The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-03-13
THE sHARPsBOOTERs AT GETTYs.
RuRG

/
historic annals it's features in detail af
ford most suggestive sutj-cts of discus.
SION. and the gu stiOn as TO just whal
incident Of the fight indicated the actua
defeat of the c nfe ierates Is always sue
t" enlist the closest attention of Veter
ans.
IL the eyes of the world at large the
beating back Of Picke,,'S tTen endo, {
charge ON the Union lines is cOnslde ed
the culmina'inn of disaster to the con
tedrratrs. But many who participated
in the M morable col h,ct hold hat The
charge Of Pickett was u last desperate
resort; that Gen. Lee, the codiederale
commander, perceived his deIeai. hut
hoped almost against hope to retrieve
disaster by that one terrific onslaught
and that 1t fail d b cause the Unr n
army had insured vict Iy by its previous
successes during the three days struggle.
This view of the case finds support in
he following letter addressed by a
Union veteran to an old army comrade.
BJth the writer and the recipien mt Of The
letter were members of the famous regi-
ment known AZ Berdan's sharpshuoteTs,
which took CON -plcuous part al GeItys.
burg. The writer aualy Zes the siI uatIon
and from IL deduces the conclusion that
The starpshOoteTs at Gettysburg, like
| HUratius at the bridge. Saved the day"
Tor their side. And what is more mar
velOus is the circumstance that few of
hem seem 10 have realized until many
wears afterward the mighty conse-
Que noes resulting from their valor, The
Iocls below set forth certainly possess
profound interest
BATTLE CREEK. Mich, Feb. 7. 1890.
EdUdrd w Jackson, PittSford, VI -
MY DEAR CoMRADE Your welcome
letter ut the 4 n lust, Is at hand and
read wi h the great est interest. In reply
your query as TO ou wetrlng the blue
lila munu, you are right. 1t was the first
'OTps and DIVISION badge we ever wore
and we were then, as you say, third bli-
kade, third division. third corps.
By the way, my dear comrade, do you
know that II seems very queer that no
ne who was there seemed to know why
hat Company monument was erected
Ir what wonderful feat 1t cUmmemo-
rates? Even CUmrade Peck, although
Instrumental in getting 1t up, appears to
ave no more idea than chi d of what |
was done in that blUndy forest on that
ever tu-6e furgo ten morning OF july |
,, 1868 | lam free to confess that |
,uew and rea lied the Importance OF II
~ little as any one until Years after the
var, when IN the hall Of one of the
rinest libraries on this continent | saw
maps showing the positions of each
rmy during each hour of each days
Jattle. Then for the first time | real d
Lhe wonderful work we did that morn
ny in holding LOngslTeel in check until
Sicklts could cover the key of that bat
IL field, LIT lie Ruuud Top. By dong
MS we rendered II possible for Gettys
Iurg 10 be IA Union victory. 1t Is absu
uteiy true that we shBrpshOoters
changed there and then the " hole after.
ntory of this country in II few oriei
veutful moments.
Why, Cumrade Jackson, when this
,Onvlctlon came to me it was like all {
lectrlG shock. / felt that | and the rest
IL well had done Col. Berdan a serious
Wong. We knew at The time that it
a his work in drumming out a chance
. put US in somewhere to win "stsr'
UI him. and we all felt that he had run t
= in there and got us cut up woefully, q
acTIficIng so many Of our comrades |,
'it nlbiOCI VI no lIlhb was I
ny feeling, as have said, VI tl l han r
1y ewes opened to the tremendous re- ,
u Is Of our work that morning. l
| was present at The meeting BET tween +
. 'ngs r., t and Brrdan on the morning
I July 2. 1888, twenty-five years to an
our from the lime we met IN battle on O
,at same ground, and listened 10 tn, c
,nversatron. heard Lnngrtreet al
ierdan what force he had and express
,s astOnishment that 70 small body ui
len should have halted his column, i
inch he said contained 26,0O0 infantry f
nd 600 calvary and artillery. and h.
ouId up with: 1T was the rapid firing
your bIepch leaders and the internal
udacIty'of your attack, sir, that de-
rivtd me. Could ! have had five min S
tts only of the time, sir, that you de- -
iyed me in this forest twenty five years J
gn This morning would have captured
R'und Tops and routed the Federal .
rmy."
N w, my dear jackson, heard Gen a
utter the abUve wuh very
uetr rly mingled feelings. / have ever
imired the gallant sacrifice OF himself
Y Gen. FdTnsworih when he charged
/ the order of Gen Fitzpatrick a few
ours later, and laid down his life on
1e same bloody field | have wor-
hIpped at the shrine Of Major keenan,, \
tho al Charlottesville gave up his lie :
nd those of his command to stem the L
lp tide of j ickson's victorious trOops n
I'D gain time for our scattered men to !.
tly. As school boy read with hated
reath and quickened pulse how HOra
l.. Ia 4 |
.ome and yet for years / never dreamed
LAT had been one Of that heroic band
I veterans who had stayed the tide of ,
ab, lion at its food ana aided 10 roll It
ack to defeat, dishonor and death. All,
~ dear cOmrade, 1T was indeed glorious.
Veil may grateful people erect such
ne shaft as you aided to dedicate in
emory of the heroic ones who fell a.
be pass.
But does it not seem passing strange
hat to thus day most of the survivors of
hat gallant band are yet ignurant nf the
cope and breadth of the work they r
,emsel es did on that eventful July n
l seem to see again that July
,rest scene, the thin line of ilhempn in
reen, the skIrmishers in gray Oh our 4
Ank, their echelon supports, their bri- c
ade in columns Of companies, debOuch
rg from the neck If woods; To hear "A
,rrdan's order TO assemble on the right Il
uubr quick. Then came that order, Z
issed through bis teeth GIVE them
-, boys = and 100 Sharps riffs swept
nose skirmishers and supports from the
ace Of the green earth, then poured !,
heir elixir of death into the solid
which with great gaps in its
anks soon reelPd and broke, going back
o the cover of the woods IN dire con-
usIon, enough at last the confederates
allied and drove us out.
The work We were there to do had
zen, indeed, superbly done, aud as
What was left of our devoted little band
rJoined the rest Of the regiment near
he foot of Round Top we saw all the
nils beyond covered with Yankees who \
Vere IN brigades in column double
uIckIDg to the line from which the bat =
Ir was afterward fought from our side,
nd when those our men who wer
latiOntd on Little H iund Top reached
hat poet, Its too, thr Jnhnnips were al "
most there before them You and can
ct remember the awful struggle thu y
Orty-tuurth New York and Maine bal u
ry made to hold ih.ir places on IT. =
1mmIt. just a. | heard Gen. Long. y
lreet say, five minutes time made the u
ifference for our cause be eween defeat -
nd victory. and we Of the sharpshuoierr y
ought those five minutes at the price Z
I such lives rs COUper, McLpan, Shell a
on, Faucet. and The woundlng of Jack