The Planning of Pickett's Charge - Anniversary Campfire Talk with Ranger Matt Atkinson and Son

[Applause] [Laughter] explain what we're about to do what I'm going to talk about today tonight is the planning of Pickett's Charge I don't know how many of you people came out here wantin to see oh hello how many of you came out here expecting you know to go through the entire attack in other words I'm actually just gonna take them to the Emmitsburg Road so in other words I've told everybody I could in the visitor center this is a lot of minutia you know this is the stuff leading up to it this is the hardest thing to get out usually in a battle is what they it is soldiers write about what happened soldiers don't write about what was supposed to happen we're very rarely do they walk you know so I'm looking I have to look pretty deep you know different sources and there's some things now try to tell you this when I come across them there's some things I have to step out on a limb in order to do in other words it's a kind of a guessing game but I don't think it's I think sometimes we over complicate the Battle of Gettysburg - you know it was in robert e lee's anybody generals best interest to just keep it simple stupid you know so when they when you talk about Pickers charge I think they're they're not trying to complicate it it's not it's not this involved planned that you might think but nevertheless when I go through all the mistakes here I'm fully aware that I've had how many years is it this year 150 156 years I've had a hundred and fifty six years to get through this okay that's a lot of time to figure out who made a mistake all right you have to remember that when they're when I'm talking about planning this thing right here when I'm talking about planting Pickers charge they probably have maybe six hours in order to do it so I want you to keep in the back of your mind I'll give you a legal pad and I'll tell you we don't take twelve thousand men across this field and you plant it you know I was watching a interview with Colonel Tom Parker the other day somebody said they've been to Tupelo recently and Colonel Parker was asked Elvis's manager was asked well why you know some people feel that you held Elvis's career back Parker looked at the camera and says won't you tell them we go managing then it's a whole lot easier to do you know everybody thinks they can run a baseball team so to speak I still didn't get that picture from Culp's heels I don't guess I'm gonna get one em all right running the slide and he's gonna be reading some clothes we don't run across too many big words right here all right so right there this is July 3rd this is not July 2nd now if you look at robert e lee's report house pairs on the internet lee simply states when he gets to the night of July 2nd I'm warning it to by thirst whoa so general plan was unchanged he wrote this meant simply the Confederate armies would renew its offensive plan on July 2nd psy attacking both flanks as a union line simultaneously whoa Longstreet reinforced by pickets three brigades was directed to attack the next morning in the quote in other words the divisions of major generals John Bell hood Lafayette McLaws reinforced by Pickett's divisions would attack the Union left again on July 30 it's the same thing as July 2nd that is how they start out with this planned we believe that the grounds became this is kind of cool been here on the anniversary and not far from here he believed the ground that he gained at the peach orchard would give him a good platform an area to launch the assault on July 3rd the attack would ignore the round tops in case you're wondering about that and strike the southern end of Cemetery Ridge in other words I think they're trying to hit where the Pennsylvania Monument is you wouldn't want to attack up the mountains in conjunction with Longstreet's attack general richard s eul's core is prepared to renew this final call tale we hope that the combined pressure on the Union flanks might lead to a greater tactical opportunity if not a great group of the enemy line ever Porter Alexander leader Longstreet that's him right there Laney Longstreet has not met the previous night a lot of people a lot of scholars point that out Longstreet that lead does not leave the night is your life second as far as we can tell I don't know if that's a barometer of what they were where their relationship was at the time but it may be or may not see so now they're not meeting may have led to some confusion about the plan of attack however there is no doubt that an attacks order was issued on the night of July 2nd during the evening of July 2nd Italian artillery commander EP Alexander visited Longstreet headquarters and recall quote I was told that we would renew the assault early in the morning that tickets division would arrive and would assault the enemy's lines my impression is the exact point Court was not designated but I was told it was to be to our left of the tee Georges alright so remember the Confederates hold the peach orchard the part today does not interpret that the part today interprets Dan sickles holding the peach Oscars but on July 3rd the Confederates have it we would cause mass confusion I'm not saying the parts good because we would have canons pointing is two different directions you know which is already confusing enough the battle that is in another recollection Alexander remembered his orders quote in brief that our present position was to be held in the attacking mood as soon as Pickett arrived and he was expected early Campbell Brown and a dome general you'll staff this is over box hotel shared Alexander's recollection on the night of the second Brown Road we received word that the attack would be renewed at daylight of the third by Longstreet this is brown is Richard su Lee's corps commanders episode so he would be at headquarters we were to cooperate ground sad-ass before by opening with artillery and engaging the attention of the enemy as far as possible all right when Lee arrived at Longstreet's headquarters at early dawn cannon fire from Culp's Hill area announce that fighting had resumed in that quarters Longstreet recalled he began the conversation by saying and a lot of you have heard this but you need to hear it again alright and now I give you general Longstreet Channel all night and I find that you still have an excellent opportunity to move around to the right of