Well ladies and gentlemen I'd like to welcome
you to Gettysburg National Military Park, and specifically to this afternoon's battle
walk. I'm John Hoptak I've been with the park service
for nine years, three of the seasons here at Gettysburg. I think today quite possibly is the hottest
day of 2014, would you agree with that? At least here in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. So we've already adjusted our height, normally
we begin at the base of the tower where the sun just beats down, so we just moved a few
yards south and we're going to begin here, just near the shade of these trees before
we embark on our little walk. It's not so much to walk this afternoon, we're
only going to be covering about a mile of ground total, in just a few minutes we'll
be leaving here and making our way North towards the Peace Light monument up on Oak Hill. We'll spend quite a few minutes there discussing
the developing battle action, we'll make our way back along oak ridge and as we go throughout
this program my focus is going to be on the 2500 soldiers of John Cleveland Robinson's
division of the first army corps. For those of you unfamiliar with army structure,
both armies here at Gettysburg, both Union and Confederate, were broken down into corps. Robert E Lee had three corps, about twenty
thousand men apiece, George Meade of the Union army had seven corps, about ten to fifteen
thousand men apiece. Now for our purposes today we're going to
be looking specifically at the first army corps, and underneath the corps would have
been divisions. The first army corps had three divisions,
commanded respectively by James Wadsworth, John Robinson, and Abner Doubleday. Today our focus will be on the second of those
divisions, John Cleveland Robinson. So as we go throughout our discussion, every
time we mention a brigade or regiment I'm going to try to put a number with it, just
so we know how many troops we're dealing with. Alright; now one of those 2500 men who fought
here on Oak Ridge, was a Lieutenant from the 16th main infantry, and you might find me
focusing especially on the 16th main this afternoon, that was one of the regiments in
Robinson's division. His name was Abner Small. Abner Small, those of you who have been on
my programs before know that I like to quote extensively from Abner Small. He wrote one of the best first person accounts,
I think, of the entire Civil War. In his history of the 16th main, in his introduction,
he wrote the following; he said that "any member of a regiment, and officer or a private,
can have but little knowledge of the movements outside of his immediate command. And the idea that a soldier whose simple duty
is to remain in the ranks and move in geometrical lines has an opportunity to view the battle
of Gettysburg as he would view a panorama is simply absurd, because after the first
volley of musketry he is a rare man who can theorize or speculate on the action of a comrade
or of his regiment, or on that of the commanding general three miles distant. The inequalities of the ground, the wooded
slopes and deep ravines, the fog, the dense smoke, and the apparent and often real confusion
of troops moving in different directions under different orders utterly precludes the possibility
of a correct, detailed observation of battle." And that is the sentence I want to focus in
on. "Utterly precludes the possibility of a correct
and detailed observation of a battle." The fighting at Gettysburg, as was true on
all battlefields of this war, was chaos, was confusion, was full of thick smoke. The fighting on Oak Ridge was especially confusing
because on this narrow shelf of land called Oak Ridge, there would be elements of two
different brigades moving back and forth and switching positions; they were attack by various
Confederate brigades from the North, from the South, West, East, and from the Northeast
as well. Attacks coming in at different times, from
different directions as well. So we're going to do our best to make sense
of this fighting that Wednesday afternoon July first on 1863. Alright, well we know, because we study the
battle, that on that Wednesday the armies will collide here to the North and West of
the town of Gettysburg. Looking behind you, you might see the outskirts
of town, the Northern outskirts of Gettysburg. Oftentimes you'll hear that it was a small,
sleepy little village, which isn't exactly true. Gettysburg was the seat of government for
Adams County, seven churches, a number of newspapers, two institutions of higher learning,
were in that town. 2400 people called Gettysburg their home. Well on that Wednesday, July first, Confederate
troops under A.P Hill and Richard Yule, would be drawing in towards the town of Gettysburg
respectively from the West and from the North. Robert E Lee had embarked upon his campaign
of invasion one month previously, back in June. He had come North hoping to draw the Union
army out of Virginia and bring it to battle somewhere in the North. But when he discovered that the Union army
was actually much closer than he had thought, he'll issue orders for his various commanders
to converge, but he gave those commanders very specific instructions. Until the army has fully reunited, until his
three corps and his division of cavalry are all back together, he wanted to avoid a battle. So he told his corps commanders, including
A.P Hill and Richard Yule, "if you spot the enemy, do not bring on a general battle." Well that's what happened that Wednesday. In your younger days, did you ever do something
you were told not to do? Yeah? Well, this is largely why the battle of Gettysburg
resulted; because several of Lee's subordinates did what they were expressly told not to do. It happened first that morning when Confederate
troops approached from the West, and it would continue that afternoon when Confederate troops
arrived from the North. Those are the Confederate troops I wanted
to focus in on, and we will now be making our way up toward their position on the Peace
Light monument on Oak Hill, but before we move away I want you to know that this ridge
line where we're standing, oak ridge, has witnessed substantial changes over the years
since the time of the battle. If the soldiers could come back today in 2014,
they might not be able to place where they were exactly on this ridge. Oak Ridge is the northernmost extension of
Seminary Ridge, in fact if we were to turn around and walk this way, we would make our
way south through a tree lot and sometimes you'll hear that tree lot referred to as Sheed's
woods. Other times you'll hear it referred to as
Will's woods, and today I'm going to refer to it as Will's woods. If we make our way through that woodlot, we'll
