Little Round Top Battle | Gettysburg | Mapping History | July 2, 1863 | Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

july 1863 robert e lee is on the offensive moving the front of the eastern theater of the civil war from confederate virginia into union pennsylvania we will zoom in to south central pennsylvania the battle of gettysburg began on july 1st 1863. forward union forces took positions northwest and north of town they were hit by confederate forces and the rebels pushed the union lines through town the yankees take positions on high ground southeast of town as night falls the armies grow in size on the following morning july 2nd union forces extend along high ground in the shape of a fish hook the line begins at the barb of the fishhook at culp's hill to the right highlighted in yellow the line follows along the bend of the fishhook as it rises at cemetery hill cemetery ridge runs along the straight shank of the fishhook on the afternoon of july 2nd general sickles moves his core off cemetery ridge to high ground at a peach orchard he did this without orders and other generals are unsure of his motives meanwhile captain hall of the us army signal corps is stationed on little round top he catches a glimpse of large numbers of confederate troops moving behind the cover of ridges and trees beyond seminary ridge he sends word to general mead that the rebels are on the move hall signal station is the only union presence on little round top that hill on the extreme left flank of the union army and then at 4 pm general longstreet appears from behind seminary ridge directly facing sickle's exposed position long street sees the undefended heights of little round top and big round top long street has asked robert e lee for permission to go around the union flank and take the undefended heights if the rebels can get artillery on those heights they will be able to enfold the entire union position straight down cemetery ridge but lee says no his plan is to strike up the emmitsburg road to hit the federals on cemetery ridge lee is not interested in the roundtops long street follows orders telling general hood to move his division against sickles but hood also notices the undefended heights hood wants to take the heights but longstreet informs hood to advance up the emmitsburg road hood protests longstreet informs him again that general lee has ordered the attack to strike up the emmitsburg road hood begins his attack moving towards sickles lines at the peach orchard wheat field and devil's den as the fighting begins between long street and sickles one of hood's brigade commanders general law also sees the undefended heights let's take a closer look at the action that will now occur on the extreme left flank of the union army the park service has maintained the landscape to match the historical landscape big round top is wooded but little round top is partially deforested the western slope of little round top is rocky but clear of timber the eastern face of little round top however is wooded a second satellite image shows the round tops in the summer and you can see the foliage cover here historical images sometimes show the western slope which is rocky but clear the other side of the hill is wooded looking at the topographical map we can see that big round top at 760 feet is 100 feet higher than little round top at 66 feet the crests of the two hills are just under one half a mile apart from each other it is four o'clock the engineer governor warren gets onto little round top he sees to his horror rebel units approaching the undefended heights he has hall's stations signaled for help warren hustles to find any outfits that could cover the heights not much later hood's division is approaching devil's den just below the heights two alabama regiments from laws brigade are actually on big round top 15th alabama under oates and the 47th alabama under bulger the regiments have just driven the second u.s sharpshooters from the area of big round top the alabamians take a look from their high vantage point on big round top and they can see the signal men below on little round top flapping a signal flag for help law's alabama regiments on big round top are tired it is worth noting that they woke up at 3 a.m that morning and marched 25 miles as soon as they arrived on the battlefield they were sent into action where they now stand on the big hill it is a hot july day and they are winded oats commander of the 15th alabama tells his men to sit and rest oats wants to hold the big round top get cannon up on the heights and shell the union lines but law sends word that he must advance the regiments to little round top let's go in closer the alabamians push forward already running on empty this is a critical moment in the valley between the two heights three more rebel regiments join these outfits are the fourth alabama under scruggs and then from robertson's brigade there is the fourth texas under key and the fifth texas under powell in the short time that these men roll down big round top and begin to ascend little round top the situation on little round top has changed while the rebels have been moving to little round top governor warren has been frantically looking for blue troops to defend the hill warren helps drag two guns of hazlitt's artillery battery to the crest of the hill he also caught a brigade on its way to reinforce sickles this brigade agrees to alter course and move to little round top the brigade commander who has taken the responsibility is colonel strong vincent commander of the third brigade of the first division of sykes core his four regiments assemble along the south facing slope of little round top from west to east the regiments of vincent's brigade are the 16th michigan with 356 men under welsh the 44th new york with 313 men under rice the 83rd pennsylvania with 308 men under woodward and the 20th maine with 358 men under chamberlain chamberlain has moved a company of his main regiment into the woods to watch for further movement around the flank these blue regiments have just assembled as the rebels are moving up the same slope the rebels are met with a line of rifle fire from the heights then they hear the groan of artillery from the top of little round top the center of the union line is hit first the 44th new york and 83rd pennsylvania throw lead down the hill at the attackers texas and alabama return fire the rebels charge they are thrown back they charge again they are thrown back it is critical to understand that if any of these blue regiments fold the whole situation will be endangered if one of two flank regiments folds the entire brigade will be outflanked if one of the center regiments breaks the rebels will cut the defenders in half the fifth texas attacking here at the center will take the heaviest casualties of all the regiments engaged here over half of this regiment will fall the fourth texas moves against the 16th michigan in an attempt to break the union flank texas hits hard michigan has not afforded the cover of trees as this slope is clear michigan begins to waver vincent himself goes to the flank rallying the line he tells the men not to give an inch then vincent himself falls as smoke and confusion in golf little round top rice of the 44th new york takes vincent's place at as brigadier commander connor assumes command of the 44th new york then the yankees get a break the 140th new york arrives behind them still a distance away is weeds brigade the union now has reinforcements arriving the 526 men of the 140th new york under o'rourke will stabilize the wavering michigan line driving back the texans the union right is secure now alabama begins to move against the opposite flank the 47th alabama hits 20th maine oats maneuvers his 15th alabama even further down the line threatening the extreme left of the whole union army the 15th hits again moving ever further down chamberlain's flank the lines are at times only 10 paces apart chamberlain and oates will both lose more than one third of their men oats creeps further around but chamberlain will counter by squaring the line alabama hits they're driven back they hit again they're driven back the extreme angle of the union army is taking fire ammunition is low oats hits again main holds but another attack may be coming chamberlain takes a chance low on ammunition and unsure if he can hold another attack he orders a charge while chamberlain gave the order for a right-wheel sweep down the slope in the confusion and noise some officers claim that they can't hear the command but even if chamberlain's counter attack was more disjointed the rush of the regiment barreling down the slope combined with company b hitting on the flank gives the strike the effect of a sweeping right wheel the main men tumble down the hill at the attackers the 15th alabama is caught off guard the 20th main chases the 15th alabama all the way up big round top scores of prisoners are taken oats will be forever scarred by this day his brother was killed in the attack reinforcements from colonel fisher's third brigade arrived to assist the 20th maine the 5th pennsylvania and the 12th pennsylvania reserves flesh out defenders from big round top rice has the 83rd pennsylvania and the 44th new york move down the slope of little round top where they gather the wounded and take hundreds of weapons from fallen enemy as night falls the union holds both heights colonel rice who assumed command of little round top after vincent fell said this of the day although this brigade has been engaged in nearly all of the great battles of the army of the potomac and has always greatly distinguished itself with gallant behavior yet in none has it fought so desperately or achieved for itself such imperishable honors as in this severe conflict of the second instant you

Channel: Jeffrey the Librarian

Views: 398,907

Keywords: joshua lawrence chamberlain, battle of gettysburg, the second day of gettysburg, why was little round top important, what happened at little round top

Id: nAMReh79NeY

Length: 13min 39sec (819 seconds)

Published: Mon May 03 2021