Meade's army and maneuver him into attacking he replied pointing his fist at Cemetery Hill the enemy is there and I'm going to strike him I felt that it was my duty to express my conviction and said general I've been a soldier all my life I have been what soldiers engaged in fights by couple by squad company regiments divisions and army and to know as well as anyone what's orders can do it is my opinion that no 15,000 men ever arrayed for battle can take that position pointing to zone 3 though General Lee in reply to this order to meet this Ruggiero pickets the vision for the attack I should have not so urgent and had I not foreseen that I must say a word against the sacrifice of mine men and then I thought that my record would or could not misconstrue my motives I said no more but turned away most of the morning was consumed and waiting for pick a food and getting into position longtree later wrote in his autobiography all right Longstreet's lack of preparation for renewing the assaults on July 3rd Lea plan must have irritated the tired army commander and now a senior corps commander was proposing a movement completely contrary to his wishes regardless he had to deal with the present situation fuels assault must halt in order for a coordinated attack to be executed a courier carrying orders to disengage wrote swiftly to you'll around Pope's Hill but the message arrived too late Jules Court already assumed the offensive rendering Li's grand plan for a coordinated attack impossible in long streaks men were not in position by the time you launches his offensive at cocktails in fact Pickett's division had not even arrived yet or for that matter even roused from its campground in the rear boards getting up in a position in the postwar years Longstreet glossed over Pickett not being in place in his memoirs he went so far as to insinuate that he had received that he had received no orders for renewing the offensive and that Lee should have order pick it to the front but even Wall Street staunchest defender which I can think of William G piston [Music] [Music] so at least a chance of success and one of the most charitable statements of any battle is for lease status general Longstreet's disposition we're not completed as was expected but before notice could be sent to general Ewell he had already become engaged and it was too late to recall him all right so what ends up happening is those Confederates over on Culp's Hill they attack straight forward and they get slaughtered for nothing those long streets not up and ready despite the miscarriage of the original attack designs we still held out hope that law Street's first court could renew the offensive lien long street with their respective staffs rode out to the peach orchard to reckon over the Union position in this life the groups included aides Charles Venable Walter Taylor Al long and eventually ap Hill and Henry Heath what transpired at the conference became a matter of debate in the postwar years this is what is happening Colonel Taylor least chief of staff said then he remembered the attack plan that quote Longstreet should endeavour to force the enemy's lines in his front in other words Longstreet is supposed to renew the assault from where his troops are this is not pig as charged as you know it is supposed to be the ground they gained from day two he tortured Devil's Danette cetera and they're supposed to be augmented those troops are already there looking the claws are augmented by Pickett and they'll assault from there the front was held by the divisions of hood and McLaws to strengthen him for the undertaking it was decided to reinforce him by such troops as to be drawn from the center taylor further states that quote the cause of the apprehensions of general Longstreet that his Corps was not strong enough for the move that general Hill was called upon to reinforce him as additional proof Taylor points to general AP Hill's report that his troops were quote to report to lieutenant general Longstreet to loot it to report the Longstreet quote as a support to his Corps in the assault on the enemy's lines in the quota sparse Lee's understanding of the role of hood and McLaws divisions Colonel Charles Venable claimed he called his attention to it long afterward after the Battle of Gettysburg was over when there was discussion about it and leave reportedly said when Venable pushed the point about Longstreet not including McLaws and good Lee reportedly said I know it I know I know that was the strange thing about a you know how it go off on tangents the strange thing about it is as far as this conference and the peach orchard is the presence of Henry Heep though and now I can't understand well if you don't recall let me back up just tell the story on July 1st the first day of the battle Harry Henry or Harry he's riding forward probably around the McPherson farm and a piece of a Union shell explodes somewhere around him a piece of shrapnel ricochets off his skull that's the problem [Laughter] so with he's got a concussion the only reason that Harry Heath has arrived alive is he had a brand new Hattie it picked up in Chambersburg and he put a piece of newspaper in it to make it fit and that's where that piece of shrapnel struck him writing that sweatband right there and that newspaper saved his life I don't what my point is I don't understand why Heath can be at that conference but he can't assume command of the division I don't have an answer for that I'm just pointing that out that's always been odd to me we'll be out there but whatever is happening out here whatever is happening at this conference and throughout this program what I want you to sense is there is tension between him and him I'm looking at a lot of couples out here all right and you know what I'm talking about all right so there's a lot thank you Ben there's a lot of tension between here and here I once went to see the Black Crowes one time in Memphis Tennessee and some guy had a laser pointer they had just invented them right there and they kept pointing to Adam and finally Chris Robinson gets on the microphone and goes hey man it's not cool whoever's got the laser pointer all right give me a man to summarize the plan of assault called for Longstreet's first-quarter hood McLaws and Pickett's division to attack the southern end of Cemetery Ridge AP Hill's infantry probably Pettigrew's division was to serve as a support to the attack