soon be crossing the line of the unfinished railroad cut, then crossing the Chambersburg
pike as we continue to make our way South past the Seminary building and all the way
down to the Virginia monument. So we are on that same ridge line that runs
North to South, just to the West of the town of Gettysburg. There was of course no tour road at the time
of the battle, there was no parking lot, there was no observation deck. When they built these tour roads they would
alter the landscape. There was a grove of trees where we're standing,
and most likely this little grove of trees extended all the way out towards Mummasburg
road. There were also a number of fences that criss-crossed
along this ridge. There was a stone fence that ran on top of
the ridge line, now today there are stone walls there, but at the time most likely that
stone wall would have come in at an angle from the Mummasburg road as it followed along
the crest of the ridge toward Will's woods. There was a post and rail fence on the South
side of this grove, there was a post and rail fence along the Mummasburg road, there was
a rider fence further to the South. So it's oftentimes tricky when we try to make
sense of the fighting up here when you read accounts from soldiers saying "we lined up
behind a stone fence." Which one, you know? There were so many. So keep that in mind, and now let's make our
way North towards Oak Hill. We're standing here on a pretty dominating
piece of terrain called Oak Hill, this is actually the dominating military position
on the first day's battlefield. In order to truly appreciate or understand
the stand that Robinson's division made just to our South along the Oak Ridge, just a brief
little recap of what led the armies here. Robert E Lee led his army North into Pennsylvania,
they advanced on the Western side of the South Mountain range, which we can see rising up
to our South, amid the haze and the humidity of this hot summer afternoon. Lee's army crossed into Pennsylvania on the
distant side of those mountains and when he got into Pennsylvania, well it was like opening
up an umbrella. Lee's army spread out across Southern Pennsylvania;
elements of Lee's army made it 35 miles to York, towards the East, Harrisburg, 35 miles
to the North, Carlisle to the North, and Chambersburg. It was in Chambersburg, 30 miles to the West
of Gettysburg where Lee discovered that the Union army was closing in fast, or at least
faster than he had expected. So he gave the orders to do what? To close that umbrella, to bring all of the
various elements back together, and looking at a map there's little question as to why
he selected Gettysburg. Gettysburg, with its vast road network, 10
different roads leading into and out of this town. He told his men again, to avoid contact with
any enemy force. Now on June 30th, the advance of the Confederate
army was closing in in a place called Cashtown 8 miles to the west of Gettysburg commanded
by A.P Hill, the third army corps, a total of about 8000 troops. As they closed in from the West another element
of Lee's army under Richard Yule were coming in from the North, and specifically I want
to focus in on two of those divisions. 8000 men commanded by Robert Emmet Rhodes,
and another 5500 men commanded by Jubal Early. Now Richard Yule is their commander, he is
brand new to corps command, he is trying to fill the shoes left vacant from Stonewall
Jackson who had falled at Chancellorsville, and on June the 29th apparently Richard Yule
was having a tough time making sense of Lee's instructions, because on that day he received
a note from Lee saying that "we are to converge, we are to make our way either toward Cashtown
or Gettysburg as circumstances might dictate." And if we are to believe a Confederate general
named Isaac Trimble, Richard Yule was scratching his head wondering what in the world Lee meant
by that, "as circumstances might dictate." So on June 30th, Yule met with Rhodes and
he met with Early, two of his divisional commanders, and they agreed that on July first, the following
day, they are gonna march toward Cashtown, so they began to make their way from East
to West, closing in on Cashtown where A.P Hill's men were stacking up. But on the morning of July first Richard Yule
received another note, this one from A.P Hill, that morning A.P Hill has decided that with
15000 men he is gonna move in from Cashtown and approach Gettysburg along that Chambersburg
pike. He notified Yule of this, he sent one of his
couriers galloping up to find Yule, and at that moment Yule was at a place called Middletown,
today it's known as Biglerville, a small town a few miles North of Gettysburg. When Richard Yule discovered that A.P Hill
was moving in on Gettysburg, well the circumstances dictated that he also go there. So what he's gonna do is take his two divisions
and turn them to the left, and they began to advance on Gettysburg, this time from the
North. So moving in first would be the 8000 men of
Rhodes' division; 5 brigades. There was another division in Lee's army that
had 5 brigades; George Pickett's division. Two of those brigades had been left behind
at Richmond at the outset of the campaign. So Rhodes would lead his 8000 men South along
what is today route 34. At the time it was the Carlisle road. Advancing further to the East of Rhodes would
be Early's men, Jubal Early's 5500 men making their way towards Gettysburg along the Harrisburg
road, today business route 15. So we begin to see the closing of that umbrella,
as the Confederate troops are making their way towards this place called Gettysburg. On June 30th the advance of the Union army
had arrived in Gettysburg, the 2800 horsemen belonging to John Buford's command. Buford was screening the advance of the left
wing of the army of the Potomac. The left wing was composed of the 1st, 3rd,
and 11th army corps, and they were under the overall command of John Fulton Reynolds. Well on June 30th the left wing of the Union
army began to approach the Mason-Dixon line, arriving at a place called Emmetsburg and
later called Marsh Creek, just a few miles South of Gettysburg. Screening their advance would be Buford's
men, and as Buford galloped North along that Emmetsburg road he could not help but notice
the ground South of Gettysburg. From this vantage point, if you look to the
South behind us, we have a better view of the town; Gettysburg. And just on the South end of town you can
see a rise that is known as Cemetery Hill. If you see the large brick steeple to the
right of that, some of you might see a blue watertower. Is that blue water tower visible to everybody? That is on the East side of Cemetery Hill. And Cemetery Hill, the ground will descend
