The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1877-12-07
TaE sAr-iAE OF aRTTYsBURa.
LOaEstreet's Account of the Second
- tt~ts NJ q Days Finh1s "a. co. ,ss-..

eG. o.. . =l-t.7 iti3F III ~ : -., aFIt f.'.
Le.ss'ree''s Accent Of sAe Second
Gen. Longstieet has published q
lengthy accoU.ze OF the battles ut Gettys-
burg. Concluding his recital of what
transpired on the first day, he proceeds
rs follows with the Confederate assault
aud repulse on the second day: -s 5
did not see Gen. Lee that night.
On the next morning he came to see
me, and fearing that hs was still i'm his
disposition to attack, I tried to antici-
pAfe hlnas shE slSta&s ss(f1llal I have
had my scouts out all night, and L find
that you still have an excellent oppor-
tunity to move around to the right OF
Meade's army and maneuver him into
attacking us.'' He replied, pointing
with his fist at Cemetery Hin s.The,
enemy is there, and am going to
strike him." felt then that it was
my duty to express my convictions;
I said: "Gen. Lee, have been y
soldier all my lie. I havo been with
soldiers engaged in fights by couples,
by squads, companies, regiments, di-
visions and armies, and should know
as we'll rs any one what soldiers can
do. 1t is my opinion that no l5, 900
men ever arrayed for battle can take
that position,' pointing to Cemetery
Hill. Gen. Lee, in reply to this, or
dered me to prepare Pickett's division
for the attack. l should not have been
80 urgent had I not fon1nen: the hope
lessness of the proposed assault. felt
that I must say 4 word against the
sacrifice of my men; and then 1 felt
hot
would or could not misconstrue my
motives. I said no more, however,
but turned away. The most Of the
morning was consumed in waiting for
Pickett's men and getting into posi-
tiOn. The plan of assault was as fol-
lows: Our artillery was to be massed
in = wood from which Pickett was to
charge, and it was to pour Il continuous
fire upon the cemetery. Under cover
OF this fire, and supported by it, Pickett
was to charge. -5.s..5
Our artillery was in charge of Gen.
E. F. Alexander, u brave and gifted
officer. Col. Walton was my chief Ot
artillery, but Alexander, being ut the
head Of the column and being first in
position, and being besides an officer OF
unusual promptness, sagacity and in
teliigence, was given charge of the ar
tillery. The arrangements were COM
pleted about one O'Clock. Gen. Alex
ander had arranged that q battery OF
seven 11-pOund hoWitzers, with fresh
horses and full caissons, were to charge
with Pickett, ut the head of his line,
but Gen. Pendleton, from whom the
guns had been borrowed, recalled them
just before the charge was made, and
thus deranged this wise plan. Never
was 1 SO depressed as upon that day.
I felt that my men were to be sacrificed
and that / should have to order Them
to make hopeless charge. had in
structed Gen. Alexander, being unwill-
ing to trust myself with the entire re-
sponsibiiity, to carefully observe the
effect of the fire upon the enemy, and,
when it began to tell, to notify Picket
to begin the assault. was so much
impressed with the hOpelessness Of the
charge that wrote the following note
to Gen. Alexander: "If the artillery
fire does not have the effect to drive of
the enemy or greatly demOralize him,
so as to make our efforts pretty certain,
1 woulu prefer that you should not ad-
wise Gen. Pickett to make the charge.
1 shall rely a great deal on your judg-
Inent to determine the matter, and
shall expect you to let Pickett know
when the moment Offers"
PICK ETr's CHARGE.
To my note the General replied as
follows: 81 will only be able to Judge
the effect of our fire upon the enemy
by his return fire, for his infantry is
but little exposed to view, and the
smoke will obscure the whole field. If,
rs infer from your note, there is an
alternative to this attack, it should be
carefully considered before opening
our fire, for it will take all Of the artil-
lery ammunition we have left to test
this one thoroughly, and if the result is
unfavorable we will have none lett for
another effort and, even if this is en-
tirely successful, it can only be so at a
very bloody cost" I still desired to
save my men, and felt that if the artil-
lery did not produce the desired effect
would be justified in holding Pickett
off. 1 wrote this note to Col. Walton
at exactly 1880 p. NJ. "Let the batter
les open. Order great precision in
firing. If the batteries at the peach
orchard can not be used against the
point we intend attacking, let them
open on the enemy at Rocky Hill.''
| The cannonadfng which opened along
both lines was grand. In few mo.
ments u courier brought note to Gen
Pickett (who was standing near me)
from Alexander, which, after reading