to long streaks left the exact role of Pickett's division and this plan is not known I told you I didn't know everything out here perhaps they're Virginians were to support McLaws and hoods division you know back them up well possibly they were to bridge the gap between McLaws left flank and Pettigrew's right wing essentially the same place they ended up for the final assault as we know as Pickett's Charge therefore the questions remains if this many Confederate officers at that peach orchard had the same recollection regarding the elements of the plan why did it not take place as generally intended it read that out love you know salt should be bait on your front by your corpse reinforced by he's the vision and two brigades of Major General General William your sheep Enders my recollection is to take part in the insult and I never did understand my hood and McLaws okay Walter Taylor least chief of staff writes James Longstreet after the war general Longstreet why did the plan that we agreed upon in the pea tortures not take place as it was supposed to be why did hood and McLaws not join in that assault next slide inquiry [Music] [Music] discussion regarding the planning for the attack and the tailor long and Venable were not present at these further discussions whatever happens please report encapsulate the thought process that led to the second plan for been and I want to tell you how it's a generational thing as Ben doesn't know curses this generation doesn't know how to read it well go ahead all right general Longstreet was delayed by a horse occupying the high rocky hills on the enemy's extreme left all right what are those high rocky hills round tops from which his troops could be attacked in Reverse as they advanced his operation have been embarrassed that they previous by the same cause and he now deemed it necessary to defend his flank and rear with the divisions of hood and McLaws he was therefore reinforced by his division that's gonna be Pettigrew and two brigades from Pender's to the command of which major general Trimble was assigned General Hill was directed to hold his line with the rest of his commands a for general Longstreet further assistance if required and availed himself of any success that might be gained right there and there you have the shift Longstreet argues with Lee that he can attack with hood and McLaws because the round tops so what becomes and appear with me so what becomes a full-throated Confederate attack is supposed to go forward right here I need to other people make this work come on I need one more and you got McLaws division and then you got Pickett and then you got Pettigrew's right here so what generally intended was for us three was for us three right here to be the main assault and if anything happened good then Pettigrew the gentleman in green is going to join us what ends up happening as a result of Longstreet and Lee arguing out there debating whatever you want to call it is that Lee argues Lee is argued out of using hood and McLaws and what ends up happening is the attack shifts to the north to here until where it is Pickett's division and now the guys that were supposed to be the support troops Pettigrew's divisions support troops are now part of the main assault so all he did well he gonna make this assault I don't know if y'all got that through your head yet but he's gonna make this assault for better or worse we don't make it okay he shifts the entire assault to the north and that's how we end up in with Piggy's charges we know it today it's an evolution and it left a lot of veterans after the war completely confused as to what transpired there is about to even get more difficult thank you all right okay another interesting the largely overlooked aspect to pick is charges the time of the planned assault despite Pickett's division not being in position on the morning of the 3rd the evidence all those scans suggest that Lee wanted to the assault to begin on the morning of July 3rd at some point Liam formule that Longstreet's attack would begin at 10 o'clock ten o'clock in the morning that is in fuels report why would Richard s you'll just come up with that time out of thin blue air unless somebody came to him and told him we're going to attack it's an o'clock when Lee designated the 10 o'clock hour for the attack to begin is not known a logical assumption would be that the time was designated in the early morning hours that you'll was notified of this at the same time he was directed to delay his offensive because Longstreet was not prepared if this is correct Longstreet would have had four or five hours to make his preparations Lee postpones the assault because Longstreet and Pickett aren't in position it is improbable that Longstreet was not aware of this time and had very likely helped set the time for the attack why would generally in Longstreet not be together on the time at the assault will begin I cannot Battlement the new attack plan necessitated the shifting of many units especially the artillery Confederate units began to deploy on Cemetery Ridge around mid morning for AP Alexander is usually a pretty good judge of time being an engineer quote a clump of trees in the enemy's line was pointed out to me it's a proposed point of our attack which I was incorrectly told was the cemetery of the town when the Confederates talked about attacking the cemetery they're confused they don't know where the cemetery they think Cemetery Ridge is the actual cemetery keep that in mind they've never read other works out there about not and I was told about 9:00 a.m. that I should begin to post for the cannonade about ten o'clock seventy-five guns from Longstreet's artillery was posted for action by 10:00 o'clock as far as the infantry major Charles Payton commanding the remnants of Richard B Garnett's Brigade after the charge stated the Pickett's division arrived at seminary Ridge at nine o'clock the puzzling aspect is why the assault did not go forward at ten o'clock in the morning Herr Lee's timetable tickets men were on the field the artillery was in position and yet Longstreet gave no order to attack all right have you ever fault and I never could when I wrote that however many years ago the thing I could never figure out about Pickett's Charge is why you take perfectly Goods infantry you take perfectly good infantry such as these Virginians and you literally March them out in the middle of a field and let