Gettysburg's Bloody Wheatfield | Battle of Gettysburg | Longstreet's Assault | featuring Aaron Smith

foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you so I am here in the wheat field the site of three hours of brutal fighting this very field changed hands numerous times and it would quickly fill with the bodies of the blue and gray and not gonna lie it's a little bit confusing and this portion of the battle is a little intimidating for me I don't really know a whole lot about it but I Enlisted the help of this guy this is Aaron Smith of forward Gettysburg and he's donated his time to us today to help us understand uh this chaotic and crazy portion of the battlefield he has his own channel it's called forward Gettysburg the link to his channel is below in the description head on over there because he has some solid content about some of the portions of the Gettysburg Battlefield here today so let's see what we can learn about the bloody Wheat Field James thank you so much for having me on the channel like he said I'm Aaron Smith for forward Gettysburg and we're in the wheat field this is probably one of the most complex portions of the Battle of Gettysburg we're talking 26 Acres of wheat 20 000 men are going to make their way from both the North and the South into this area and the fighting is going to last for around three hours so let's start at the beginning why are we even in the wheat field well we all know about that Rascal Dan sickles he eyed the peach orchard as this Prime piece of real estate here on the southern portion of the battlefield originally his line was supposed to be connecting to the left of the second core somewhere near the area of the Pennsylvania Monument but he doesn't like it he wants a good platform for his artillery he doesn't want to be stuck in that hole so he decides to move about three quarters of a mile forward to the peach orchard and he inadvertently creates a sailing plant so we are now on that Eastern portion of the Salient so the wheat field is an incredibly important position in the union line for the third core the wheat field is going to protect that portion of the line that is resting on the Emmitsburg road if the Confederates are able to take this area they will have a direct route to the rear of the Union Line running there along the Emmitsburg road going into Gettysburg so let's get into the action Hood's division of long Street's core the first core of the army of Northern Virginia probably the premier Corps of that great army they are attacking Devil's Den they are pushing back Ward's Brigade a single Brigade there is under attack by an entire Division and eventually that area is going to clear out and we're going to make they're going to make their way into the Rose Woods now the Brigade posted here is under Regice de trobrion I'm not French but he's French I probably butchered that last name but he is going to have some men posted in this area the 17th May they're going to be posted along that stone wall there and James showed that to you guys earlier the 17th main is going to be posted along that stone wall and here comes Anderson's Georgians running through those woods those main boys are going to say that that is the best stone wall they've ever found in their life and they're going to be able to repulse the initial attacks by the Confederates however they realize that this area is is a key key facet to their position here they're going to send for the closest reinforcements those reinforcements are going to be barnes's division of the fifth Corps of the army of the Potomac now the fifth core they just made their way from Hanover my hometown got a shout out to the snack Town capital of the world but the fifth core they're going to be posted over at Powers Hill which is going to be an area just over we're looking at Munch hours no it's going to be just over Munch hours null over in that direction they're going to be making their way from that area now the lead Brigade of barnes's division the lead Brigade is going to be the Brigade under strong Vincent we know that strong Vincent is called to the defense of little round top and we get into the 20th Main and all of those regiments there and they make their ways into the halls of American history but the other two brigades Tilton and Schweitzer they're going to come to this area and they're going to reinforce this position so Tilton and Schweitzer they're going to take positions on the Stony Hill this area directly behind me guess why they call it the Stony Hill if you guess there's Stones there you're spot on we're not very creative here at Gettysburg when we name our things but they're going to make their position here to the Stony Hill and now from the south there in the wheat field we have Rob elements of Robertson's Texans Brigade the third Arkansas some other Texan regiments they're going to make their way through those woods Anderson's Georgians have also regrouped and they're going to attack again and they're pounding away at the 17th main they're starting to attack elements here of Tilton and Switzer's Brigade and here we have Winslow's battery six 12 pound bronze Napoleon guns and they are firing away into these Woods pounding away at the Confederates unleashing all kinds of shot and shell to fight back these attackers and they initially will be successful after this attack is repulse there's going to be a little bit of a lull in the action now if we've studied longstreet's attack on the second day here on the southern portion of the battlefield we know he's going to unleash his attack and Echelon and Echelon is one of those great French terms that the United States military adopted at that time the United States military loved the French they loved Napoleon he was the foundation of all their military tactics during the Civil War and eight and especially in 1863 before we got into the proliferation of trench warfare let me get off my tangent here and get back to the action but long streets attack is launching off an Echelon and Echelon essentially means one portion of that attack is going to attack the Defenders portion of their line and then another portion of the attack is going to attack the idea is is that the Defenders are going to be reinforcing and moving units around to stop