o f ^^ttgaburg A BATTLE ODE DESCRIPTIVE OF THE Grand Charge of the Third Day JULY 3, 1863 ROBERT WM. DOUTHAT (Now Professor in the West Virginia University) The Gettysburg 'Battle Lecturer, one of Tickett's Captains, and the only one of the Ten Captains in his Regiment who came out of the Charge unhurt NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1905 ^^ LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two Copies Received NOV 28 1905 Cooy right Entry CLASS O,' XXc. No. COPY D. COPYRIGHT, 1905 BY ROBERT WM. DOUTHAT All Rights Reserved ^thxmtmn To Every Man of Every Nation Who Admires Human Courage Exercised in Favor of his Country This Battle Ode *' GETTYSBURG" Is Respectfully Dedicated By the Author Who was a participant in " The Charge **The Charge," generally known as ** Pickett's Charge," might be called "The Pickett-Pettigrew- Trimble Charge," but, rather than give it so long a name, the world has chosen to give it the name of the commander who led the right wing, partly because Pickett's three brigades were made up of fresh troops, and as such were intended to give direction to the assault ; and partly because in the charge Pickett's^ three brigades suffered most. As a Virginian I scorn the boast that Pickett's Virginians were in anywise more gallant than the Tennesseeans or North Carolinians or Mississippians who were also in the assault. These latter had been in the terrible battle of the first day, and Pickett's men had not been in either the first or second day's battle. Tennesseeans, North Carolin- ians, and Mississippians had suffered greatly on the first day, losing over half their men, and many of those who had been wounded in the battle of the GETTYSBURG first day went into the Great Charge on the third day with bandages on their heads or arms, at sight of which the imperturbable Lee is said to have shed tears. Heaven forbid that Virginians should ever arro- gate to themselves the glory that comes from this Charge ! The glory belongs equally to the men of sister States, and there is certainly glory enough in the Charge for all, for no assault was ever made in all the annals of war more gallant and glorious than The Grand Charge of July jd, i86^. Against Cemetery Hill ! Across the "Broad Falley of Death, Through a Hail of Deadly Missiles, Against an Avalanche of Fire, Over the Breastworks of a Stubborn Foe, Into the Center of Overwhelming Masses of Fed- eral Infantry! Here was a "devotion" of which the Roman of old had never dreamed ; here was a " holocaust " of sacrificial victims, such as Greece had never known! The men who at Marathon and Leuctra bled were not greater heroes than those who fell at Gettys- GETTYSBURG bur^. Napoleon's " Old Guard " never went more grandly to death than did Confederates " against the roaring crown of those dread heights of des- tiny," nor did Wellington command better soldiers than those who under the Stars and Stripes met and repulsed this terrible assault. The Charge described in the " Battle Ode " fol- lowing this Introduction was preceded by a terrific artillery duel of three hundred guns, and this duel lasted about two hours. If you could imagine three hundred thunder- storms, all raging at once, and you yourself with ten thousand other persons in a forest and the lightning striking every other tree and killing- every other man, you would have some idea of how we felt, if not of how we fared, during those two long hours. It was a period of awful suspense, such perhaps as no body of troops in any part of the world ever had to endure. The roar of the battle was heard for more than a hundred miles and mother earth trembled as from an earthquake. Multitudes were killed and wounded on both the Seminary and Cemetery Hills ; and while to those under fire agony seemed to reign supreme, to those at a distance the awful sublimity of the crash and 8 GETTYSBURG roar was as that which shall come " in the wreck of matter and the crash of worlds." Some of the things said by Federals concerning the '' Artillery Duel " : (1) Col. Norman J. Hall, U. S. Army, comd'g Brig., 2d Corps : " The experience of the terrible grandeur of that rain of missiles and that chaos of strange