Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1877-11-14

"a GEN. LEE THOUGHT AND SAID-THE
DISASTROUS AssAULTs-UN
+ WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES PIcKETT's
VIRGINIA DIVISION MADE THE
GRAND CHARGE.
&C., &C., &C,
A very full and lengthy paper from
1t Gen. Longstreet, on the battle OF
Gettysburg, appears in the Philadelphia
Witness" Fhere are many points in
lit absolutely new. The battle was
brought on, he thinks, first.by the alb
sence Of the Confederate cavalry, which
| caused Lee to stmove into Pennsylva-
MIA as one walking into the, dark. !" and
second by Lees confidence that his men
could carry anything before them no
matter what the odds. He says
/ Lee seems to have been carried away
| by ,oYerconfdence in the proves, Of his
troops and to have believed that they
couh do anything. =, 1.-THE enemy is
there, F." he said, in reply to- d remons-
trance against the assault on Cemetery
Ridge, and mean to strike him." ,.
| On the morning Of the 1st General
Lee and myself left his headquarters
together, and had ridden three or four
miles when we heard heavy firing along
Hill's front. The firing become so
heavy that Gen. Lee left me and hur-
ried forward to see what it meant. After
attending some details Of my march l
followed. ,The firing proceeded from
the engagement between our advance
and Reynolds corps, III which the fed
erals were repulsed. This rencontre
was totally unexpected on both sides.
55When overtookGen Lee at O'Clock
that afternoon he said, Ito my surprise.
that he thought of attacking General
Meade upon the heights the next day.
GeneralLee was Impressed with the
fact that by attacking the ftderals he
could whip them in detail. [ reminded
him thatif the federals were there in the
morning it would be proof that they had
theirfofces well in hand, and that, with
| Pickett IN Ohambersburg, and Stuart out
OF reach, we should be somewhat in de-
tail. He, did not seem TO abandon the
tidea Of attack on the next day. He
seemed under subdued excitement
which occasionally took possession OF
him. when, ''the hunt was up," and
threatened his superb equipose. The
sharp battle fought by Hill and -Ewell
on that day had gwen him a taste Of
victory. i.a ,sat r,'aass- +
On the morning of the I'd / went to
Gen, Lees headquarters at daylishtand
renewed my views against making an
| attack. He seemed resolved. however,
and we discussed the probable results.
We observed the position OF the feder-
ais and gotta general idea Of the nature
Of the ground, About sunrise Son. Lee
sent Col. Venable. Of his stat, to Gen.
tEwelfs Headquarters, ordering LiT Ia
make q reconnaissance Of the graund i'll
his front, with view Of making the
main attack on his left. \ short time
afttrWard he followed Col. Nenable in
tperson. He returned NJ about O'clock
Iaa& Informed me that it would not do
| to have EWeu open the attack. He final
i II determined that should make the
Fmain attack on tie extreme right. Ii
was fully 1ilb'c clock when Gen. Lee ar-
rived at this conclusion and ordered the
movement. In the meantime, by Gen.
/ Lees authority, Laws brigade, which
had been put upon picket duty, was or
dered to reioin my command, and upon
my suggestion that it would be better
to await It's arrival Gen. Lee assented.
We waited about forty minutes for.these
troops and then moved forward, A de-
lay Of several hours occurred in the
march Of the troops. The cause Of this
-delay was that we had been ordered BY
General Lee tosproceed cautiously upon
the forward movement SO as to avoid
being seen by the enemy. General Lee
tordered Colonel johnston, Of his .engi-
Fneer corps. to lead and conduct the
head Of the column. My troops there
fore moved forward unde1. the guidance
/ of special officer Of General lee, and
with instructions to follow his direc-
4 tons. l Left General Lee only after the
4 line had stretched out on the march and
rode along with Hoods division, which
was in the rear. The march was neces-
sarily slow, the conductor frequently
| encountering points that exposed the
! troops TO the view Of the signal station
! on Round Top. Al length the column
I halted. After waiting somtime, suppos-
| Ing that it would soon move forward, !
! sent to the front to inquire the cause Of
! delay. II was reported that the column
was awaiting the movements Of Colonel
Johnston. who was trying to lead ii By
some route by which it could pursue its
tmarch without falling under view Of the
federal signal station. Looking up to-
Ward Round Top | saw that the signal
Station was in fall view, and, as We
fcould plainly see this station, it was ap-
parent that our heavy columns were
/ seen from their position and that further
efforts to conceal ourselves would be 9
waste of time. A
| HHE ASSAULT on THE SECOND.
f32the' assault made on the 2nd Of
fll,I by his corps, Gen. Longstreet says
il; was made. agaiast5a fierce Of SIX to
4 enc. lie Says. ..... ........... lie,
+. Ny two divisions at that time were
cut down to ei@ht.or nine thousand men
four thousand having been killed or
wounded. we felt at every step the
heavy Stroke Of fresh trosps-the sturdy
regular blow that tells 2 soldiers instant
| ly that he has cncountred reserves OF
'reinforcemeEts.G We received no sup
4nort satall. and there was no evidence
lof Incorporation on any side. 70 urge
! my men forward under these circun-
Stances would have been madness. and
I Withdrew them in good order to The
tpeach orchard THAT we had taken from
1.-THE federals iearlyin the afternoon. 1t
may be mentioned here as Illustrative
Of the dauntless spirit Of these men that
when. General Humphreys, Of Missis-
sippi, was ordered to withdraw his
! troops from the charge he thought there
was. some mistake, and retired TO a
captured battery near the swalc be-
ftWeenthe tworidges, where'he 'haHed
and when orderedgto retire TO the new
line a second time, he did so under pro-
ptest. Our men had no thought Of re-
] treat. they broke every line they en-
! c0sintered. When the order to with
! lraw. was, gigena ceNrier, was sent to
FGen. Lee informing hun of the result
.tef the days work. .-s, .--...- $50.
aoo1 a MARvEIoUs ASSAULT. -
% sg,efore pursuing this narrative further
III shah saya word or two concerning
this assault Fam satisfied that my
: free, numbering hardly $4,000 me n,
encoQptergd during that three and a
lbale bniIfs IF hIoodv work mot lass than