground. I felt a blow on the left leg, and it gave way.
While lying there entirely helpless, and hearing those vicious bullets singing
over my head, I suffered from fear. Lt. Charles A. Fuller, 61st New York. After losing over half its strength in a few minutes, the 61st is ordered back to the shelter of
the woods. Lt. Fuller is found alive at midnight by Pvt. Phil Comfort of Company A. among the
groaning and dying men in the trampled field. Fortunately for Fuller, Comfort was noted
for his habit of relieving dead men of their valuables after battles when
darkness set in. The battle of Gettysburg is a series of actions taken
by certain individuals at crucial times that meant the difference between
victory and defeat. In the fight for Little Round Top, a lot of the
credit goes to Joshua Chamberlain, whose 20th Main held the far left of the Union line,
but it was Chamberlain's brigade commander, Strong Vincent, who put his brigade on
on Little Round Top, without receiving orders from his Division Commander to do so, and during
that fight for Little Round Top, just as Chamberland's left was being pressed, so too Vincent's right was being pressed and it looked like it was about to crumble. Vincent will get on top
of a boulder in full sight of his men, in full sight of the enemy, shout to his men
"Don't give an inch!" before he's gunned down, before he's
mortally wounded. And that's just one of many self-sacrificing acts
made by certain Union soldiers and Union commanders during this fight that really
spelled the difference. Another unsung hero of Little Round Top is
Patrick O'Rorke, 'Patty' O'Rorke. Irish Catholic who went through West Point, which was
largely a WASP Protestant institution. He came from the bottom of the economic heap, which was unusual, but he was hard-working, he was intelligent, he won the respect of
his classmates, and he's in charge of the 140th NY. And just as it looks like Strong Vincent's brigade
is about to be swamped by the attacking confederates, he arrives on top of Little Round Top, spots the situation, doesn't even give his men time to deploy, he just yells "Follow me!" They go surging down the hill,
he's killed. And his men are so infuriated that they just
tear into the Confederates and repulse another attack. In the research for my first book, I met and spent time
with five men, who remembered their grandfathers who fought in the 20th Main in Gettysburg. I think the main reason that Joshua Chamberlain's story outshines a lot of others- First of all is that he survived. One of the things that is important in telling
a story sometimes is you be around to tell it and a lot of the other officers on Little Round Top,
the commanding officers, were killed. And that's sort of the beginning, but I think from the time the battle happened so little was expected from him, being a minister and a college professor,
not a West Point grad, and having no real military experience,
the fact that he and his regiment performed as well as they did
was quite surprising to the other people in the brigade and in the army,
and so that began this story of Chamberlain as this unlikely hero. Among the reasons that Chamberlain was chosen to
accept the Confederate infantry surrender was largely that he was one of the last
commanding officers still around. Because Grant and Lee, as soon as the
agreement was signed, both left. I think one of the reasons that Grant chose Chamberlain to supervise the surrender of the Confederate infantry was that he had really built a record for himself,
going back through the several previous months and gained Grant's notice a number of times. He was badly wounded leading his men in a charge at
Petersburg, and Grant promoted him on the spot to brigadier general, he had performed very,
very well at the Battle of Five Forks just before they surrendered after Maddox. And he had developed a reputation as quite
a fighter and a leader. And Grant recognized that and other commanders of
greater rank than Chamberlain were either no longer there, or busy doing other things, and so
he decided to sort of bestow that honor on him. This whole idea of 'honor answering honor,' and
'the pagentry of a surrender' was probably not all that exciting to them then, and now we look back
on it as an important moment. Winfield Scott Hancock, Major General Commander of the 2nd Corp, turns arond and sees the entirety of Cadmus Wilcox's Confederate Brigade
coming across the road. Hancock turns, looks for reinforcements to plug up
the gaps, and only sees one regiment. And that is Calvill's 1st Minnesota. And he says, "You need to move right into that gap. Do
you see those flags?" pointing at Confederate colors, "Take those flags."
