Pickett's Charge

[7shooter]

Today is the anniversary of Pickett's charge on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. General George Pickett attacked the Union center at Cemetary Ridge. Over seven thousand Southern men were lost that day. It is considered the turning point of the war. I had never been in the South until a few years ago and growing up in North Dakota had mainly negative stereotypes of the South. My wife and I drove through most of the southern states taking back roads and stopping in small towns. It is an incredibly beautiful area in a lot of different ways . We also learned that the real name of the Civil War is " The War of Northern Aggression ". Here is a great quote from General Pickett who when asked years later why Pickett's Charge had failed answered "I've always thought the Yankees had something to do with it."

 

[Wheelgunner840]

I have been to Gettysburg several times. To actually stand on the spots where the men began their charge, look over the field, and imagine what it must have been like to rush headlong into that much cannon fire, is just overwhelming. It really does send chills up your spine. You absolutely can feel a certain energy/ prescence there. That is one big open field to be running across under fire.

For those of you who have never been to Gettysburg, I strongly reccomend a visit. Stay away from the touristy stuff, purchase the tour CD, and take your time driving around the entire battlefield while listening to the narrative. I found it amazing and extremely educational. I want to go back again soon.

WG840

 

[badam0112]

we also learned that the real name of the civil war is " the war of northern aggression ". Here is a great quote from general pickett who when asked years later why pickett's charge had failed answered "i've always thought the yankees had something to do with it."

lol!!!

 

[Iggy]

I walked Pickett's Charge and saw The Devil's Den and all of the other POI's over 50 years ago.

I was struck by the bravery of all involved and what each side endured for their beliefs.

They (all of them) were better citizens than we are today.

Most of us wouldn't make a pimple on one their butt's in support of our country today.


If you haven't seen the movie or CD of Gettysburg you should.
I know some of the re-enactors that participated in the filming of that movie. Some of them provided the cannons and crews that were used to film the artillery barrage that proceeded the charge. They were used to firing one or two cannons at a time.They were dumb struck by the noise of and smoke created by the batteries of guns firing at once and they in no way approached the number present at the real battle.

One day they would dressed and equipped as Union gunners, and maybe the next day Confederates and it was quite an experience for them.

Some who had ancestors who participated in the charge, broke down and cried when they realized what their forefathers faced and endured in that charge.

 

[tyusclan]

Gettysburg was the biggest mistake Lee made in the war, and indeed lost the war for him.

To see the sheer genius in the rest of his tactics makes one quietly scratch his head wondering why he thought it would work. Of course, hindsight's 20/20.

I've never had the pleasure of visiting Gettysburg, but it's definitely on my list of places to go.

 

[MTKTM]

I was in DC for a conference a few years ago and had a day to kill, so drove up to Gettysburg. It was early February and the place was dead. A bored ranger saw me and asked if he could accompany me around the battlefield, so we ended up spending about 5 hours doing that. It was great, he kept a running narrative going and I knew enough from my readings about the battle to at least ask some reasonably intelligent questions. I loved finding the very spot where Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine held the Union left flank. We were wandering about in snow, but the battlefield is an amazing place and it was a very memorable day for me. I'd like to go back in the summer to get a better feel for what the men experienced in early July, but the ranger said that the crowds are pretty large during that time-of-the-year.

 

[redlevel]

Over seven thousand Southern men were lost that day.

Just for clarification, that 7000 figure is for total casualties. About 1150 killed on the battlefield, more than 4000 wounded, and as many as 3000 captured are some generally accepted figures. Bad enough.

Gettysburg was the biggest mistake Lee made in the war, and indeed lost the war for him./QUOTE]

You are correct about the mistake, but the "Wah" (properly pronounced to rhyme with "awe" here in the South) was probably never winnable for the South without foreign intervention. General Longstreet took the fall, mainly because the history was written mostly by Virginians, and the deification of Lee started the day after the Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. General Longstreet begged Lee to pull out and march on "Washington City," and choose ground of his own for a fight, but Lee had too much faith in the Army of Northern Virginia. Longstreet said in his memoirs that he told Lee that "no fifteen thousand men ever arrayed for battle can take that position."

My GrGrGrandfather was there, not involved in Pickett's Charge, but involved in the fighting around the Wheat Field and as I recall, Devil's Den.

I used to be a semi-professional "Civil War Buff," taking every WBTS course available while getting a Master's in History, and doing research and writing papers on some family and local people and events. I got burned out on it, and was pretty well disgusted with the PBS/Ken Burns treatment of the Wah. Everybody who watched that became an instant expert, and about 25% of what they thought they knew, and what PBS said, was just wrong.