them sit there in the Blazing Sun in those uniforms for the next four hours maybe five hours if they step off it let's say two o'clock or somewhere around there maybe 2:30 they get out there around 9:00 9:00 to 10:00 o'clock all right they aren't we it's one of the few accounts that I find where you actually have soldiers describing sunstroke with men throwing up and that this salt handing begun when it got him a shot going yet and these men are just bawling out there in that Sun the reason they took Pickett's division and deployed him that early is that Pickett's men weren't supposed to sit there for four to five hours they would have never brought him out there if they'd had known that they would have kept them in the shade but well whatever reason long Street does not order that thing to go forward regardless of the reason though the right-wing did not attack at 10 a.m. if you'll was alerted to the delay it came too late for a 10 o'clock in the morning of July 3rd he executed his orders and he attacked the brigades of George Stewart Junius Daniels James Walker assaulted the entrenched Union positions along the lower face and crest of Culp's Hill and it was a useless effusion of blood him it's like the revives 10 o'clock assault plan also apparently removed any contemplation of using hood and McLaws division which eliminated up to 9700 men from the attacking force this reduced the total size of the assault from General Lee's original composition by 42% of the available infantry the front narrowed as far as the assault from approximately a mile to a half a mile with the objective becoming a celluloid on Cemetery Ridge where small cups of trees stood in the center in the end Lee placed a total of 11 brigades at Longstreet's the disposal for the final assault plan or roughly a total of thirteen thousand five hundred men and you've got to know what you think about it a lot of you know this you want to be out here or maybe you don't James J Pettigrew's division which is 60% of that 13,000 right there give or take a few points you got your calculators out there the majority of the assault force but they have been heavily hit on July 1st those troops should have never been in that assault I don't know if y'all ever been stressed in your life but you know you generally need to have time to recuperate and that's the same as combat once you put soldiers through combat you know it's just they need time for R&R you know if you look at the if you look at the battle like Stalingrad where you got people to stop for months on in I mean they just they just weird things happens placing the people under that much stress right there Tedy Bruschi should've been in there I don't know why it was alright the cops are treat I mean if you've ever heard of this what was the objective point of Lee's grand assault much confusion has resulted from Confederate commanders using the word Cemetery Hill Cemetery Ridge all right Alexander as I stated did not realize his error until 1907 and he had the wrong place if you look at the cops of trees you know show me in the next left if you look at the cops of trees from the Emmitsburg Road Pickett's staff officer his chief of staff George Pickett keep the staff Walter Harrison returned to the Gettysburg battlefield in 1894 Harrison explained to our first historian John Bachelder quote what an important feature that cops the trees was at the time of the battle and how it had been a landmark toward which Longstreet's assault of July 3rd have been directed Harrison as Pickett's as acting assistant and inspector general surely knew the objective of Pickett's division I mean I don't I don't I cannot come up with one reason he would invent that or make it up some scholars contend that the cops was not large enough a landmark for the Confederates to align upon from seminary Ridge this is correct to a certain extent the bettered artillery and high-ranking officers could see the cops of trees from seminary Ridge and focus their attention on that area but Pickett's men could not see the cops from their starting point so as already stated the Kaduri barn that big barn in front of stop 15 served as the initial guide for piggish division after crossing the Emmitsburg Road that brigades especially kippers from Pickett's division needed a new guide point and the cops of trees serve that purpose now this is interesting this is basically from seminary Ridge here's the Bryant farm here's the tree of knowledge y'all don't know that one right here's the angle here's the cost of trees here's the us us regulars monument right over here you got all this now what I'm talking about is this right here which most people never even pick up on furthermore the alignment of the attack points to the cops of trees as the terrain feature guiding the attack fry this is from Pettigrew's division being the brigade of direction only had to maintain a straight approach in order for the rest of the brigades from Pettigrew and pick it to a line on his flanks the support line of the assault supplies more evidence the three rear brigades in the assault led by Armistead Lawrence and Lane all initially started at the center of the assault column the brigades were placed to give weight to the of the assault collar to exploit any break through the first line of brigades made at what point did the second line initially head toward the cops of trees so what I'm telling you is this fence right here I have no proof for this so you go back to the bar and you can say the old man he's as full as a Christmas goose right here but this fence which was here not the exact fans it's not the one they're dismantling tonight on the war maps which is some of our earliest maps of this battlefield that fence is right particularly in the perfect spot to guide Fry's Brigade all the way to the angle in the cops a treat all Frye has to do is follow the fence and when he follows the fence everybody to his left and everybody to his right guides toward him they got center right that's why your front which probably I'm getting out in the weeds I told y'all would do this that goes from the North Carolina Monument all the way almost down to the peach orchard that's how it gets so much smaller as it comes across the field because they're all coming toward the center if everybody took off in a straight line they'd be all over the place you have to have a guide and Fry's brigade is going to be that and now I think