along Cemetery ridge, and if you look just immediately to your right, along this road,
following this SUV as it makes its way towards Gettysburg, just about right now that SUV
is in front of the tall obelisk monument with the eagle on top, can you all see that monument? If you look in the distance behind that monument
you might see trees, and you might notice as those trees climb, that is actually the
Northern end of Big Round Top towards the South. So the ground South of Gettysburg was very
good, defensive terrain. With the RoundTops, with Cemetery Ridge, with
Cemetery Hill, and John Buford was very good at what he did, and he knew the Confederate
army was closing in quick towards Gettysburg. He knew the Union army was only a few miles
South, so he'll make a decision to try to block the Confederate approach long enough
to give the supporting infantry time to get here. Buford's men will arrange themselves along
the roads that led from the West and from the North, along McPhearson ridge, along Herr
ridge further to the West, and on July 1st A.P Hill's men will make contact with the
advanced skirmish line under Buford. Buford's men are pushed back, they almost
reach their breaking point, when the first army corps arrived. John Fulton Reynolds in command of the first
corps will lead Wadsworth's division into the fight, deploying Cutler's brigade and
the Iron Brigade along McPherson ridge and in the distant tree lot that we can see rising
up to our South. The Iron Brigade will drive back James Archer's
men, the Iron Brigade along with other regiments from Cutler's brigade will drive back Joe
Davis's Confederates, and after a sharp fight round one went to the Union. But during that engagement, John Reynolds
was killed. And when the commander of the first corps
went down, Abner Doubleday will take his place. Doubleday was the ranking officer of the first
corps, but Doubleday doesn't really know what Reynolds was intending to do, only that Reynolds
would have wanted the soldiers to defend the ridge lines to the West of Gettysburg. So if we were to stand here and look to our
South, in the distance you can see vehicles traveling along a busy road; that is route
30. At the time it would have been the Cashtown
or Chambersburg pike. You'll see a large barn flanked by white wood
on either side of it, that's the Edward McPherson barn. On either side of the barn are the various
arms of McPherson ridge. In the trees South of that barn is where Doubleday
would have placed the Iron Brigade. Further to the South would have went regiments
of Catman Bittle's brigade. Colonel Royce Stone's brigade is drawn up
in position just to the right of that barn, and Cutler's brigade is going to redeploy
on the fields to the North of an unfinished railroad cut. Now just on our side of route 30, about 100
yards to the North of it runs that unfinished railroad cut, and Cutler's men would be deployed
in the fields North of that, their right flank extending towards us. So the soldiers of the first corps were arranged
all looking to the West, okay, they're on either side of the Chambersburg pike because
that was the direction that A.P Hill's men were advancing. Harry Heathe, at the forefront of A.P Hill's
attack, had gone ahead and violated Lee's orders not to bring on a battle by doing exactly
that that morning. Just after 11am Harry Heathe was reforming
his vision at a place called Herr ridge, about 3/4 of a mile to the West of McPherson ridge. There he rallied the elements of Archer's
and Davis's brigade, and there he will be when Robert E Lee showed up a few hours later,
demanding to know what had happened. But Harry Heathe would not be the only one
to violate Lee's orders that day, because not only were Confederates coming in from
the West, they were coming in from the North also. So let's go back to Richard Yule. On the morning of July 1st when he found out
that A.P Hill was headed into Gettysburg, Richard Yule decided that he was going to
do the same thing. He turned his two divisions to the South and
now they're approaching Gettysburg from this direction. He also thought it best to notify Robert E.
Lee of this change in plans. So he would send his step-son, Campbell Brown,
to go find Robert E. Lee, and Brown will find Lee at Cashtown. Lee looked at him and the first thing he asked
was whether or not Richard Yule had heard anything from Jeb Stewart, the cavalry commander
who was absent. Because the Union troops, the enemy, were
here, and Stewart wasn't, so Lee doesn't have a good understanding or idea of exactly who
was to his front. Campbell Brown said no, Yule had not heard
from Stewart but he wanted Lee to know that he is going to be moving towards Gettysburg,
"Very well, go back and remind Richard Yule not to bring on an engagement"; he does not
want a battle. So just after 12 O'clock noon, Campbell Brown,
the staff officer, is gonna come galloping back and he will locate Richard Yule right
here on Oak Hill. When Yule arrived on Oak Hill with the advance
of Robert Rhodes 8000 man division, well they have arrived at the most important military
position on the first day's battlefield, Oak Hill. And imagine you were with them, you were on
horseback, and you're among that small cavalcade of staff officers. When you galloped up to Oak Hill and looked
to the South, what do you see? You see the exposed right flank of the First
Army corps just extending towards you, what an inviting opportunity; to move South and
you could roll up the first corps as you did so. But not only that; there are more Union troops
arriving on the scene. Just about 11AM, soldiers of the 11th army
corps will begin to make their way through the town of Gettysburg. Their commander was Oliver Howard, 33 year
old hard fighting officer from Maine. When Oliver Howard arrived in the town he
made his way to the top of a building on Baltimore street, where he watched the action unfolding,
and he was on that rooftop when an officer galloped up, looked up, and asked "are you
Howard?" "Yes" "Well guess what, you are now in command
of the field because Reynolds is dead". So Oliver Howard will make his way back through
the streets of town and back towards Cemetery Hill. He turned to one of his officers up there,
and he looked at him and said "this seems to be a good position". General Howard, this is the only position. Cemetery Hill is the key ground. So Oliver Howard is gonna designate one of
his divisions to hold Cemetery Hill just in case. Oliver Howard is going to designate one of
his three divisions as a reserve, as a fall back force on Cemetery Hill. His other two divisions will make their way
through the streets of town being cheered on by the people of Gettysburg, they have