these attacks and eventually the attackers are going to find a weak point and break through so the next portion of long streets and echelon attack is going to be Kershaw's Brigade of South Carolinians and Kershaw's Brigade is going to make their way from this direction toward the Stony Hill and Kershaw and Long street they're going to be posted on the Rose farm just through the woods over here and in one of the most confusing baffling orders of the American Civil War and especially the Battle of Gettysburg Long Street is going to advise Kershaw to split his Brigade into two three regiments are going to make their way toward the south towards Stony Hill which is right off to my right the other three regiments are going to make their way toward the Wheat Field Road just over here now the thing about the Wheatfield Road at this point is that it has a line of nearly five Union batteries we're talking 30 to 32 guns so they're going to make their way towards these guns perhaps they think they can capture them perhaps they think they can take those guns and turn them on the enemy and maybe even hit the Emmitsburg Road from the rear but it's not going to work they're going to make a wheel right maneuver and through that maneuver they're going to expose their Left Flank to a hellacious fire of Union canister and case shot and it's going to absolutely deplete and destroy the ranks of those three regiments in Kershaw's Brigade now however we have to realize that Tilton is still up here tone and Switzer there in the Stony Hill they're posted in this area so when they realize that Kershaw split his Brigade into two and part of that Brigade is making for their rear they're going to get kind of alarmed that's kind of a big deal they don't want to be shot in the rear who does you know so they're going to send to Barnes and ask them for advice what should we do should we hold this position there are enemy troops headed for our rear Barnes is going to tell them if you feel the position is untenable you have permission to withdraw so Tilton is going to pull his troops back and Schweitzer will begin to do the same because as Tilton pulls back now schweitzer's flank is vulnerable and Schweitzer is going to pull back as well now as they pull back there are going to be reinforcements coming from the second core we're going to have Caldwell's division that is going to consist of Kelly Cross zook and Brooke one of my favorite little ditties of the American Civil War Kelly Cross is up Brook just flows off the tongue they're going to make their way and as The Story Goes zuck's Brigade is going to encounter Tilton's Brigade Tilton's men they're headed for the rear they're panicked at this point Zuck being very much a hard disciplinarian type of General he is going to look at Tilton's men and say if you cannot get out of the way laid down and we will March over you and according to some sources they do exactly that I always try and put myself in the shoes of the soldiers who fought here you know so imagine you're a Union soldier in Caldwell's division we're making our way into the wheat Fields the soldiers and the trobrians Brigade who have been fighting here already they're pulling back you see the bodies littering this field that was once full of wheat now it's littered with blue we need uniforms and just try and get a a sense of what is going on here you know think about what the soldiers are thinking we're coming in we're under heavy fire no doubt we got Confederates all along this portion here and we're charging right into the T of the enemy it's really hard to imagine [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] so here we have the monument to the famed Irish Brigade at this point the Irish Brigade had around 450 500 men within their ranks their ranks had been extremely depleted they suffered heavy casualties at Fredericksburg the Irish Brigade they're actually going to be the second regiment to hit the Stony Hill Wheat Field area from Caldwell's second core division the first one is going to be cross so the Irish Brigade they're going to take positions here at the Stoney Hill and they're going to be engaged very heavily with Kershaw South Carolinians now the Irish Brigade they have a distinct advantage to the Weaponry they're using the legendary sons of Aaron they are going to use the 1842 model Springfield this is a 69 caliber musket Smooth Bore so there's no rifling and they are going to use a buck and ball ammunition configuration now it's not great for distancing you're not going to be able to snipe someone 400 yards away using buck and ball but here in the thick Woods of Stoney Hill it is perfect and they're going to use it to their advantage in a devastating manner they're going to fight back Kershaw's three regiments that have made their way to the South here to attack Stoney Ridge so behind me is the Stony Hill the Irish Brigade they are fighting off Kershaw's regiments meanwhile the next portion of long Street's attack is launching off we have Barksdale and wofford's Brigade and Barksdale is going to hit that Salient at the peach orchard and his right flank is going to start to make its way toward that Stony Hill area his very far right flank so these guys are fighting over here by this point the 17th Mane and those guys they have fallen back the wheat the wheat field has gone back and forth several times charges counter charges in the wheat field proper a very bloody Affair is happening here just south of Gettysburg again this position is so key because directly up there is the line on the Emmitsburg Road right up there where the rest of sickle's third core is resting if they lose this position they lose everything so we are facing the wheat field now and what I want to try and show you is just how much the terrain changes in this general area so you have Winslow's battery there that's kind of some high ground smack dab in the middle of the wheat field here and here you have Stony Hill and just before Stony Hill it kind of drops off right here now you have no idea what's happening on the other side of Stony Hill here the peach Orchards on the other side you can hear it you can probably hear the rattle of the guns the musketry the cannon the screams of the Wounded but you have no idea who holds that