In early July I still think about my old Great-Great-Grandaddy and what he and the rest of the boys went through, and what they came home to, though.

 

[dennis40x]

The Civil War was not lost at Gettysburg

The Civil War was not lost at Gettysburg. Yes Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia had to make a fighting withdraw (One Continuous Fight The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 – Published by Savas Beatie LLC – 2008).

The war was lost on the 4th of July with the Union Victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. Vicksburg was the more important of the two in reality.

Lee was always looking for the knock out punch which he never delivered against the Army of the Potomac. He came close at Chancellorsville but did not have the combat power to destroy his opponent. At Gettysburg he faced off against the first competent general officer to lead the Army of the Potomac in George Mead.

 

[glypnir]

The Civil War was not lost at Gettysburg. Yes Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia had to make a fighting withdraw (One Continuous Fight The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 – Published by Savas Beatie LLC – 2008).

The war was lost on the 4th of July with the Union Victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. Vicksburg was the more important of the two in reality.

Lee was always looking for the knock out punch which he never delivered against the Army of the Potomac. He came close at Chancellorsville but did not have the combat power to destroy his opponent. At Gettysburg he faced off against the first competent general officer to lead the Army of the Potomac in George Mead.

Yeah, I think you're right. McClellan would have folded his tents after the first day. Mead stayed and fought for four, until Lee ran out of men. If Lee made a mistake, it was to underestimate Mead. And perhaps to overestimate the Army of Northern Virginia vs the Army of the Potomac.

General Pickett understood, at least after the charge, that us Yankees are Americans too.

Longstreet, I think, already knew.

The British troops who attacked Bunker Hill a few years before could have told them. The ones who lived.

I've been to Gettysburg. Antietam, I think, made a bigger impression on me. It's so concentrated, both in time and space. Gettysburg is so big it's hard to get a handle on it all.

I've been meaning to get to Vicksburg, haven't been since I've grown up and left home, and it's not that far from where I live now. Maybe this fall.

What would be fun there would be to try to retrace all the steps of Grant's campaign. What a maze.

Thanks for posting and giving me the opportunity to relive some history.

Although it's much more fun to talk about than it was to do, I'm sure.

 

[cmort666]

I went to Gettysburg with a friend a few years ago.

I speculated on how Pickett would have done had the Union troops had Hotchkiss repeating bolt actions or at least Trapdoor Springfields. They wouldn't have made it out of the assembly area.

I loathe the Confederacy. Like the South, other than the weather in the summer.

 

[oldRoger]

Mead was heavily criticized for initially not wanting to take a stand at Gettysburg. He thought that Lee would start a flanking movement on the right as Longstreet advised. Lee was famous for maneuver not head on charges.
Mead had a line in mind between Gettysburg and Washington where he thought he could bring Lee to a head to head battle.
The last thing anyone expected from Lee was an attack at the center of the Union Line.
Glorious, but was it War?
Gettysburg was a closely run thing as it went, many times the battle could have gone either way.

IMO Lee would have had to withdraw even if the chare had been successful, Union reinforcements were coming up, his supply lines were very long, and Pickett's troops were the last fresh Confederate Forces available. Win or loose Pickett's men would have been seriously mauled.

 

[jimmyj]

Hi:
I am not an "Expert" but I think Lee's idea of smashing the Union center line before the Infantry attack would have worked if the knowledge that the Cannon Fuses from the New Orleans Factory burned slower than the ones from the Richmond Factory which had been destroyed prior in the War. Instead of denonating over the front Union line, most denonated in the rear. With the powder smoke the Observers was unable to correct the error.
Also General Stuart's Cavalry was out of the area prior to thr Battle and Lee did not have the vital intelligences about the Northern strength and position.
Jimmy

 

[red14]

""General Stuart's Cavalry was out of the area prior to thr Battle and Lee did not have the vital intelligences about the Northern strength and position.""

Probably the most significant reason for the loss. Stuart was supposed to reconnoiter and inform Lee about the Union army and it's positions, but he rode off in search of glory and failed Lee. Many speculate Lee would have made a different battle plan or even marched closer to Washington to find a more suitable venue for a battle.

 

[PALADIN85020]

Being somewhat of a Civil War buff (my great-grandfather fought for the Union in the Second Battle of Saltville, VA), I've been to Gettysburg and tramped all over the battle sites there, including the ground over which Pickett's charge took place. It's an awe-inspiring place, and it was a privilege to have been there. I'd like to go again someday with my new-fangled digital SLR to properly record the scenery. If anyone has the slightest interest in the Civil War, Gettysburg is a "must see" if you are anywhere near it.