turned out by the hundreds offering water and baked goods and cheering on these troops
for the Union. It was Oliver Howard's hope that he could
get through town and link up directly with the right flank of the first corps and secure
this hilltop. But when his men began to advance through
the streets of Gettysburg they saw that Confederates had already occupied the hill. Rhodes division, along with Richard Yule. When Rhodes and Yule arrived on this high
ground, they ordered up their artillery, the 16 cannons belonging to Thomas Carter's battalion,
they will ring the hillside and they began to fire South, and they began to fire towards
the East towards the advancing troops. Richard Yule knows his instructions not to
bring on a fight, but at that moment he is going to misinterpret what he saw. Not only did he see the 11th corps moving
out, he believed he was going to come under attack at this very minute, looking to the
South they saw two Union regiments emerging from the trees, the Will's woods. They saw the 12th Pennsylvania and the 97th
New York infantry, a heavy skirmish force. Those two regiments belonged to Robinson's
division. Robinson's division was the final division
of the first corps to arrive here at Gettysburg that morning. Originally Abner Doubleday will assign them
as the corps reserve. So the 2500 men of Robinson's division came
into position around the Lutheran Seminary building, there Robinson told one of his brigades
under Gabriel Paul to begin building barricades. So they began digging into the earth, they
began tearing down fence rails and building a defensive line on the West side of the seminary
building. One of those soldiers engaged in the building
of the barricades was Abner Small. Abner Small noticed Confederate artillery
fire coming from the North, and then he looked up into the Copola of the seminary building,
and all he saw were arms and fingers point up towards the North. Union officers up in that Copola wanted attention
drawn to the fact that a new Confederate threat was heading towards Oak Hill. The 8000 troops under Rhodes. So in response to that Doubleday is going
to turn to Robinson and say "get one of you brigades North to deal with that developing
threat, and if possible link up with the 11th corps that's arriving as well". So the 11th Pennsylvania and the 97th New
York was the advance of Robinson's division as they made their way from the Seminary North
along the ridge line and they emerged from those trees. As soon as they step forward from the trees
they come under a pretty heavy musket fire from Confederate skirmishers that had been
advanced towards the Mummasburg road behind us. So the battle's beginning to escalate. On the plains beneath this hill, we can see
the large barn and home belonging to Moses McClean. One of Rhodes's brigades is down in that flat
area, George Dole's brigade. Doles was directed to provide cover on the
left flank of Rhodes's division, and in advance of Doles' brigade would have been a sharpshooter
battalion commanded by Eugene Blackford. Musket fire picks up down there as the 11th
army corps deploys and begins making their way towards Oak Hill. The 45th New York infantry gets engaged with
a lively firefight with the skirmishers. So what do you do now if you're Richard Yule? What do you do now if you're Robert Rhodes? You've arrived on this hilltop, you look South,
and you see the right flank of the first corps. You look to your left and you see the 11th
corps arriving, and then you see the Union troops pushing their way towards you. Well they believed that they were going to
come under attack, so instead of waiting to be assaulted they decided it was best to strike
first. So disregarding Lee's orders not to bring
on a fight, that's exactly what Rhodes and Yule decide to do. What Robert Rhodes wanted to do was align
three of his brigades with Edward O'Neil's Alabamian's on the left, Alfred Iverson's
Carolinians in the middle, and Junius Daniel's North Carolinians to the right rear of Iverson. These three brigades will begin to advance
South off of Oak Hill and rolling up the first corps as they went. Robert Rhodes was a good officer. 6'2, Douglas Southhall Freeman called him
that "Viking God", this wasn't one of his best performances. In fact, his attack from Oak Hill will be
ill coordinated and ill led. His former brigade, the brigade that he led
at South Mountain and in the Sunken Road at Antietam, was in the command of Edward O'Neil. It seems as though Rhodes had little faith
in O'Neil's ability. So Rhodes is gonna make his way just on this
side of Oak Hill, and he will begin to interfere, if you will, with that brigade. He pulls the 5th Alabama out of line, and
he will send them down towards the McClean farm, he'll pull the 3rd Alabama out and send
them way over to Judius Daniels men, forming up on the West side of Oak Hill. The other three regiments of O'Neil's brigade
began to step off and make their way along the Eastern end of Oak Hill and on towards
Oak Ridge, and towards those two Union regiments advancing from the trees. By the time they got there they would find
much more than that. They would find an entire Union brigade lined
up and ready to meet their assault. So, everyone enjoying the shade, the wind? Enjoy it a moment longer, because we're going
to make our way all the way back, okay? Made our way back here toward Oak Ridge and
we're in the shade of this tower. John Robinson, you can see his monument just
here to our South, standing atop the pedestal looking over his sector of the field here
at Oak Ridge. And John Robinson would have been on horseback
that afternoon. Born in 1817 in New York, he attended West
Point but in 1835 he was dismissed from the academy. It didn't stop him from pursuing a career
in the army, and in 1839 he reentered the army as a lieutenant, he served in Mexico,
he served throughout the 1850s on various frontier posts, he established himself as
a hard fighting commander. A soldier whose troops respected and whose
superiors respected as well. He'll advance in rank from brigade to divisional
command, and here at Gettysburg he turned in a fine performance in overseeing and organizing
the defense of this ridge line with his two undersized brigades, about 2500 men total. Robinson is going to stay with the army during
its reorganization the following year, but at the battle of Laurel Hill in May of 1864
his left kneecap was shattered by a musket ball, and that required amputation. His days of active field command would be
over following that fight, but he stayed with the army, he stayed in various capacities,
he served on Friedman's bureau in North Carolina after the war, he went back to New York, he