Calvill's got one regiment. He's got 262 men. He doesn't even balk. Lines his men up, takes them forward at a trot,
here is one understrengthed Federal regiment, taking on an entire big Confederate brigade. The odds are at least 8-to-1 in the Confederate favor. Alfred P. Carpenter, Co. K First Minnesota. The Rebs
came in two splendid lines, firing as they advanced, capturing one of our batteries which
they turned against us, and gained the cover of the ravine. The plain was strewed with
dead and dying men. The Rebs had advanced their batteries and were hurling death and
destruction into the ranks of our retreating men. They were nearing the hill, which if
gained, the day was lost to us. Then came the order for the 2nd Division of the 2nd Corps to advance. The hill must be held at all hazards. We advanced down the slope till we neared
the ravine, and "Charge" rung along the line, and with a rush and a yell we went. Bullets
whistled past us; shells screached over us; canister and grape fell about us; comrade
after comrade dropped from the ranks; but on the line went. No one took a second look
at his fallen companion. We had no time to weep. We were nearing the Rebel line, and
in a moment more we would have been at it hand to hand. Two regiments on our right faltered
and subjected us to a flank fire, and we were ordered back, leaving our dead within a few
rods of the Rebel line. Then forward we went again and the Rebs were routed, and the bloody
field was in our possession; but at what cost! The ground was strewed with dead and
dying, whose groans and prayers and cries for help and water rent the air.
Alfred P. Carpenter, Co. K First Minnesota. For all that has been written about the Battle of Gettysburg, and there has been a tremendous amount written, there's still surprisingly large amounts
of material, there's large numbers of stories which have never yet been told, and which has been
both fun and an education in it's own right to uncover. I think, for instance, of an individual like Francis Heath. Francis Heath was the Lieutenant Colonel,
of the 19th Maine. Not a professional soldier. He in fact had come fresh out of Colby College,
and out of his father's law office, where he was reading law, to become an officer
in the 19th Maine. He is in effective charge of the regiment at Gettysburg, and on July 2nd, as the Federal line is breaking to pieces, and the Confederate tide looks like it's about to
roll over everyone, Heath is in command of his main regiment
as one of those posted to try to hold off the retreat of the battered 3rd Corp. In the midst of the smoke, and the confusion, the
confused retreat of clumps and units of 3rd Corp troops, one of the division commanders of the 3rd Corp
appears out of the battle murk, and that is Andrew Atkinson Humpheys. Humphreys' division has been chewed to pieces. And Humphreys is beside himself. He has had a very long and a very difficult day,
and there is a way in which Humphreys has simply at this point lost it. Humphries comes up to the 19th Maine,
tells the men to fix their bayonets and use them, on any of the fleeing soldiers of his own division. And Francis Heath hears this and can't believe it.
He didn't volunteer to fight in this war to kill his own people. And as Humphries is raving, out of control,
up and down the front of the 19th Maine, Heath decides he's not going to let this stand. He follows Humphries - Humphries is going down
the line of the 19th Maine, going "Fix these bayonets! Use them on those men!" And Heath is following behind this
major general, and saying, "Don't pay any attention to him.
Don't listen to him. Don't do it. Don't do it." He says, "Look, we'll rally your men on our own,
but we're not gonna kill them the way you want to." And Humphries, finally facing Heath's refusal
to cooperate, just wanders off and he has his own conscience he's going to have to face. But I thought, "What a remarkable moment." Even in the midst of that stress and that battle,
here is someone who has not lost his sense of decency and balance and is willing to do something about it,
even if it means telling off a major general. The one brigade which is left to hold Culp's Hill
is under George Sears Greene who is the oldest general officer
in the Federal army. 'Old Pappy Green,' as they called him, has one brigade.
And what he doesn't realize is that there is an entire Confederate division, in position, and ready to
attack Culp's Hill. Which they do. And when those Confederates, an entire division worth,
come up Culp's Hill, trying to seize the hill, Greene's little brigade shoots the troopers. By the end of the day, Longstreet has bloodied
the Union army, he's pretty much destroyed the 3rd Corp, but he hasn't broken through. The Federal line still holds, and many historians will
argue that by the end of the 2nd day, Lee had really lost the Battle of Gettysburg. I think it's probably safe to say that the decision
Robert E. Lee makes to attack with Pickett's division, straight on, headlong, on July 3rd, is probably made
some time between midnight and 5 o'clock on morning of July 3rd. It was not a strategy that he had
worked out in advance. It, rather, is a tactic that he resorts to
in response to the immediate situation. Students of the 3rd day at Gettysburg focus on the
grand finale, Pickett's charge. But on the right flank, there was a lively cavalry
battle fought between anywhere from 5-6 thousand Confederates under Jeb Stuart and now historians
say about 3,000 Union troopers under David Gregg and a young brigadier named
George Armstrong Custer. Custer, he's young, he's not used to
managing a brigade, but he exercises a personal brand of leadership that quickly wins
the hearts of his Michigan troopers. General David Gregg,
Federal Cavalry The orders from General Pleasanton were
not in alignment with our situation! General Pleasanton had received word from
General Howard that a large Confederate body of troops were advancing upon our position,
and for some unknown reason, had ordered General Custer's men to join Kilpatrick on our left
flank near the round tops. There was not a moment to lose, and I countermanded General
Pleasanton's order. I reported to General Custer. 'Say you never got the message.