position and he had Union troops coming in through Stony Hill here that's very rugged and rough Terrain I try and Advance through with your linear formations but you kind of see the low Point here and then we're continuing this direction and it's very Rocky you have trees of course the wheat field here it's just I really hope the camera is doing Justice now you can kind of see that car in the foreground there how it rises up so again the terrain is not flat and that is some High Ground so whoever holds The High Ground here probably has a pretty good shot at forces here so I really hope the camera is picking that up so as the fighting is going on the second core brigades they have pretty much stabilized this area then Brooke is going to make a charge into the woods he gets a little confident he says hey we're doing really good let's drive these revs out of here so they're going to drive into the woods but he's going to be met by Sims and semms is going to be able to fight that attack back so Brooks is going to fall back here and they're going to take again positions in the wheat field now like I said just over in this direction we have Barksdale and Wofford they are making their faded attack just through these woods and one of the important things I want to tell you guys and I should have mentioned it earlier is when you're out here in the wheat field there's an overwhelming sense of isolation you can see what's happening here you can tell what's going on but you can't tell what's going on on the other side of those Rose Woods you can't tell what's going on on the other side of that Stony Hill so there's an overwhelming sense of isolation Within These 26 Acres of wheat so here we are back in the wheat field proper now we had the fighting going on here at the Irish Brigade those second core brigades the fighting is going on but the Confederates they're going to regroup for another attack we have Kershaw again coming in from there he's regrouped those three regiments to the north that took that hellacious cannon fire from those Union guns there along Wheatfield Road he has regrouped them for another attack they're making their way towards Stony Hill Barksdale has smashed the peach orchard with his mississippians and behind barksdale's Brigade we have wofford's Brigade of Georgians Wofford is making his way with his Brigade toward the Stony Hill so now we start to see an envelopment occur we're going to have benim we're going to have sem sense has finally decided to wake up and join the fight here he's going to come through the woods we have Anderson's troops we have those elements of Robertson's troops they're going to make their way toward the wheat field here and kind of like I was described I mean the James earlier if the union troops here were your Rice Krispies the Confederates are going to be your bowl and they're going to surround them so the troops over here on the Stony Hill they're going to be ordered back Switzer's Brigade again who had already put in a tremendous amount of work on the Stony Hill earlier in the day they're going to be ordered here to the field to help fend off the Confederate attack as this is going on the U.S regulars under airs they're going to take positions along this line of trees directly behind me and they're going to take a position there and burbanks U.S regular Brigade they're going to make their way into the wheat field and they're going to do this glorious sweeping motion through the wheat field but by the time they come around and their right flank comes around there are Confederate troops on the Stony Hill and just like Kershaw exposed his Left Flank to those Union guns on the Wheatfield Road Burbank is going to expose his right flank to the Confederate musket and rifle fire that is now on the Stony Hill area and they're going to be driven back from the wheat field the Confederates they're going to hold this position at the end of the day schweitzer's Brigade and burbank's Brigade they're going to suffer the heaviest casualties of the fighting here in the wheat field nearly 50 percent casualties for both brigades eventually the Confederates are going to drive through this area they're going to drive through the Rose Woods and then they're going to be stopped by that last remaining division of sykes's fifth core the Pennsylvania reserves and the Pennsylvania reserves are going to save the day there along that Plum run Valley but the Confederates will hold the wheat field so why care about the wheat field a lot of visitors to Gettysburg they want to check out the newly renovated Devil's Den they want to look at little round top even though even though they can't go there yet they want to look at it cool a little round top the 20th main great they're going to go check out Pickett's Charge the angle they're going to go check out Confederate Avenue and Seminary Ridge and sadly the wheat field is forgotten but it shouldn't be six Confederate brigades 10 Union brigades 20 000 men fought in this confined isolated area 26 Acres of those 20 000 men six thousand of them will be killed wounded or captured for reference the population of Gettysburg in 1863 was around 2500. nearly two and a half times the population of Gettysburg will suffer life-changing injuries wounds or perhaps give the final last measure of devotion here in the wheat field this area should not be forgotten this is not just a drive-by as you come off of Devil's Den or on your way down to Little Round Top no the wheat field the sacrifice here in this area should be venerated celebrated and remembered just as much as any other place in the Gettysburg National military Park [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] foreign

Channel: Project Past

Views: 4,589

Keywords: Battle of Gettysburg, Gettysburgs Wheatfield, eyewitness to the Wheatfield, history underground, whirlpool of death, harvest of death Wheatfield, Longstreet’s assault, devils den at Gettysburg, the Irish brigade, American battlefield trust, civil war combat Wheatfield, American civil war, Fight for the rose woods, day 2 at Gettysburg, Civil war documentary, what happened at the Wheatfield, American Civil War, Adressing Gettysburg

Id: 7F40kYXwaoE

Length: 21min 38sec (1298 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 06 2023