I don't know why they wouldn't use the fence is going right where they want to go I can't fathom who knows all right so there you go I don't have the fence on there but it's close okay where's all like doing okay let me get my bearings here here's a treat you know what more do I have to say people there you know it's not a fluke that twelve thirteen thousand men end up at that point I mean it just can't be a fluke I mean they all get there for some reason you know now the privates don't know why they're doing they're not supposed to know while they're doing their privates but look at that they're all guiding towards cemeteries in the neck what's our Tillery dude where's it all pointed why are all these guns pointed right here if that's not the objective what'd I say keep it simple finally the placement of Confederate artillery in the eventual bombardment lends further support to the assault intended to strike near the cops of trees all right one needs only to look at where the Confederate bombardment inflicted his greatest damage the heaviest losses among Union artillery was suffered by the second quarter that's Hancock of Arnold Cushing Browne and roared these batteries all of which were positioned within a hundred yards of the cops retreat would related in Ziegler's groves several hundred yards to the north of the cops did not sustain the casualties of the other batteries why because Confederate artillery did not target this area as heavily as the objective point of the impending assault the open face of Cemetery Ridge all I'm telling you is of that attack on this day a hundred and fifty six years ago culminated at the designated point it was supposed to straight ahead now let's talk about the two men I've been talking about them so far let's talk about them some more give me another slander that one that's getting a robert e lee on the left that's Ben's namesake middle name [Laughter] and of course James Longstreet the day of July 3rd 1863 forever links Longstreet in the lead they culminated a campaign and in battle that carried all the sails hopes for independence but in one hour it was all over I think his charge passed in the history from the time the guns fell silent Lee sought to stifle all the trimmings in acrimony over the defeat for the most part he was successful but after the war and again after his death Lee's supporters were quick to defend his actions and place elsewhere the blame for the following Pickett's Charge the principle target for these accusations became James Longstreet today Gettysburg bus which I suppose there's a few here today still debate who should bear the lion's share of responsibility for the failures of Pickett's Charge Lee or Longstreet the debate has degenerated in the factional sides any criticism of one party is dismissed by the other as pure partisanship in the end neither lead nor Longstreet is entirely culpable or guiltless Longstreet held tactical control of the operation while robert e lee insisted on its execution as mentioned above Longstreet Lee did not coordinate well Longstreet was not prepared to attack at dawn on July 3rd in his report later writings he made the argument that his proposed march around the Union flank was far more feasible in light of what actually happened to pig as charged this movement has tantalized Gettysburg busts for years despite the obvious and practicality of the entire plan the main point overlooked in all this debate is that Longstreet's failure to have his command ready altered the entire assault timetable despite this setback Lee tried to coordinate with Yule for a 10 o'clock attack but Longstreet still could not complete his preparations and a post-war conversation Lee complained that quote victory would have been won if he could have gotten one decided simultaneous attack on the whole line that's what he's looking to do for two days Lee probably sent verbal orders for renewal of the offensive to Longstreet on the night of July 2nd verbal orders this was a mistake on robert e lee's part ford allowed Longstreet room 4 rushon and there's always potential for the misunderstanding of orders especially verbal ones but this does not excuse Longstreet it's a much aligned Richard you'll could comply with the orders then so could have Longstreet Longstreet knew full well the wishes of his commanding general and he just chose not to follow this I don't know I've got three kids I'm sure if some people out there gotten three kids or a lot of kids maybe more than me I just I just you know I just I've dealt with these types before once we arrived at Longstreet headquarters the two men reckon ordered the proposed assault area this may have been the first time Lee saw the ground although I doubt it during the course of the conversation whatever Longstreet said was sufficient for leader changes mind for two possible reasons the first is that Lee agreed with Longstreet's assessment of the ground and therefore modified the attack plan the second is that Lee was simply tired of dealing with an obstinate subordinate it Lee's best judgment was to attack from the peach orchard and seminary Ridge using four divisions he should not have yielded to James Longstreet that is Lee's decision and that is his decision alone and he must history must rest upon that right there me another slab as far as the actual assault Longstreet felt in the postwar years that he had done everything in his power to communicate the plan of attack to his troops and truly felt that he had meticulously complied with Lee's wishes to a certain extent he did prepares command Newars Confederates from privates to Carlin recalled the briefing before the attack and no other battle in the Civil War did the privates have the expectations playing to them in such detail on a larger scale Longstreet also successfully informed the division commanders and hence the brigade commanders the objective of the assault but as they say quote the devil is in the details Longstreet overlooked many of the minor points that came back to haunt the Confederate Army for instance he appears to have given very little thought to what Confederates would be would do upon breaking through another example is the miscommunication with AP Hill's command Pettigrew's division should obviously having further to move from the North Carolina monument to Cemetery Ridge is a lot further than safe Pickett's division to Cemetery Ridge Pettigrew's division should