served as Lieutenant Governor, he was the commander of the grand army of the Republic. So he certainly put in a lot of service during
his lifetime. Maybe it was Abner Small who put it best about
John Robinson. His description was "In a much bearded army,
he was the hairiest man I ever saw", and you see that beard in that monument as well. So Robinson, if you recall, his men arrived
here just as the fighting was ending between Harry Heathe and Wadsworth's division. And even as Doubleday was reforming a new
line of defense on McPherson ridge, he assigned Robinson's men as a core reserve. But once it was apparent that Confederate
troops are arriving to the North on Oak Hill, he will turn to Robinson to deal with the
new developing threat. So Robinson initially is going to pull one
of his brigades under Henry Bagster, and Bagster's men, he had 6 regiments, will leave the seminary,
make their way North across the Chambersburg Pike, make their way across that Railroad
cut, and through the trees of Will's woods. It was the hope not only to deal with this
developing threat on Oak Hill, but also to link up with the 11th army core, which was
now arriving on the plains of Gettysburg here just to the North of town. Now Henry Bagster, here's a photograph of
Bagster, commanding half of Robinson's division, he was born in 1821 in New York, though he
grew up mostly in Michigan. Yes, 1821, so that probably made him the oldest
looking 42 year old you ever saw. Just 42 years old. Now I'm only 6 years away from 42 but I think
there's a reason. He served well, he entered the army as a captain
in the 7th Michigan, He was shot in the abdomen during the 7 days battles, he was shot through
the lung at Fresdricksburg, the following year at the wilderness he'll be shot again
in the leg. So he certainly paid for his service in uniform,
sustaining 3 wounds, and he'll pass away just 10 years after the war ended at 52, and I
have to think that the war had something to do with that. Bagster was a good brigade commander, and
he will lead his men North, but Robinson will largely be the one directing the shots here. They'll begin to arrive, they'll push back
Rhodes skirmishers, but it wasn't long before Robinson saw an attack coming towards this
position. That was the first of Rhodes's brigades under
Edward O'Neil, and if you look off to your left just to the North of us, O'Neil's men
would have been arranged mostly along the East slope of Oak Hill between the red barn
and the tour road on the top. They'd have been advancing directly towards
us. Now there are some who think that the right
flank of O'Neil would have extended up towards the Mummasburg road as they made their way
South, but either way only 3 of O'Neil's 5 regiments participated in this attack, and
O'Neil was not with them, he remained in the rear. And as these men began to make their way South
they thought that their right flank would have been covered or protected by Iverson's
men, but Iverson's men, as we'll learn in just a few minutes, were not at that moment
moving forwards, and keeping up. So O'Neil's men were advancing alone, and
as they advanced from North to South, their left flank is open and vulnerable to Union
11th corps troops, especially the 45th New York that was aligned in a heavy skirmish
force on the fields just at the base of the hill. Two batteries of the 11th core under Hubrick
Dilger and I believe William Wheeler arrived, they began to throw shot and shell into the
left flank and even canister into the left flank of O'Neil's attack. Their left flank is sustaining heavy casualties,
and soon they will come under a terrific volume of musketry on their front. Baxter's brigade is going to deploy with its
left on top of the ridge, and running down the side of the hill. On the far right of his line would have been
the 88th Pennsylvania across the Mummasburg road, perhaps just about where we see these
vehicles, and linking up with the 45th. So a very heavy firefight broke out on both
sides; neither left many accounts of this, it just seemed to be over and done with in
10 or 15 minutes. Most likely Baxter's men would have been along
the road itself, and behind the fences that lined the roadway, and again the trees would
have extended all the way out towards the road as well. So O'Neil's 3 regiments are going to sustain
a heavy rate of loss within just 10-15 minutes, and what was left of those 3 regiments will
turn and make their way, disappearing in the trees of Oak Hill in the distance. That first attack by Rhodes had been repulsed
quite easily by Baxter's brigade, so far, so good for the Union. That morning, Wadsworth's men had turned back
Archer's brigade and Davinson's brigade. Now Robinson's division, with the help of
the 11th corps, had turned back O'Neil's brigade as well. But even as the fighting was beginning to
dwindle down on this side of Oak Ridge, there was a new threat. There was an entire brigade advancing towards
this position, not from the North, but now from the West. It's important for us to get out and see the
battlefield because you can't get this from a map. If you were to stand here along the slope
of the ridge and look to your left, you couldn't see a thing coming from that direction. But Robinson spotted a brigade of 1200 or
so North Carolinians bearing down across the fields to the West of us. So he is gonna pull Baxter's regiments and
he is gonna take them from facing North and turn them and wield them into a position of
top of the ridge extending South towards Will's woods. So we're gonna make our way along that new
line, and if nothing else, let's try to get this finished before the thunder and rain
comes. Now as I mentioned at the very outset of the
program, the terrain up here at Oak Ridge has witnessed some changes over the years,
also to your front to the west of us looking in that direction, the John Forney farm would
have stood just a few hundred yards away, in fact if you look at the opposite ridge
line where you see the monuments rising up for some of Buford's regiments, that is called
the Forney ridge, and just on the other side of that ridge would have stood the Forney
house and barn. it was behind the house and barn in the trees
where Iverson's men were forming up for their attack. Now the hope was that O'Neil and Iverson was
move together in unison, together at the same time. But as it happened O'Neil, for whatever reason,
stepped forward first, or at least that is the most commonly accepted interpretation
of the event. Some believe that Iverson went forward first
and then O'Neil. Like Abner Small said in the beginning, right? It's impossible for a completely 100% observation
of the battle. Either way, O'Neil most likely has been turned