and terror-spreading sounds, unexampled, perhaps, in history, must ever remain undescribable, but can never be forgotten by those who heard it." (2) Gen* I IVinfield Scott Hancock, U. S. Army, comd'g 2d Corps : " The number of the enemy's guns is variously estimated at from 115 to 150. The air was filled with projectiles, there being scarcely an instant but that several were seen bursting at once. No irregularity of ground offered much protection, and the plain in rear of the line of battle was soon swept of everything movable." (3) Col. Chapman Biddle, U. S. Army, 121st Penn., ist Corps: " The fury of the unparalleled artillery fire." (4) Gen' I O. O. Howard, U.S. Army, comd'g 1 ith Corps : " There was safety on Cemetery Hill nowhere : shells were exploding in the earth, in the air, in the rock fences, among the tombstones, and in the caissons — in front, in rear, around us, under us, above us; and one of the Con- federate shells killed and wounded twenty-seven Federal soldiers in one regiment." GETTYSBURG While many men and horses were killed and wounded on the Confederate side during the two hours' cannonade, yet the terror and agony were not all on the one side. Capt. Jno. G. Hazard, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, comd'g Brigade, says, " So great was the loss in officers and men and horses, that it was found necessary to consolidate five batteries into three. In several of these batteries, every officer was either killed or wounded." Cushing's Battery was so completely disabled, that fifty men had to be detailed from 71st Penn. Inf. to help work the guns ; and finally Gushing, wounded in both legs and having only one gun left, had that gun pushed to the front and was held up until " he could serve his last canister into the enemy's ranks." Men were decapitated, disemboweled,— wound- ed in every conceivable manner, — and one Federal cannoneer, J. F. Chase, Steven's Fifth Maine Bat- tery, was wounded forty-eight times. If our 6,000 shells had each done the same amount of damage, there would have been few Union soldiers left to tell of this the mightiest artillery contest that the world has ever known. The artillery battalions and batteries of the 10 GETTYSBURG Confederates which took part in the artillery duel preceding '' The Charge " : I. Those belonging to Longstreet's Corps, extending for one mile in a slight curve, arranged in order from left to right of this page, as one would look at them from the Union side : (') Maj. H. W. Henry's Battalion, i8 Guns, Branch (N. Car.) Bat. German (S. Car.) Bat. Palmetto (S. Car.) Bat. Rowan (N. Car.) Bat. (2) Col. E. P. Alexander's Battalion, Commanded by Maj. Frank Huger, i6 Guns, Ashland (Va.) Bat. Bedford (Va.) Bat. Brooks (S. Car.) Bat. Madison (La.) Bat. A Virginia Battery A Virginia Battery (3) Maj. B. F. Echleman's Battalion, Washington (La.) Artillery, 8 Guns and 2 in reserve, ist Company 2d Company 3d Company 4th Company (4) Maj. Jas. Dearing's Battalion, i8 Guns, Fauquier (Va.) Bat. Hampden (Va.) Bat. Richmond Fayette Bat. A Virginia Battery (5) Col. H. C. Cabell's Battalion, 1 1 Guns, and 4 in reserve, ist N. Car., Bat. A Pulaski (Ga.) Bat. ist Richmond Howitzers Troup (Ga.) Battery GETTYSBURG 11 II. Those belonging to A. P. Hill's Corps, continuing the first mile curve at least another mile, arranged in order from left to right of this page, as one would look at them from the Union side : (■) Maj. W.J. Poague's Battalion, lo Guns, and 6 in reserve, Albemarle (Va.) Bat. Charlotte (N. Car.) Bat. Madison (Miss.) Bat. A Virginia Battery (2) Maj. W.J. Pegram's Battalion, Commanded by Captain Brunson, i6 Guns, and 3 in reserve, Crenshaw (Va.) Bat. Fredericksb'g (Va.) Bat. Letcher (Va.) Bat. Pee Dee (S. Car.) Bat. Purcell (Va.) Bat. Maj. (5) D. G. Mcintosh's Battalion, 17 Guns, Danville (Va.) Bat. Hardaway (Ala.) Bat. 2d Rockbridge (Va.) Bat. A Virginia Battery (4) Maj. John Lane's Sumter Battalion, 17 Guns, Company A. Company B. Company C. (5) Lt. Col. J. J. Garnett's Battalion, 9 Guns, and 6 in reserve, Donaldsonville (La.) Bat. Huger (Va.) Bat. Lewis (Va.) Bat. Norfolk (Va.) Bat. 12 GETTYSBURG The troops engaged in the Charge, from left to right, looked at from Union side, were as follows : Kemper's Brigade, .