Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-07-19

next day; he shouldn't have waited ter
seconds. Pickett's division had beer
knocked all to pieces-almost wiped out
The same was the case with A. p. HilP.
! corps, or at least two divisions of it. There
were three divisions gone. They left 8
break in our line of over mile. Meade
shouldn't have waited at all, but shoulo
] have thrown the army right in between
/ u.s."
THAT would have ended the whole
| thing?"
'sProbably. OF course we would have
tried to get together, and would have
fought the best we were able, but that was
what Meade should have done. Grant was
right, | think. The greatest mistake ol
the war on the Union side was in Meade
not making the move | have indicated the
third day of the fighting"
Longstreet told how Lee insisted that
the charge should be made. Three times
he tried to persuade Lee that the thing
to do was to get between Meade and Wash.
ington, and to force Meade to make the at
tack.
NO." Lee said, ~ am going to take
them where they are on Cemetery Hill. /
want you to take Pickett's division and
make the attack. / will reinforce you
with two divisions of the Third Corps.
Longstreet replied to Lee: THAT will
give me $4,000 men. l have been a
soldier, | may say, from the ranks up to
the position / now hold. l have been in
pretty much all kinds of skirmishes, from
those of two or three soldiers up to those
of an army corps, and think can safely
say there never was a body of $1,000 men
who could make that attack SUCCESSFULLY"
Nothing more was said by Lee or by
Longstreet, but the latter arranged the
troops, and at the appointed time he sent
them on that wild, forlorn hope charge.
lie followed the movement with his
glasses. He saw Kemper go down
wounded and Garrett fall dead. He
traced the progress of Armistead and the
head of the column into the Federal line.
He saw the Federal brigades swing out
and close in on both sides of the assault
ing force. Two thousand men lay dead or
wounded on the ground and $500 were
prisoners. 1t was all over in thirty min
utes.
As the fragments came back, Longstreet
said he 'fully expected to see Meade ride
to the front and lead his forces to a tre-
mendous counter charge. Sending my
staff officers to assist in collecting the
fragments of my command, | rode to my
line of batteries, knowing they were all 1
had in front of the impending attack, re-
solved to drive it back or sacrifice my last
gun and man. The Federals were advanc-
ing line of skirmishers, which / thought
was the advance of their charge. As soon
as the line of skirmishers came within the
reach of our guns the batteries opened
again, and their fire seemed to check at
once the threatened advance. After keep
ing It up few minutes the line of skir-
mishers disappeared, and my mind was re-
lieved of the apprehension that Meade
was going to follow US. General Lee came
~ as our troops were falling back and
encouraged them as well as ne could
begged them to reform their ranks and
reorganize their forces. 1t was then he
used the expression, 1T was all my fault
get together and let us do the best we can
toward saving that which is left u.s.
"Your troops carried the rear of the re-
treat from Gettysburg, General ?"
"Yes."
'Is it true that your ammunition was
reduced to three rounds, and that vigorous
pursuit would have destroyed Lees army
before it got to the Potomac ?'
"We had more ammunition than that !;
we had considerable ammunition. Ny
idea is that when Meade failed to throw
his army in between our forces, when
Pickett's. division was crushed the great
opportunity was lost"