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The Great Battle of Gettysburg


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Mackubin Thomas Owens

6/30/13

 

Robert E. Lees smashing victory against Major General Joseph Hookers Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville in May 1863 provided the Confederacy with three strategic options: shift resources from Virginia to Mississippi in order to revive Vicksburg, the Rebel redoubt on the Mississippi River; reinforce Braxton Braggs Army of Tennessee, enabling him to reprise his 1862 invasion of Kentucky and maneuver the Union Army of the Cumberland under William Rosecrans out of its position in central Tennessee; or invade Pennsylvania.

 

But after Chancellorsville, it was probably too late to affect the outcome at Vicksburg, because the siege was already under way. (Vicksburg would fall on the Fourth of July.) And it didnt make sense to detach forces from the Confederacys only successful field army, the Army of Northern Virginia, under its only successful general, Lee, and send them to other generals whose competence was questionable. In the end, Lee effectively made the case to Confederate president Jefferson Davis that the best use of limited Confederate resources was to invade Pennsylvania. As he had done in the fall of 1862, Lee intended to effect a strategic turning movement, draw the Yankees out of Virginia, and annihilate a Federal army on Union soil, forcing Lincoln to sue for peace.

 

After the Seven Days Battles on the Virginia Peninsula in June 1862, Lee had organized his Army of Northern Virginia into two corps, the first commanded by General James Longstreet and the second by General Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson. After Jacksons death at Chancellorsville, Lee reorganized the army into three corps: I Corps under Longstreet, II Corps under James Ewell, and III Corps under Ambrose Powell Hill. The latter two had been excellent division commanders. However, their elevation to corps command was an example of the Peter Principle at work: promotion to a level above ones competence. Lee would sorely miss Jackson in Pennsylvania.

 

(Snip)

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And at the risk of being a homer

 

One episode stands out on the second day at Gettysburg. At the height of the fighting, Cadmus Wilcoxs fresh Alabama brigade of 1,500 men, pursuing the shattered remnants of Sickless corps, was on the verge of penetrating the Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge. Union commanders including Hancock rushed reinforcements forward to plug the gap, but at a critical juncture, the only available troops were eight companies 262 men of the First Minnesota Volunteers. Pointing to the Alabamans battle flags, Hancock shouted to the regiments colonel, Do you see those colors? Take them.

 

As the First Minnesotas colonel later related, Every man realized in an instant what that order meant death or wounds to us all; the sacrifice of the regiment to gain a few minutes time and save the position, and probably the battlefield and every man saw and accepted the necessity for the sacrifice.

 

The Minnesotans did not capture the colors of the Alabama brigade, but the shock of their attack broke the Confederates momentum and bought critical time at the cost of 215 killed and wounded, including the colonel and all but three of his officers. The position was held, but in short order the First Minnesota ceased to exist, suffering a casualty rate of 82 percent, the highest of the war for any Union regiment in a single engagement. All told, some 9,000 troops on each side became casualties on July 2.

 

 

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