The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-05-14

urged the men as they hIed past me 10 hod IL at al
Both parties were trying TO obtain possession
Of the woods Archers rebel Brigade, preceded by
@ skrmish line. was crossing Wiiougllby's Run to
enter them side. the Iron Brigade went In
on the other. Gen. Reynolds was on horseback In
the edge OF the woods surrounded by his stall He
felt some anxiety to the result and turned his
head frequently TO see if our troops would be up IN
time. While looking back in this way, a rebel
sharpshooter shot him through the back of the
head the bullet coming out near the eye. He fell
dead I'm an instant, without a word. The country
sustained great loss in his death. lamented him
as lifelong companion.
The rebel left, under Davis, drove back Cut
lers Brigade. while our left, under Morrow,
preceded by the ID Wis, Col. Fairchild, charged,
sweeping suddenly and unexpectedly around
the right flank of Archer's Brigade, and cap
tured the greater part of ii, including Archer
himself.
From this spot the Presidential party was
driven to the Peach Orchard. where, on the
second day of the battle, Longstreet swooped
down upon Sickies in his exposed position, and
the wheatfeld fought over SO many times, until,
as Col. Batchelder said on the morning after the
battle, he could walk an eighth of mile with
out touching ground.
The representative of THE NATIONAL TIIB-
UNE knows from personal observation ut the
time that the dead lay there in heaps,-piled
up, the blue and the gray together, aud in
some instances lying across one another. From
there the party went TO
THE DEVILS DEN,"
appropriately named, as the President readily
agreed. 1t is mass of huge boulders and rocks
piled on top of each other, and at one time dur
ing the second days fight was held by the
enemy, from whence their sharpshooters did
terrible execution, picking off our officers and
men on Round Top, Little Round Top, and
other places. After the battle over 200 dead were
taken from among these rocks. The monument
erected by the 124th N. Orange Bios
SONS to Col. Ellis was then visited, and Col.
Jack Brown, of the 51th Ga. (Confederatel, de-
scribed how he was wounded in that vicinity.
The Presidential party then climbed to the
crest of Little Round Top whence could be had
an excellent view of almost the entire field,
and listened to explanations frCm Col. Bachel-
der and others. The sloping front and sides of
the hill are covered with huge boulders, its
rear with hard wood trees.
LEES HEADQUARTERS.
The writer visited the little stone house,
three quarters of a mile from town, on the
Chambersburg road, where Gen. Lee had his
headquarters OH the second day of the battle.
1t is not far from the Seminary, and not more
than 400 yards from the spot where Reynolds
fell, at the head of the First Corps, on the first
day of the battle Ewell and Hill drove the
First and Eleventh Corps from their position,
and when Lee came up that evening he estab-
lished his headquarters at the stone house. 1t
was then occupied by the Widow Thompson.
An aged couple live in it now. At the time of
the battle they lived in house short distance
away. The old people were very loquacous.
Indeed, this is a popularity of all the inhabi-
tants of the town. They know u great deal
more about the fight than those who were en-
gagged in it, and rattle off to the wondering
listener the most apocryphal stories of what
happened during those days of danger, nights
of waking"
Right here in this yard" said the old lady,
"Gin'ral Lee had his tents. They all say he
acted like gentleman, too, if he was maxim
war on our people Wildly Thompson told me
that he didn't sleep a bit that first night. All
night long ossifers was comm and goin', gettin'
ready to fight in the mornin'." The dead and
wounded from the first days battle lay thick
on the ground all around them. "By the way"
she continued, "let me show you what l picked
up just the other day over in that field where
Reynolds was killed"
She went into the house and soon returned
with an old English silver coin, bearing date
of 1888 1t is likely that it was carried as
pocket piece by some soldier who fell in that
engagement.
"In the afternoon of the second day." said
the old lady, "Gin'ral Lee moved over there
to the Seminary. He had a good chance to
view the field from the big steeple"
THE VALLEY OF DEATH.
About the middle of the afternoon the writer
stood on Cemetery Ridge and looked over that
valley of death through which, on the third
day, swept in that magnificent charge those
$4,000 brave men under Pickett, Pettigrew and
Wilcox III the last supreme effort to break
Meade's line, and the failure of which ended
the battle. No more gallant assault was ever
made on any field The story is familiar TO all
and need not be retold here; of Pickett's 5000
Virginians less than 1,500 returned to the Con-
faGa Of brit, do co, 1a,1la
Garrett and Armistead fell in the charge and
Kemper was desperately wounded. But one
regimental field officer in the division escaped
unhurt AS THE TRIBUNE representative was
looking over those fertile fields enriched by
the blood of so many gallant men and covered
thickly with dead and dying, two old Confeder-
ate soldiers came up. A pleasant conversation
followed, during which one of them said " was
in Picketts Division-the 10Th Va. tell you,"
pointing to the valley, THAT was hell
do not use the word in profane sense at all,
but because there is other that expresses the
truth. l was Lieutenant. had two brothers
in the company and both were killed. | fell
when about half way across, with one bullet
through my leg and another through my arm.
When our men fell back couldn't follow them,
and | was taken prisoner. | am glad to say
that the Yankees took good care of me, and
after / got solid on my pins again l was ex-
changed. But none of Us who survived that
charge will ever forget that SPOT. War is hard
business, for fact. We don't any of us want
any more. To be candid, we really expected to
whip Meade here. We thought we were going
to smash through the line on that last charge,
and / tell you we did come pretty near it.
From where / was lying could see Pickett's
men over the works and their flags floating de-
family in the faces of the enemy. But they
could not stay there. 1t was too hot and with
that repulse we lost all hope of victory"
HEADQUARTERS OF GEN. MEADE.
Half mile back of Cemetery Ridge, on the
Taneytown road. is little white frame house
that was the headquarters of Gen. Meade dur
ing most of the battle. 1t has been changed
considerably. Indeed, after the battle repairs
were necessary to make it habitable. 1t was
directly in range of Lees massed artillery on
Seminary Ridge that shook the earth with
tremendous cannonade, to prepare the way for
Picketts final assault. A shell crushed through
the house and exploded, killing several men
and horses, and causing stampede of army
headquarters to place of greater safety.
THE BRAVE MINNEsoTIANs
The story of the LIST MINI. at Gettysburg is
full of interest. On the afternoon of the sec
ond day Sickles lost his leg and his corps was
driven, after desperate fighting, near Little
Round Top. Taking advantage of the confu-
sion at that part OF the Union line, the Confed-
crates made tremendous effort to break
through. Barksdale's Brigade of Missssip-
plans advanced on the dOuble-quick aiming
for a weak point in Meade's line. At the criti-
cal moment Gen. Hancock rode up at gallOp.
He saw the situation at a glance Turning
about he saw the 1st Mimi, the only regiment
from that State in the Potomac Army. He Or