Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1877-09-15
gade scarcely any shelter from the furi-
Gus storm of shot and shell that soon
afterward swept the field.

afterward swept the field.
THE PLAN OF BATTLE MADE KNOWN
After the line of battle had been
formed, the commanding officers Of reg
iments were sent for to brigade head
quarters to receive instructions which
had already been given to the brigadiers
by General Lee in person. After they
returned to their regiments all company
officers were assembled at regimentai
headquarters, aud then explicitly and
carefully told what work the division
had to do, and how it was expected TO
do it. These instructions were in turn
communicated by the company officers
to the men, and this before shot was
fired. The humblest private knew the
plan of battle and the surroundings as
well as the commanding genera! himself.
No disguises were used, nor was there
any undertaking of the difficult work in
hand. All were Informed that Cemete-
ry Heights, naturally very strong po
sition, and heavily defended by the enc
mys infantry and artillery, were situa-
ted directly in our front and only some
half mile from the crest of the hill be-
hind which We then were; that it had
been stormed and taken the day before
by Confederate troops but could not be
held, and that General Lee regarded it
as the key to the enemy's position,
which, if taken, ended the war. We
were to remain where we were until
scouts could burn up the houses and
stacks of straw in our front which might
impede or disorganize the advance, and
after that was done signal OF two guns
would be fired, and then all our artille-
ry would open on Cemetery Heights,
and continue firing on it until the bat
teries there were silenced. When they
were silenced our guns would cease fir
ing, aud thereupon every man, without
further orders, was to 60 forward. We
were told also that long lines of infant
ry, which we could see were in line to
the right aud left of us, aud somewhat
to the rear, would advance in echeion to
our support, at the same pace and time
with us, and thus all possibility of an
attack on our ianks would be prevent
ed. This information was especially
gratifying to the Fourteenth Virginia
Regiment, to which l belonged, and
which that day was the extreme right
regiment of the line.
OPENING FIRE ON TIE HILL.
If l remember correctly, Pickett's
Division and the artillery were all in po-
sition by ii a. NJ. The battle, hewev-
er, did not begin for some hours later.
The day was clear and bright. There
was not cloud in the sky, and the sun,
from whose rays there was no shelter,
shone intensely hot. There was no wa
ter near US, and not knowing how soon
the battle might begin, no details could
be sent for any. The canteens which
had been filed at the last water we
passed, were soon emptied, and there
was great suffering from thirst. But
there was no help for it. 1t had to be
endured. While waiting for the expect
ed signal, we saw Generals Lee, Long
street and Pickett riding up and down
the line, and occasionly approaching the
crest of the hill to take look at the
enemy's position. 1t was then whisper
ed among us that Longstreet disapprov-
ed of the proposed charge, and had
earnestly protested against it. His
protest was heard, but overruled by the
council of war.
AT p. NJ. a single shot was fired
from Confederate gun, and in two
minutes afterward another. 1t was the
preconcerted signal, aud on hearing the
first gun every man threw himself fiat
on the ground in obedience to orders.
The echoes of the sound OF the second
gun had not died away when all the
Confederate artillery at that part of the
field opened fire upon Cemetery Heights
with salvo the like of which had new
er been heard in America till then. The
Federal batteries must have been sur
prised, or else greatly damaged by it,
for it was several minutes before they
replied to it. Yet when they did reply
their fire was very effective and deadly,
and seemed to be fully equal to that of
the Confederates. | am not going to
attempt to describe that duel, so TO
speak, between the Federal and Con-
tederate artillery, each composed on this
occasion, so it was said, of more than
hundred guns. TO do SO would be TO
fail. / confess that my pen is unequal
to it, and l do not believe that any pen
could convey an adequate conception Of
it. The smoke from the Confederate
batteries, although they were but lit
tie ways from me, soon obscured them
from my sight. This smoke was lit up
by red, angry flashes of fame as the
successive discharges left the muzzles of
the guns. The firing was so rapid and
continuous that the report OF single
gun could not be distinguished. Over
the space intervening between the in
fantry and artillery frequently passed
some mounted officer and his staff
notably once General Lee, and several
times General Longstreet and Pickett.
The Federal batteries were returning
the Confederate fired with great vigor,
and when General Lee passed over the
ground it was being swept with dead
ly hail of every missile known to the |
nomenclature of artillerists. His ap-
pearance at place of such imminent
danger both thrilled and horrifed the
line, and the men shouted to him to 90
away to shelter. Always regardless of /.
himself when duty called, but mindful |