I need you here.' Brigadier General
George Armstrong Custer: Upon receiving word from General Gregg, I understood as he did the situation
fully. If the enemy were allowed to break through our lines to Meade's rear on Cemetery
Ridge, it would not only be disastrous, the entire battle of Gettysburg would be lost.
I reported to General Gregg that I would be only too glad to stay upon his order, and
would be well pleased to remain with my brigade. General Gregg gave the order, and the great
cavalry battle of Gettysburg was commenced. In the climactic final charge, when there are 1500 or
more Confederate troopers coming down to try to pierce the Union center there, Custer will place himself in front of only 500 men from his 1st Michigan cavalry. They're the only reserve the Union has, he will
lead them forward in their charge, he will spur his horse at the last moment so
every man behind him can see him and that he raises his saber and yells,
"Come on, you wolverines!" Unable to withstand the impetuosity of our attack,
the enemy gave way in a disorderly route. I cannot find the language to express my high appreciation for the gallantry and daring displayed by officers and men of the First Michigan Cavalry,
and I challenge the annals of warfare to produce a more brilliant or successful charge.
George Armstrong Custer. Gettysburg's often described as being the high
watermark of the Confederacy. And you can see that there's some reason for that. Because this Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania never gets any further than Gettysburg. Although it is hard to get this entirely in focus,
because in fact Confederate units had penetrated substantially farther to the North - Richard Ewell's corp,
for instance, had gone all the way up to Carlyle, and even lobbed a few shells across the
Susquehanna river, at Harrisburg. Jubal Early's division had gotten all the way to York,
and to Wrightsville, and might in fact have gotten across the Susquehanna on the great Wrightsville
Railroad Bridge, had not Federal troops in this case, mostly militia, managed to destroy
the bridge before he could use it. So, if we really want to mark a literal high point
of the Confederate Invasion, it really belongs somewhere in the neighborhood of Carlyle,
Pennsylvania, rather than Gettysburg. And there are other moments when Confederates
get loose on Northern territory: John Morgan is going to stage a major raid
into Ohio, in 1863 And in 1864, there's even a Confederate raid
on Saint Albans Vermont. Alright, yes, they launch it from Canada,
so maybe that's not fair, but if you really want a high, high, high watermark,
I suppose Saint Alban's Vermont will do. But if we put this in terms of metaphor,
then it begins to have more meaning. Because Gettysburg is a serious setback
to the Confederacy, and for a number of reasons. One is, the stupendous casualties the army of
Northern Virginia absorbs in this battle. The army never comes back up to the strength
that it had as it marched into Pennsylvania. Never actually recovers in terms of numbers. It will sustain serious damage to its morale,
but the morale in fact will recover before the end of 1863. It's the numbers that are going to
prove increasingly difficult to reconstitute an army with. There's also the damage done to Lee's reputation.
And I don't mean some kind of invincibility, that now Federal commanders believe they really can
defeat Robert E. Lee. Actually, the real damage done to Lee's reputation is done in the Confederacy. One soldier in the army of the Potomac writes home: "Now what do you think of your army of the Potomac?" That is a high watermark. What we know about Gettysburg
comes from a variety of sources. There are the official reports, there are the memoirs
written by generals, and later by lower-ranking soldiers sometimes as far down
as private, there are the franker testimonies that come from unpublished letters and diaries,
and then there's the heroic effort of a fellow named John Bachelder, who worked with veterans to try to get
the story straight, who worked very hard to collect veteran testimony, tried to place where the various
regiments deployed, where they moved, what they experienced, the man just collected a
treasure trove of information which still really hasn't been fully exploited
by historians, and some have caught onto that and are utilizing his archive, but I think that what
we think we know about Gettysburg will continue to change and continue
to expand thanks to his efforts. The day had opened with a
reignited engagement on Culps Hill This along with JEB Stuart's cavalry
attack is part of Lee's grand strategy to divert the Federal's attention and forces
away from their center. For Union infantry not engaged at Culps Hill the day settles
into an uneasy calm. By Noon men compare the atmosphere to the stillness of the Sabbath
Day. In a Council of War the evening before General Meade had decided the Federals would
hold their ground and await any movement of the enemy. Their wait will not be long. General Lee plans an early start to the main charge to coincide with the attack upon Culps Hill.