 

[tops]

To cmort666 that loathes the Confederacy. I am not impressed with your yankee war mongering ancesters that forced their will on me and my people. But I do take comfort in the fact that my ancestors put up a good fight and it took 4 yankees, 4 years to whip 1 Confederate. LARRY, A PROUD CONFEDERATE!

 

[Amici]

Today is the anniversary of Pickett's charge on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. General George Pickett attacked the Union center at Cemetary Ridge. Over seven thousand Southern men were lost that day. It is considered the turning point of the war.

Really? By Virginians or those with only a shallow knowledge of the war, perhaps.

As was already noted, the fall of Vicksburg completed the bifurcation of the Confederacy. However, the failure of Lee's invasion of the North in September, 1862 cost the South recognition as a sovereign state. Had Britain and France done so, and each was quite close to doing so, the Union blockade would have been challenged by the largest sea power on the planet and the balance would have changed dramatically in the South's favor.

The loss at Antietam, followed by another failed invasion a month later, cost the Confederacy foreign support. After that, it was a matter of time and attrition.

We also learned that the real name of the Civil War is " The War of Northern Aggression ".

Only to the disingenuous or deluded. Who fired on whom in Charleston?

Here is a great quote from General Pickett who when asked years later why Pickett's Charge had failed answered "I've always thought the Yankees had something to do with it."

Well, that and catastrophically wrong reasoning by the Confederate commander, who should certainly have known better.

 

[dkees]

Been to Gettysburg 6 times starting in 1963. My wife and I took our 2 boys to the 125th anniversary re-inactment. Although on a much smaller scale the action was amazing. The dirt, dust, smell of the horses, and sounds of battle particularly the cannons was awe inspiring. When the cannons were touched off, one after the other, the ground shook and the smoke covered the entire field.

I would love to work my metal detector around the field but, and rightfully so, they are prohibited. A guide told me that many years ago treasure seekers would bring shovels, picks, etc. and severely damaged the area. Then, when metal detectors became popular, they also caused problems. So, the National Park Service contracted a company to sow the entire site with shredded aluminum which severely limited the usefullness of a detector.

Just my thoughts, I'll be going back again.

 

[cmort666]

To cmort666 that loathes the Confederacy. I am not impressed with your yankee war mongering ancesters that forced their will on me and my people. But I do take comfort in the fact that my ancestors put up a good fight and it took 4 yankees, 4 years to whip 1 Confederate. LARRY, A PROUD CONFEDERATE!

I'm not impressed with your disloyal ancestors who thought they could own my ancestors.

The Germans and Japanese didn't like having the "will" of the civilized forced on them either. They got over it.

I'm glad that fire and sword were used to put an end to all three of those degenerate regimes.

 

[tyusclan]

I see this thread goin' downhill in a hurry.

I was going to respond to a couple of posts, but I think I'll just stay of this one from here on out.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

An article in the recent issue of MHQ takes Lee to task for they way he fought Gettysburg. I like Longstreet's words. When he arrived on the field and saw the Union position, he said:
"If General Meade is there we had better leave him alone."
Lomgstreet commanded the Confederate Left at Fredericksburg, the Stone Wall and Marye's Heights, he recognized at once the strength of Meade's position. If Meade had been more of a hands on commander-for example, had he surveyed the Union left he would have seen why Sickles advanced his III Corps from its initial poor position-the battle would have been even worse for the Confederacy.
I watched the "Pickett's Charge" section of "Gettysburg" the other day, the Union troops
are shouting "Fredericksburg" as the Confederates stagger back. General Henry Hunt, Chief of Artillery of the Army of the Potomac, refused to engage in counterbattery fire, saving his ammunition for the infantry assault he knew would follow.
Meade has been raked over the coals for not pursuing Lee, but the Army of the Potomac had also taken a beating, a Union counterattack would have faced the same difficulties that
Pickett-and Pettigrew, don't forget him-would have faced. The only succesful pursuit in the
Civil War of a defeated army was Thomas' pursuit of Hood after Nashville, that lasted only 10 days, and the Army of Tennessee had already disintegrated.
I have been to Gettysburg as a reenactor (Union), at the 130th in 1993 watching the reenactment of Pickett's Charge, I felt I was going back in time. Visiting any of the Civil War-or Revolutionary War-battlefields-is a moving experience.