back and Bagster's regiments will go from facing North and align themselves atop Oak
Ridge behind you. So just looking to the East you can see the
very top of Oak Ridge, and look how deceptive this ridge line is, I mean some of our vehicles
are completely missing from view. We're only about maybe 80-90 yards in front
of Oak Ridge. So if we can't see our vehicles, guess what? A lot of these Confederate soldiers had no
idea that just along the top of that ridge and behind that stone wall would have been
an entire brigade of Union troops, 6 regiments strong. Initially only the 11th Pennsylvania and 97th
New York were deployed on the West side, or facing West along Oak Ridge. We can see their monuments, there's a red
vehicle parked next to the 97th New York monument, and to the right of that is the 11th Pennsylvania. So those 2 regiments were in position on top
of the ridge, and they were facing to the West, but now here come the other 4 regiments
of Baxter's brigade. On the far right of the line would have been
the 90th Pennsylvania, they would have formed up, actually their right flank was on the
other side of the Mummasburg road. This is not a straight line, it's almost running
on a diagonal if you will. So the 90th PA is in position just about where
you see the "do not enter" sign over here, and Baxter's line would have continued to
the South along the ridge and towards the trees of Will's woods. The 97th New York, one of the officers left
a pretty telling description of their position when he said that most of the men in the 97th
New York were on the reverse side of the slope of this ridge, and they had to stand on the
tops of their feet just to see the Confederates coming towards them. So they are very well protected and almost
hidden from view behind that ridge line. Iverson's men would have stepped forward to
the attack, and advanced straight across, heading directly towards our position. The 20th, the 23rd, the 12th and the 5th North
Carolina infantry advancing directly towards us would get into a little sway of ground
directly below here when the Union officers behind you gave the order to fire. It was a sudden, unexpected blast. Hundreds of North Carolinians fell with that
opening volley, falling backwards just as we stand. A fierce fire broke out from the front from
Baxter's men, and soon the soldiers of Gabriel Paul's brigade arrived from Robinson's division. They will form up on either side of Baxter
and add the weight of their numbers to the destruction of Iverson's brigade. Iverson, like O'Neil, did not advance with
his men. He was back behind the Forney farm. But at least he was trying to get help for
his brigade. He was turning to Juneas Daniel's brigade,
which at that moment was advancing behind him and moving towards the South. He was calling on him to give help and support
for his brigade, which now was trapped out here. He was also calling upon Rhodes and O'Neil
to lend their support to the attack as well. For just a few bloody and savage minutes,
the firefight would have been kept up before different officers from different regiments
would give the command for their men to charge forward. Soldiers from the 88th PA would have charged
directly towards us, and towards the prone North Carolinians, lying on the ground, almost
helpless. Raising whatever they could; a shirt, their
boots, and surrendering. So the Union troops would have come out and
captured hundreds of North Carolina soldiers. Two of the flags, the 23rd and 24th North
Carolina, were captured as well. As the men from Robinson's division charged
forwards to take all of these prisoners, Confederate artillery fire began to ring out once again
from Oak Hill, firing towards these Union troops. O'Neil's men are organized for another strike
South, so even as the Union troops had charged forwards and were now in the process of taking
back these North Carolina prisoners, there's a new threat emerging from Oak Hill towards
their right flank. So soldiers of the 88th PA and 90th PA turn
to face north, they'll charge across the Mummasburg road and capture the flag of the 26th Alabama,
and some of the Confederate bullets and artillery shells that were being fired were striking
down the Confederate prisoners who were being led to the rear. So O'Neil's brigade had gone forward and was
repulsed, Iverson's brigade had gone forward and was repulsed, but Robert Rhodes was not
giving up just yet. He would organize for yet another attack,
and at this moment Robert E Lee was also organizing for an attack. Now that morning Lee thought he had made it
clear when he told his subordinates not to bring on a battle; well that's what Harry
Heathe did and if you look off to the West you might see the red roof of the Herr tavern. Now Harry Heathe's division was back there,
and Heathe and his men were watching as Rhode's division was getting turned back brigade by
brigade, and Harry Heathe is gonna turn to Robert E Lee and say "look, the first corps
troops to my front are turning to meet Rhodes, if I go forwards they won't be able to do
that, let me attack". And Robert E Lee said "No, I'm not ready to
bring on an engagement " Longstreet isn't here, his first corps wasn't here, he still
had not heard from Stewart, his cavalry commander. So Rhode's men are going about this rather
on their own hook. But just about 2:30 maybe 3 O'clock that afternoon
Robert E Lee, he learned that Jubal early's division, remember Early? He was advancing into Gettysburg along that
Harrisburg road, he would soon be arriving, and he would be arriving on the right flank
of the 11th corps line. So when we heard that Early is moving South
that Rhode's was eager to resume his fight, and Heathe was ready to resume his attack,
Robert E Lee would attempt to take control of the situation that had gotten out of hand,
and he gave the orders for an all out assault. So even after Iverson's men had been turned
back, Rhodes is gonna organize for another attack. That one would be led by Steven Ranjer's brigade,
just about 1100 veteran North Carolina troops. Ranjer's men will organize for their attack
even as Harry Heathe was stepping off from Herr ridge with his brigades, under Pettigrew
and Brockenbrough. Behind Heathe would have been 7500 other Confederates
from William Dorsey Penders division. So this was the moment where the floodgates
opened, and you have a line of Confederates advancing towards Gettysburg stretching all
the way from South of the Herr tavern all the way across to the other side of Blocker's
knoll. So they just would have all descended upon
Gettysburg like an avalanche, and in the way the outnumber soldiers of the 1st and 11th
corps. About 25,000 Confederates would be moving