have moved first because they got the furthers to go and that little small stuff is what comes back and awesome you know law streaks mindset on July 3rd begs a closer look one unguarded exchange with Alexander his chief artillery serves as a window into his mood his biggest division advance Longstreet stated to Alexander I don't want to make this attack I believe it will fail I do not see how it can succeed I would not make it even now but that generally has ordered and expects it everything added together begs the question then how much did Longstreet's attitude affect the planning and operations on July 3rd his attitude when my mother I asked my father I told him I wanted to drive learn how to drive my father promptly showed me work what the riding lawnmower does go out there plant flowers and I probably had four acres to cut on a regular long tractor which took you know three or four hours no flowers were just in the way what my point is though ladies and gentlemen as my work reflected my attitude and if you think about it in your own life you've all been given tastic don't want to do [Laughter] but the truth though you don't you know your work reflects your attitude everybody's had to do stuff that they don't want to do and because of that you know it just goes without saying I don't think I'm going that far out on a limb when I tell you folks that's Wall Street didn't want to do it I think that's pretty clear it by his own words he did not want to do it I don't know longstreet is very consistent about not wanting to make the assault riding that day at Gettysburg was one of the saddest days of my life I foresaw what my men would meet and would gladly have given up my position rather than sharing the responsibilities of that day what does that say in point of fact Longstreet did try to abdicate his position he actually gave the decision to send the infantry forward to a colonel of artillery authors have related the story many times and nevertheless it pays once again to read his message that he sent to a carnival which those of you that have been in the military you know there's a lot of kernels very few generals this is what he read though you don't read this if the artillery fire does not have the effect to live off the enemy we're grateful more or less for that work yep greatly - more like we're greatly demoralize them so as to make our effort pretty certain I would prefer that you not advise general Pickett to make the charge I shall really like a great deal upon your good judgment to determine the matter and shall expect you to let general Pickett know the moment I didn't mean to fall for that I'm just new I need to give you anything else I mean he's a lieutenant general you don't tell a Carl that he's gonna order for probably the biggest assault as the least assault with the biggest stakes at hand independence for one thing Alexander recalled quote having a sudden shock at receiving this message quote which presented the whole business to me in a new light I bet it did Alexander responded that if Longstreet had any alternative to this assault he had better stated before the guns open and Longstreet once again through the decision back on Alexander to verify whether the artillery have made a great enough impact to send the infantry can you imagine on the brink of the greatest assault of the war why don't which the entire stake of the battle impossible independence rides receiving a message from a lieutenant general that you a colonel of artillery are going to order forward the entity you know bridge observer Colonel Arthur Fremantle noted that Wall Street's actions after he'd been sent the first message to Alexander writing quote at noon noon Longstreet's dispositions were made his troops for attack were deployed in the line and lying down in the woods his batteries were ready to open the general then dismounted and went to sleep for a short time wallstreet later explained that he quote wish to study he wished to study for some new thought that might aid the assaulting column yeah all right finally the appointed time came the artillery had done its best now the infantry company forward Alexander had written ticket if you were coming at all you must come at once or I cannot give you proper support but the enemy's fire is not slacking at all now the famous exchange between picot and Longstreet takes place Longstreet recorded the event in these words after I had read the note Pickett said to me general shall I advance my feelings had so overcome me that I would not speak for fear of betraying my want of confidence in him about affirmation and turn to mount my horse right there in retrospect July 3rd marks in the door of James Louis treats leadership during the Civil War Liat net not incorporated many of his plans and suggestions leaving the top lieutenant roading and depressed the previous day his Corps had attacked the federal position against Longstreet's better judgment suffered immense casualties and gained very little ground in his opinion the next day his chief robert e lee asked him to do it again what would you do if you were in James Longstreet position Longstreet looked across that field or saw another sacrifice for the sacrifice of his men and tried everything outside of duty to avoid giving the order to go forward Longstreet did not did not intentionally harm the Confederate chances however like any one tasked with the job they do not want to perform his work reflected this reluctance he many Lee knew that I did not believe that success was possible Longstreet wrote that caring time should be taken to give the troops the benefit of position and grounds and he should have put an officer in charge who had more confidence in his plan when he wrote unfortunately the southern people did not have the full benefit of James Longstreet and his sagacity on July 3rd you know all right Robert II lead when the Lord will forgive me for these following statements bears culpability of his own or the attack after all he insisted on the assault going forward closed ears man if the comparison would've victory at Gettysburg Lee certainly would receive credit what knee right therefore with this meet Robert II leave my share of the blame it's only fair in order to understand the decision we must understand robert e lee's mindset the choice to attack on July 3rd was not if but where he believed that his army had won the 1st and 2nd day of battle he was not