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Day 3: Pickett's Charge (Confederate side):
"The flags flutter and snap -- the sunlight flashes from the officers' swords -- low words of command are heard -- and thus in perfect order, this gallant array of gallant men marches straight down into the valley of Death!"
-- Pvt. Randolph Sherwell, CSA, 8th Virginia Infantry
About 3:00pm, following a furious two-hour cannonade, Confederate infantry launched a massive frontal assault from this ridge against the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge ahead. The Confederates who comprised this section of the line were Virginians commanded by Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett.
The Southern attackers, 12,000 strong, surged forward in a line of battle a mile long. As they marched across the Emmitsburg Road and approached the enemy line, the Federals raked them with deadly canister and musket fire. Nevertheless, with unsurpassed courage, the Southerners pressed on.
Pickett's men gained a small lodgment in the Union line at the Angle, but could not hold it. Casualties mounted, and the attack lost momentum. By 4:00pm, Confederate survivors came streaming back to the shelter of this ridge. The Confederate ride had reached its high water mark.
Gen. Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, accepted responsibility for the failure of Pickett's Charge. "This has been my fault," he told Pickett. "I thought my men were invincible."
Atop the Virginia Memorial behind you, General Lee, mounted on his favorite horse, "Traveler," looks toward the Union line. Below him stand Virginia soldiers representing the infantry, artillery, and cavalry. The memorial was dedicated in 1917.
The famous assault here was named for Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett who commanded three Virginia brigades. In response to General Longstreet's fatal order, Pickett replied, "General, I shall lead my division on."
(1) Ziegler's Grove: The most prominent landmark on Cemetery Ridge. The Confederates directed their attack against that section of the Union line running from here south to the Copse of Trees.
(2) Emmitsburg Road: Fences bordering this sunken road impeded the advance of Confederate infantry.
(3) The Angle: Here, where a stone wall makes a 90 degree turn, Confederates broke through the Union line. In one of the most desperate engagements of the war, the Southerners were beaten back.
(4) Copse of Trees: Also known as the "Clump of Trees."
(5) Point of the Woods: You may walk a short path to this point where General Lee rode out to console his defeated men. A wayside exhibit describes the scene. |