down upon about 16,000 Union troops. Not only are there Union troops reaching the
end of their limit, especially the first corps men, but a lot of them are out of ammunition
as well. Behind you is the monument to the 12th Massachusets,
the cylinder monument with the flag draped across. At the base of that monument I want you to
take a look at the empty cartridge box. It tells a lot about what these soldiers remembered
about being up here. They fought until everyone one of their bullets
was gone. So John Robinson, knowing that the Confederates
are organizing for another attack, is hearing now that most of Baxter's regiments are completely
out of bullets. So he is gonna have to hold onto that ridge
line with fewer men. We're gonna go finish our story back where
we began at the Robinson monument. Alright folks because of the heat this afternoon
I did cut out a rather large part of my introduction so I didn't really get into the whole campaign,
so we're gonna end just a little bit earlier than usual for these battle walk programs,
which is good because I have a feeling that these clouds are gonna open up any time now. John Robinson had been called upon to defend
the right flank of the first corps here on Oak Ridge, and his leading brigade under Henry
Baxter had arrived, and it was Baxter's men alone who turned back O'Neil, and it was Baxter's
men who largely turned back Iverson as well. After keeping up a heavy and hot fire for
that amount of time, they were almost completely out of bullets, as that empty cartridge box
on the 12th Massachusetts monument tells us. But as they were helping to turn back Iverson,
Robinson's second brigade arrived, and that was commanded by Gabriel Paul. This is a prewar image of Gabriel Paul, he
was born in St. Louis Missouri, and he came from a rather long and distinguished family
of French ancestry. Some of his ancestors, and I believe his grandfather
had served with Napoleon; he was a West Pointer, in fact he graduated in the year 1835, the
same year that Robinson, his divisional commander, was expelled. Gabriel Paul served with the US army for 28
years prior to Gettysburg. He served in Mexico where he would be brevited
for his gallantry, at Chipoltipec, where he captured a Mexican army flag. He would serve in various frontier posts,
and at the start of the war he was in charge of the department of New Mexico. He turned back some Confederate forces in
New Mexico in early 1862, but he was hopeful of gaining a higher promotion. So in the spring of 1862 Gabriel Paul traveled
East, and he was assigned to the defenses of Washington where he became an inspector. In the meantime his wife Louise several times
visited the White House, now these were the days when you could just go and call upon
the President with a request. But it wasn't Gabriel Paul who did it, it
was Louise Paul, and several times she went to visit Abraham Lincoln and in late August
Abraham Lincoln left a note to himself that said "today, Mrs. Major Paul arrived, she
is quite the saucy woman, and I'm afraid she'll keep bothering me until I make her husband
a general". Unfortunately for Gabriel Paul, that is the
most widely known anecdote about his career in the service. His almost 30 years in uniform, the thought
being that it was because of the actions of his wife that made him a brigadier general. I like to think it was his long and distinguished
service record more than anything else, but he did become a brigade commander, he served
at Fredricksburg, he was in reserve at Chancellorsville, and after the army was reshuffled and reorganized
after Chancellorsville Gabriel Paul was assigned to one of Robinson's brigades. So the men don't really know him, but they
would come to respect him, they would get to know his background, and here he would
lead his brigade North from the seminary. When he saw Baxter's men facing to the West,
Gabriel Paul is gonna put two of his regiments, the 107th New York and the 16th Maine, on
the left of Baxter, and he's gonna put two of his regiments on the right of Baxter, the
104th Pennsylvania and the 13th Massachusetts. So he has divided his brigade to provide support
on either end of Baxter's line. He would have been somewhere around here,
where we're standing, helping to place the men of the 104th PA when he sustained a horrific
wound. On horseback, a bullet will tear into his
head; it entered about an inch behind his right eye and it will exit through his left
eye socket. In an instant he lost both of his eyes, his
sense of smell and his sense of hearing were impaired, and when they saw him topple to
the ground with this gruesome head wound, the men believed that he had been killed in
battle. Somehow Paul survived, and he will live for
the next 23 years. Of course, in darkness, and only with the
help and support of his wife, Louise. He died in 1886, and the final years of his
life were not happy ones. He suffered from migraines, he developed seizures,
epileptic seizures, and at some points near the end of his life Gabriel Paul sustained
up to 6 seizures a day. Here's a postwar image of Paul after his wound
here at Gettysburg. He died in May of 1886 and the attending physician
said that he died because of his Gettysburg wound. The question is, just how many did give their
lives during this 4 year war, and when do we stop counting? Gabriel Paul sustained a mortal wound here
on day one at Gettysburg, it took 8300 days for that wound to finally claim his life,
but either way when Gabriel Paul was removed from the field it was left to Robinson to
continue to direct the action here. He pulled four of Baxter's regiments completely
out of line because they were completely out of bullets. He will send them back into Will's woods;
they would continue to make their way South towards that railroad cut. Essentially it was left to Paul's 4 regiments
and the 2 other regiments from Baxter's brigade to deal with this new oncoming tide. Imagine what was going through their head,
because here we have a good view of what's happening on the fields immediately to the
East of us, on those plains of Gettysburg. We would have seen Jubal Early's men, stampeding
down the Harrisburg road and crushing the right flank of the 11th corps. The soldiers of the 11th corps are putting
up a tough fight, but Early's men have struck them on the flank and they begin to roll up
towards the town of Gettysburg. Beneath us on these open fields, we would
have seen soldiers in blue running for their lives back towards the streets of town. Behind us, well remember Harry, he has driven
the iron brigade, and Bittle's men, and Stone's men from McPhearson ridge, and they have pushed
them all the way back towards Seminary ridge, where the Union troops of the first corps
