The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-12-26

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| enough to enable tie Federals to occupy
Round Top. the KEY 2 sition of the whole,
and beat off the enemy who rushed for it.
SIocum said that this nay have been the
result; be would not : : positively. Gen.
| Newton said that il WAS worth thinking
about, that Round TJ1 might have been
secured 20 the Union troops without ''all
| the fuss" Siciliss ha,i with Longstreet In
! order TO secure it. Tha count made no OBJ
| servation about the affair while on the
| field, and the comments by Howard, Slo-
cum and Newton are the result OF this
meeting Of TIE CORPS u ncrais.
| At the famous angis OF the stone wall
( where a good view Of lie field OF Pickett's
| charge is 10 DE had. All gave way to Capt.
| Longs faithful description. and no one
cared to dissent from his opinion that the
charge was the braves thing of the kind
| on record. AS is ca, j. 10 be seen, the
whole OF tie ground marched across by
Pickett's column was swept By Meade's
artillery on Cemetery Ridge. When the
speaker ended his story. leaving Pickett's
bafled and disheartsn, ! remnants sullenly
retiring to their own mes, the count add
ed, as though finish. the thoughts he
had carried il mind Il ring the narration:
munition With pIeIty o. ammunition to
play artillery against artillery the Confed-
crates could have car led il, or, with their
infantry against MeaL IS infantry without
artillery they could i We won. But with
infantry alone against artillery it was not
possible"
This view agrees vi ! that Of Longstreet
at the time-L0n-stl ct, whom the count
blames for Lees fGi ure at Gettysburg
This general attemp oil to recall Pickett
after he had started o, the charge because
the Confederate artillery ceased firing, and
gave as a reason lack 4 ammunition.
1t would have added interest TO this tour
of the great battle e ound had there been
some of the COnieder te generals present.
Longstreet ana Eve !, of the corps com
manders, and several .iyision commanders
and chiefs of artiiie-. battalions are still
living Doubtless d desire on the part of
the count TO avoid ,ntinglement in the
bitter controversies at have grown out
of the battle is the reason they were not
present.
When the scene Of re grand charge had
been left behind sever / OF the followers of
the distinguished par supposed that the
work of eXplOrat on as finished, but lit
tie informal voting owed . strong desire
to ride away OF 10 , &c right flank, four
miles beyond the eXty lie end of the army
lines around Gettys arg, and hear what
Gen. Gregg had to $" about the way he
thrashed "Jeb" Stua,ts famous troopers
in open field on July s ISIS. On the road
a halt was made At the little old stone
dwelling occupied a. Meade's headquar-
tiers during the fight Gen. Daniel Butter
field, VINO acted as n, rshal of the tourists,
quietly led the way L. ii room where the
famous council Of var was held late on
July ?, 1853, after Sic Aies' disaster on the
Union left.
That council it was hat decided whether
there should be any " eat battle at Gettys-
burg or not, for it wa, there voted to stay
and fight it OUT on Cemetery Ridge. How
much the unhappy res alt of Sickles' fight
of the day had TO do vi it'll the decision or
with bringing up the q Iestion of retreating
or fighting can only e. conjectured. The
majority of Meade's e; nerals objected TO a
retreat perhaps for the very reason that it
would look like defect.
This Informal meeti lg of the survivors
of the council Slocum. Howard and New
ton, with ButterfelI, who, as Meade's
chief of staff, recorded the minutes of the
original council, was ( re only gathering OF
the kind that has beer held. The more the
inside history of the attic of Gettysburg
is brought to light the greater is seen to be |
the significance of II sade's war council, |
and this impromptu AFFAIR Of the survivors
will probably give rise to permanent me-
mento.
In a spirit of fun at first the members !
assumed their original positions, Newton |
on the same Old bed where he lad been |
asleep after long ri,e and awoie with /
ont arising to hear OPP Mons and give his |
voice; Slocum behind a door, which for |
comforts sake on bot July night, was /
wide open: Howard and Butterfield in |
their old places in the same cottage chairs. |
The commissioner OF ii e state of Pennsyl- /
vania in the Gettys5ur, Memorial associa- !
ton, Gen. Goblin. scizel upon this little in
cident as an inspiration for poem and a /
picture commemorate < the meeting Of .