going to lead the field without another try this decision constitutes the core of Lee's generalship maintaining the initiative unheralded confidence and supreme audacity over the years many historians have asserted that Lee came to the conclusion to attack Cemetery Ridge because he had tried both flanks and found them strongly defended therefore meat must be weak in the center this is not true as this talk is hopefully shown the idea to attack the center came about from the evolution of the plan in the end least shorten the original attack front and the sole objective became Cemetery Ridge today many visitors look across that open ground and still wonder what was he thinking before the assault Lee rode the ground with the eye of a trained military engineer on the ground of Pickett's advance he saw swells that gave me the full ability to hide the infantry in shorten the distance to the Union lines hopefully the Virginians could close the distance to the enemy before receiving any substantial casualties another slide on Pettigrew in triples front the ground provided no shelter for the advancing troops however the use of land was in some ways unavoidable Lee thought he could compensate for this with an overwhelming artillery bombardment that would enable the infantry to advance without facing counterbattery fire well he's gonna need at this time lead erred in judgment in the troops he chose for the assault his decision as stated earlier is over from the plans ongoing evolution Pettigrew was originally a support not part of the main assault lease should have looked more closely into these troops composition furthermore the number of mentor brigades he planned for did not constitute a large enough assault force for the anticipated impact according to one Confederate Lee held back the rest of Hill's Corps in case Longstreet's attack failed nevertheless he should have strengthened the assault column from somewhere he did not give Longstreet sufficient troops to meet his objective Lee expected Longstreet to rearrange and launch his assault in conjunction with you all at 10 o'clock this time obviously passed without an assault one must wonder what the timetable thrown off and the ability at least on the Coquille front to achieve simultaneous pressure diminished the question becomes why did Robert Ely carry forward with Piggy's charge the answer once again lies in the artillery all right the thing about the artillery that you need to know is the artillery bombardment is not supposed to last for an hour or 45 minutes now a lot of you are probably gonna skip my campfire tomorrow night and go watch fireworks which that decision you will regret but continuously I don't blame you the thing about the artillery is the bombardment is only supposed to last fifteen to twenty minutes and what most people miss about the artillery bombardment it's yes if you knock out the Union artillery you're gonna have a lot easier time the Confederate infantry crossing that field at least a lot less casualties what people are missing though is and what because it never happened so we don't talk about it is literally the artillery was supposed to go forward with the infantry when you people go to McDonald's I was at McDonald's today at 1:30 and somebody told me I was on the front page of the paper I said again and it turned out to be a positive picture I was quite happy about that infantry come out here from that day you all are aware of McDonald's that is roughly where McDonald's is today that's where the 8th Ohio was and the New Yorkers and so forth and what do they do if I'm the tack column and I'm headed in this direction though hi Owens get out here on the Confederate flank around McDonald's and they shoot the left flank of that Confederate assault column into pieces as they come across there the artillery that was physically supposed to go forward with the infantry was supposed to negate that in other words the guns would dash out they protect the flanks of the Confederate infantry as they advanced and the other guns would actually literally gallop in front of the Confederate infantry deploy and provide you modern military people appreciate this they were going to try direct artillery support for the Confederate infantry but what happens the bombardment never never is effective we could do a whole program on that oh why was or wasn't I should say and what does it end up being the Confederates keep shooting because the Union artillery keeps shooting so guess what they shoot up all their MO and so by the time the infantry comes forward you got Captain James Dearing where you walk out from the Virginia Memorial and you get to those cannons right where you start the path across there that we keep mowed right there you look at those guns and there's one armed Major James Dearing one-armed guy on a horse holding a Confederate battle flag on that horse right there riding back and forth among the artilleryman hollering in Armistead's man for God's sake let me replenish my ammunition I'll Drive every Yankee off that hill he doesn't have any guns left in order to do that all right no artillery does not work no Lee noted in his report that he was unaware that the artillery had run out of ammunition and we're unable to reply a render the necessary support for the attacking party one does not know what Lee would have done had he have known about the artillery nevertheless an important part of the plan went on executed finally robert e lee's problem a mistake is his decision in the attack it also lies in the high morale and sense of invincibility he in this man's failed need i tell you i see a lot of sports shirts when i came around and i shook hands tonight all right do you want your team to come out on the field expecting to be defeated or do you want it's a fine line I don't know how to put it but do you want your team to come out there and just be overconfident I mean what is the fine line which one do you want it's hard to hit the medal right there never did a commander show more faith in his men's abilities and robert e lee did on July third though whatever the causes of defeat at Gettysburg Lee's confidence was unshaken and his men all that I could desire or expect in a desert sassette success so far as it can be deserved by her own valour and fortitude Moore may have been required of them then they were able to reform the my admiration of their noble qualities the confidence in their