-3-7-1 -24 Va. | pj^^^^^,^ Division,* Armistead's Brigade, 9-,4-38-5?-57 Va. > Longstreef s Corps. Garnett's Brigade, 8-18-19-28-56 Va. ) Archer's Tenn. Brig., i-7-i4Tenn.; 13 Ala.; 5 Ala. Bat. ) Pettigrew's N. Car. Brig., 11-26-47-52 N. Car. ! Heth's Division, Davis's Miss, Brig., 2-1 1-42 Miss, and 55 N. Car. j A. P. Hill's Corps. Brockenbrough's Va. Brig,, 40-47-55 and 22 Bat. I As supports for Pickett's right flank, there were, Wilcox's Ala. Brig., 8-9-10-1 1-14 Ala. (^ R. H. Anderson's Div., Perry's Fla. Brig., 2-5-8 Fla. ( A. P. Hill's Corps, As supports for Archer's, Pettigrew's, and Davis's Brigades, ■ -..T ^ r> • DO -w, ^ I Pender's Division, Lane sN. Car. Brig., 7-18-28-33-37 N. Car, ( , o -r • c 1 . XT /- D • ^ o XT /- / (Com. bvGen.J.R. Tnm- Scale'sN. Car. Brig., 13-16-22-34-38 N. Car. \ / .;* I ble), A. P. Hill s Corps. * Corse's Brigade of Pickett's Division was not in the Charge, having been left be- hind to help guard the approaches to Richmond, Va. GETTYSBURG 1 3 Some of the things said by Federal officers concerning the " Charge " : /. Maj. Gen' I HemyJ. Hunt, Chief of Federal /trtillery : " The enemy advanced magnificently, unshaken by the shot and shell which tore through his ranks from McGilvery's Battery." 2. Maj. Gen'l IVinfield Scott Hancock, U. S. Army, com- manding 2d Corps : " Their lines were formed with a precision and steadiness that extorted the admiration of the witnesses of that memorable scene." ;?. Brig. Gen' I John Gibbons, U. S. Army, commanding 2d Div., 2d Corps : " As the enemy's front line came up, it was met by such a withering fire of canister and musketry as soon melted it away, but still on they came from behind, pressing for- ward to the wall." 4. Col. Norman J. Hall, U. S. Army, commanding ^d "Brig., 2d Corps : " Twenty battle-flags were captured in the space of 100 yards square." 5. Capt. Andrew Cowan, ist Independent Bat., New York State Vols : " Our artillery fire was quite accurate and did much execution ; still, the rebel line advanced in a most splendid 14 GETTYSBURG manner. I commenced firing canister at 200 yards, and the etTect was greater than I could have anticipated. My last charge (a double-header) literally swept the enemy from my front, being fired at less than 20 yards." 6. Maj. T. IV. Osborn, ist N. Y. Light Artillery Brig., i itb Corps : "We used, according to distance, all descriptions of projectiles, * * * The enemy's advance was most splendid." 7. Brig. Gen! I Alexander Hays, U. S. Army, commanding ^d Div., 2d Corps : " Their march was as steady as if impelled by machinery, unbroken by our artillery, which played upon them a storm of missiles. When within 100 yards of our line of infantry, the fire of our men could no longer be restrained. Four lines rose from behind our stone wall, and when the smoke of our first volley had cleared away, such a Held was pre- sented as could be produced only by the angel of death." 8. Maj. Theodore G. Ellis, U. S. Army, 14th Conn., 2d Corps : " The spectacle of their advance was magnificent." 9. Capt. Henry C. Coates, U. S. Army, ist Minn., 2d Corps : " The enemy marched resolutely in the face of a wither- ing fire up to our lines, and succeeded in planting their colors on one of our batteries." GETTYSBURG 15 Sattb mt I. The Artillery Duel Three hundred guns in rage have striven, Three hundred guns the skies have riven, And muttering thunders strong and deep Have rolled along in mighty sweep. This hurricane's rush has ceased its roar, And Alexander sounds the note For charge against the central host : " Go, Pickett, now ; the charge begin ; Go only now : a victory you '11 win Renowned Forevermore ! " 16 GETTYSBURG Pickett, gallant, gladly waiting, Accepts the lull as omen bright For added fame ; and as courtly knight On hurrying steed, of chief inquires If Longstreet now the Charge desires ; But Longstreet, sad o'er loss foreseen, Turns head away, as though he 'd say, ** I 'd rather much this move forego. For from such* charge fame can not flow Onward Forevermore ! " With ardor that shall burn in story While hearts yet thrill to deeds of glory, Says