James Longstreet in overall command, however, spends most of the morning arranging his assault
force. This delay some historians claim is Longstreet's deliberate undermining of what
he considers a doomed attack. Pt. John Dooley, Picket's Division. July 3rd. Before the day was fully dawned, we are on our way to occupy the position assigned to us for the conflict
of the third day. Uncle Robert, silent and motionless, awaits our passing by, and anxiously
does he gaze upon the only division of his army whose numbers have not been thinned by
the terrible fires of Gettysburg. I must confess that the Genl's face does not look as bright
as tho' he were certain of success. But yet it is impossible for us to be any otherwise
than victorious and we press forward with beating hearts, hundreds of which will throb
their last today. How long we take to gain our position, what delays, what suspense!
We are soon passing over the battlefield of yesterday, and the details of burying parties
are digging graves to receive the freshly fallen comrades. Orders come for us to lie down in line of battle; that all the cannon
on our side will open at a given signal, will continue for an hour and upon their ceasing
we are to charge straight ahead over the open field and sweep from our path any thing in
the shape of a Yankee that attempts to oppose our progress. At last it sounds away to the
right and the echoes have scarcely rebounded from the rocks of the mountain, and the Earth and the
mountains and the sky seem to open and darken the air with smoke, and death
dealing missiles. Never will I forget those scenes and sounds. The Earth seems unsteady beneath this
furious cannonating, and the air might be said to be
agitated by the wings of death Over 400 guns nearly every minute being discharged,
the ammunition wagons fly back and forth, bringing us fresh supplies of ammunition, and still the air is shaking from Earth to sky, with every missle of death fired from the
cannon's mouth, Around, above, beneath, and on all sides they screech, sing, scream, whistle, roar, whirr, buzz, bang and
wizz, and we are obliged to lie quietly, though
frightened out of our wits. And unable to do anything in our own defense
or any injury toward our enemies. Our artillery has now ceased to roar, and
the enemy have checked their fury too. The time appointed for our charge
has come. I tell you, there is no romance in making
one of these charges. When you rise to your feet as we did today,
I tell you the enthusiasm of ours depresses and in many cases ain't there and instead of yearning to avenge the insults of our
country, families and alters and firesides, and the thought is most frequently, "If I could just come out of this charge safely,
how thankful would I be." On, men, on! Thirty more yards and the guns are ours! Who can stand such a storm of hissing lead and iron, what a relief, if hearth, which seems to hurl
these implements of death in our faces, would open now and afford us a secure retreat from
the threatening death Then the officers up front - Colonels,
lieutenant colonels, majors, captains, all would press on and CHEER the shatt'red lines! How I long to know the result at the end of
this fearful charge. "C'mon, c'mon!" "Hey." There! Listen! We hear a new shout - and cheer after cheer
rends the air! Are those fresh troops advancing to our support? No, no. That huzzah never broke from Southern lips. Oh God, Virginia's bravest, noblest sons have
perished here today. And perished all in vain. Robert Todd Lincoln was home from Harvard and on the morning when Lincoln got the message
about Lee's escape, Robert went into his father's office and there
he found his father, head down on his desk, weeping, in frustration and despair. And Abraham Lincoln said to his eldest son, "We had them in the palm of our hands, we had
only to close our fingers, and they were ours. The war would be over." Once the Confederate tide recedes, once Pickette's
division falls back and then Pettigrew's division falls back, defeated, People could realize that this last spectacular bid, by the army of Northern Virginia for victory, had lapped up onto the farm of a free black man, a man who, by every definition the Confederacy
stood for, shouldn't have even existed, the final stand of the Confederacy and the Army of Northern Virginia, at Gettysburg takes place on his property and as the sun goes down, not only on the 3rd of July but as it goes down on
the army of Northern Virginia, on the Confederacy itself, Abraham Bryan's property will remain his and he
will remain a free man, and he will come back and he will farm his acres, until he sells the property in 1869, and he will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, nobody will disturb him. And if there's anybody who was the greatest and ultimate victor at Gettysburg, we might be able to say it was that black farmer, Abraham Bryan.