ability to cope successfully with the enemy has suffered no abatement from the issue of this we came to the conclusion the Dennis didn't find our jokes funny [Laughter] especially when I put my knee in Ben's chest and offer to help pool that too throughout a Civil War career Lee exhibited a tendency to make costly frontal attacks especially when faced with a stalemate on a battlefield you get near the end so pay attention while the Confederates attacked at Malvern Hill the wilderness service cases in point the most telling example of robert e lee's aggressiveness is Pickett's Charge pick his charge plain and simple ladies and gentlemen was a bad idea can't sell it to you any other way don't know how to sell it to you any other way biggest charge is the price the South pays aggressive nature now in conclusion Gettysburg ladies and gentlemen on July 3rd 2019 I've got I don't know how many people I've got here tonight but I've got enough people to know that people are still interested in Gettysburg and the battle that Gettysburg some of you are only see during this week for goodness sake this is your vacation there are some questions that we will never be able to answer about the Battle of Gettysburg at least not to a full certain extent I know you go the bars tonight and find plenty of people that are that'll tell you plenty of opinions about that but there is never going to be a complete consensus on whether Dan sickles movement to the peach orchard was the right move or not there is never going to be a consensus about Pickett's charge there's never going to be a consensus about whether the Confederates should have tried to take Cemetery Hill on July 1st should meet up counter-attacked on July 3rd I mean you could just go on and on but what I'm saying is I think these questions keep bringing us back and it's a new generation right through here Ben and I were riding through the battlefield the other day I forget where we were going and he started asking me about these different Confederate units that were out there and whether that was the right decision so a new generation starts pondering these questions right here I cannot tell you ladies and gentlemen in conclusion that when I was Ben's age a little bit younger around 8 or 9 I was really kind of tapping out around 11 but in my parents pasture in Houston Mississippi I used to line up and I would have a little toy musket the same as they sell in the bookstore actually and back then the Ole Miss cheerleaders used to give out these 12 by 18 Confederate battle flags why go down there and get I remember that you know rolling off right there and have all the crowd so anyway I couldn't figure out whether I want to be a flag bearer or an infantryman so I'd stick my flag in my barrel you know a little stick like that now why am I telling you I don't know well I would stick that flag in the barrel and I would march across the field and I had this reader I still has my mother's handwriting in it Matt I cancel first grade to meet Robert Ely reader and in that reader the Confederate infantry stands up and this account and they are ordered not to cheer to give away their in order not to give away their position and robert e lee comes riding by and in this little reader these confederate soldiers take off their hats and respect to general lee before they charge across that field i can't tell you how many times i quote unquote re-enacted that and a pasture in houston mississippi and i would go across the field i don't even know what they were thistles or some kind of weeds or thicker but they became the Yankees and I cleared out a whole probably 20 acres of these things killing y'all all right with the butt of my musket Oh present southerners of excluded of course right here I think what I'm trying to say to you is that even 156 years later Pickett's Charge still captures some element of war and Americanism if you will the climax of the Civil War re I know the other people was on won't get a lot of letters over that but in the American mindset the climax of the American Civil War is Pickett's charge I've often wondered I'm 48 years old now I've often wondered when I look across that field with maturity now and I look back upon when I was 11 years old and Ben's age and I and I try to remember the first time I came here when I was 16 and my parents drove me right down through here my father could have cared less we had a full box of King Edward cigars right deciding what I'm telling you is is the Pickett's Charge I think as Quinton essentially the most famous assault in American history and if I had a time machine I would go back and I wouldn't want to be there during the assault don't get me I'm not crazy but I would love to go back to the morning of that assault and I would love to sit with those somewhere within earshot of Lee and Longstreet and to see actually what happened between those two great men that day what did William Faulkner say I should have brought the quote out for you it hasn't happened yet I'm gonna have to paraphrase it here it doesn't have to happen yet it's not yet two o'clock what did you say the golden domes of Washington loom in the distance everybody on that feel from the Union to the Confederates from the generals to the privates knew what was at stake on July 3rd of 63 and those men from both sides were willing to stand up and despite where since we're talking Confederates let's go this direction the the poor private doesn't know the differences between Lee and Longstreet then he marches out on that field but those Virginians those Mississippians those North Carolinians that are on that field right there those Tennesseans those Alabamians as they march across that field are going across that field because they believe in a higher principle they're willing to die for and on this field in addition to that they believe in a man named robert e lee and no commander from any war can ever ask anything else of his men then the willingness to die what more could you ever ask for a soldier in any war right there robert e lee had that here it's like EP alexander said i we knew it was a desperate thing to attempt but generally had ordered it and if generally had ordered it it must be alright thank you all very much [Applause]

Channel: StuffWriter

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Id: DCX2iZV-e5o

Length: 72min 4sec (4324 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 04 2019