Pickett, '' Up and form your lines : To-day your battle saves our cause ; To-day this charge destroys the foe's: Now knit the brow and clench the teeth ; With muscles tense and hearts aglow, This charge must sure the center break ; This charge the South's fair name shall make Brilliant Forevermore ! * Reference to Napoleon's Charge at Waterloo. GETTYSBURG 1 7 * With God o'erhead and gun in hand, No force can stay your Spartan band ! This day your foe awaits in dread The reckless, rapid, martial tread Of legions brave as men e'er led ! Onward ! Steady ! though storm shall blow A fiercer gale, still onward go, And breast the billows from yonder's shore. For on your heads shall honors pour Ceaseless Forevermore ! " On left brave Tennesseeans wait, And choicest troops of the Old North State, With Mississippians true and tried, And more to swell Virginia's tide ; On right our Alabama's pride And best of Florida abide ! Hence, onward go ! and trust that Lee By matchless skill shall make you see, That from this field your wreath shall be Fadeless Forevermore ! 18 GETTYSBURG "This plain far more than others brings To you of fame which poet sings : Your double-quick in peerless dash Shall be the wonder of the world, And men who see your flags unfurled 'Gainst fiery blasts from out the throat Of guns that belch a leaden hail, Of guns that breathe a roaring flame, Shall gladly give to you a name Illustrious Forevermore ! " GETTYSBURG 19 II. The Charge Ten thousand Southrons now rise to the test, And form fheir lines out to the west Of " Seminary's " famous crest — A ridg^e whose top was swept by fire, Whose sides were torn by cyclone's ire, Whose breast received the dreadful shock Of storm that made the mountain rock, And sent the awful thunders down, Reverberations of a vast renown. Echoless ? — Nay : Nevermore ! 20 GETTYSBURG Across the ridge as legions move, Both shot and shell their courage prove; Then grape and canister the guns employ These braves to assail, these braves to destroy : ''Close in your ranks," the captains cried, " To fill the gaps where men have died ; Close in to left, but do not crowd ! Steady ! Think not of battle's din ! In impact close the prize you '11 win Precious Forevermore ! " " Onward ! Steady ! "— '' He 's fallen ! "— '* Never mind! Hospital men your friends shall find ! Your faces forward ! Hold your fire ! In yonder's angle yet shall rage The fiercest fight brave men can wage: There must you meet a stubborn foe ; There must be shown a strength unknown In former years; and, though all go down, To all shall be the hero's crown Glittering Forevermore ! " GETTYSBURG 21 Nearer now and deadlier still Shell and shrapnel rake the hill ; Nearer yet and fiercer grew The tempest which grape and canister blew; Nearer yet and thicker fall The double canister's deadly pall; Deafening the roar and deepening more The storm — the flood, yet none the less Onward our braves for honor press Brightening Forevermore ! Still onward rush the gallant few, Still onward as with courage new. Still onward, though the field is filled, The front, the flank, the hill, the plain. With hurrying horse and fiercer flame. With Federal lines now crowding straight To meet their foe, to meet their fate. To meet and conquer here or die. Whence fame shall rise and praises be Endless Forevermore! 22 GETTYSBURG Brave Kemper 's down and Garnett too, The colors fall, the colonels die, While captains and lieutenants lie Wounded or dying outside the wall : Meanwhile across the works have sprung Men as heroic as Homer has sung, And Armistead grand e'en unto death, With cap on sword, in loudest breath, Calls, " Onward, men ! this day shall be Cloudless Forevermore ! " Onward they go as rising tide That rolls far up the mountain side ; Cemetery's crest they reach at last. But as broken waves, their limit passed. Backward they 're hurled by hosts here massed. Brave Tennessee is here to die, And Carolina always true. Far to the front with Pettigrew, Supports our left and glory gains Priceless Forevermore ! GETTYSBURG 23 Cushing's last gun at length is reached, And Armistead's hand toward muzzle stretched; He calls aloud, " Gushing, surrender ! " The gun replies, " Armistead, no: never!" The gallant Gushing had begged to fire This only gun now left entire; And as the fuse he cuts once more, His soul heroic goes out to fame. And by his death he makes his name Memorable Forevermore! And now they meet us hand to hand : The gatherin-g foe our lines have hemmed ; All loading stops, but lo! the strife. With clubbed muskets waged for life, Grows fiercer still till all is lost In the Last One Hundred a Holocaust ; But dying groans bravely suppressed. And smiles yet bright from features calm Have won for these the hero's palm Glorious Forevermore! 