will make one more stand. When Dorsey Pender's division arrived and
moved forward, Pender's men will drive back the first corps from Seminary ridge. Behind Robinson, to the South, the first corps
is retreating. Beneath Robinson to the East, the 11th corps
is retreating. Now his line, his L-shaped line on Oak Ridge,
was the last stand of the Union army on July first. Two of his regiments are sloping downhill
firing to the North, the other four regiments are aligned to the top of the ridge firing
to the West, as here comes a new grey tide. Ramser's brigade, now Steven Ramser was one
of Rhode's best brigade commanders; he'll organize his 1100 men for the fight, O'Neil's
Alabama troops, many of them will join up with this attack. To the right of Ramser, Junius Daniel will
continue to bear down toward Will's woods, so the Confederates are closing in like a
vise, and Robinson's men are in the middle of it. Firing to the West, firing to the North, as
Confederates are getting closer and closer, coming in from both sides. At this moment, Abner Doubleday, in command
of the first corps, will send a staff officer up here to find Robinson, "get your men out,
there's a retreat, get them out along this ridge line". Head back towards the safety of cemetery hill
on the South side of town. So Robinson will begin to extract his men
from Oak Ridge as they began to fall back towards the South and toward the streets of
town. To help cover his retreat, he is going to
need a regiment to sacrifice itself in order to buy some time. As it turned out, that regiment was the 16th
Maine infantry, about 275 men strong when the day began. Originally the 16th Maine are in position
very near the Will's woods to our South, and Robinson must have been around them when he
got Doubleday's order to retreat. He looked down at the colonel, as the 16th
Maine began to fall back along the side of the ridge, he looked at the colonel and he
pointed towards the ridge and he said "hold that ground at any cost", "General, we can't
hold that position, you might as well send a corporal's guard to hold the line against
these Confederates" "Never mind that, obey your orders and hold the ground at all costs". Robinson will then gallop into the trees and
disappear from view as the colonel of the 16th Maine, Charles Tilden, turned to his
officers and he said "Well, you know what those orders mean", and they all understood
what it meant. They were to be sacrificed to buy time for
the rest of Robinson's men to evacuate. Even as the other 5 regiments of Robinson's
division left and headed back toward town and the safety of cemetery hill, as they were
falling back the 16th Maine charged forward. Imagine what was going through their heads,
as they looked behind them and all the other soldiers in blue are heading to the rear,
and they look to their front and closing in from all sides, Confederate soldiers. They took up a position just near the Mummasberg
road, they planted the colors at an angle in the stone wall, and there for about 10
minutes they held their ground, exchanging fire with Ramser's men, and with the 3rd Alabama. Beneath them Confederates from Georgia are
getting on the Mummasburg road and almost behind them. After about 10 minutes Tilden believed enough
time had been bought, and he ordered his men to get out, so they fall back. Some of the men in the regiment were very
proud to say it was an orderly retreat. They stopped every now and then to fire back,
other members of the regiment said it was "every man for himself". Racing their way back along the edge of the
ridge and back towards that railroad cut. As they arrived in the railroad cut, just
behind, today where the Pizza hut is, perhaps a little bit to the West of there, they looked
across the Chambersberg pike, and they would have seen Confederates from Pender's division
sweeping toward town. Just on their heels would have been men from
Alabama and North Carolina. They are being surrounded. Soldiers from North Carolina, from Daniel's
brigade begin to fire at them from along the cut, so the soldiers turn to colonel Tilden
with orders. What do we do now? Do we try to run for it, or do we make a stand? Some of the regiment decided to take their
chances, and they fled heading back toward town. Tilden was determined that he is not going
to go that route. One of his officers came up to him and said
"we can't let them capture our flags colonel". So they began to tear up the flags, the American
flag and the state of Maine flag. The soldiers there would have taken bits and
pieces of those shredded flags, kept them in their pockets, as the Confederate army
closed in around them. A soldier from Alabama leveled his musket
at Tilden and demanded that he surrender; instead he put his sword in the ground and
broke it off at the hilt, instead of surrendering his sword. Of those 275 men of the 16th Maine, about
38 of them made it back to cemetery hill. All the others were casualties that day, most
of them prisoners of war, being led to the South. Tilden was captured, he was taken to Libby
prison, where he was confined until the winter of 64'. He then escaped from Libby, along the famous
Rose tunnel. Andy Dufrain in Shawshank Redemption. He made his way out. He returned to the regiment, where they gave
him a brand new horse to replace the one that had been killed at Gettysburg. In August of 64' he was captured again at
Weldon railroad near Petersburg. As he was being led to the rear, guess what
he did, again? He escaped. Most of the men from Maine who were captured
would spend the duration of the war in prisoner of war camps. John Robinson's division does not receive
enough attention on day one at Gettysburg. Oftentimes when we think about day one we
think about McPherson ridge, we think of the iron brigade, and so on. His men are going to be able to hold Oak Ridge
against repeated attacks for about 3 and a half hours that Wednesday afternoon. They would be the last Union troops to abandon
the fields North and West of Gettysburg. When George Meade filed his campaign report
on the battle of Gettysburg, there was absolutely no mention whatsoever of Robinson's division. Not a single word was said about the actions
of the Union's 2500 men. So imagine how Robinson felt, and how the
men felt when they read that report. They had been overlooked, they had been forgotten. So Robinson sat down and he penned a response
to George Meade, and he reminded George Meade what his men did that Wednesday, and he told
George Meade that no soldiers ever fought better. I want to thank you so much for your time
this afternoon, we have made it thought the storm, please enjoy the rest of your day here
at Gettysburg battlefield.