24 GETTYSBURG QIonrluBtnn Had this charge been supported by 10,000 more troops, and had all parts of the Confederate lines moved at one time against the Federals, north, east, and south, while our charge was in prog- ress FROM THE WEST, there is little doubt that Meade's army would have been cut in twain and routed ; but, while the charge was going on, the other parts of the Confederate line were holding their breath, filled with amazement at so terrible an onset against the very center of an entrenched foe ; and so troops were allowed to concentrate from all quarters against the little band that had broken over the Union breastworks. From such encircling hosts and murderous fire escape was impossible, and men must die or surrender to the maddened might of a successful and determined enemy. GETTYSBURG 25 Pickett lost his three brigadiers and all his field officers but one lieutenant-colonel ; and after the charge, regiments were commanded by beardless captains and companies by sergeants and corpor- als, so great had been the loss. Some of the North Carolina companies were almost annihilated . This was particularly true in the 26th North Caro- lina, which suffered more than any one regiment^ North or South. Meade found himself so crippled by the three days' battle, that he could not agree to carry out the Washington policy, and follow vigorously after Lee in the retreat from Gettysburg. He knew that Lee was not any more really whipped than him- self, and hence, he preferred to merely keep up the appearance of pursuit, while he studiously avoided any direct assault upon Lee's battered and bruised, but brave men, who, if they did not now cling so tenaciously to the Cause they loved, yet loved their commander with a devotion that would still have held them to a losing battle or a lingering death. Gettysburg was not a Waterloo; for, after Waterloo, Napoleon's troops deserted him, but Lee's men, 40,000 strong, were yti ready to die with him. Gettysburg was, however, The 26 GETTYSBURG Most Decisive Battle of the War. The flower of Southern chivalry was here so blasted by the North wind's breath, that it never rebloomed to decorate again the rank and file of the Confed- erate army. 27,739 brave men of our army were gone and their places could not be filled, but the 23,049 lost to the Union army could soon be re- placed from foreign countries, if not from the North, by double and quadruple the loss at Gettys- burg. Hence the might of overwhelming num- bers must ere long decide what courage and skill had hitherto been powerless to accomplish. The BEGINNING OF THE END was already seen. Confederate boundaries were being contracted, supplies were diminishing, men who had suffering families at home were growing more and more dissatisfied, desertions increased, and finally Lee's veterans of a hundred battle-fields, cooped up in Richmond and Petersburg, were only waiting for the bursting of a storm that had been gathering for months, a storm that should lay open these two strongholds in the East and scatter the rem- nants of proud and puissant armies that for four long years had resisted successfully every attempt to enter these citadels. GETTYSBURG 27 Battles had been fierce and furious all along the way from the Potomac to the James and the Ap- pomattox, but Confederate soldiers were fighting more in desperation than in hope, more for honor than for success ; and, Hope's star so long before their eyes, Encircled quite by rainbow's dyes, Soon passed forever from out the skies. The Author. West Virginia University, Morgantown, W. Va., ^August )i, igo