The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-08-18

Peach Orchard, on Emmittsburg pike
July2, 1863. In fact, the One Hundred and
Forty-frst was the angle itself. 1t mum
bered at o'clock that day 200 men all
told. After some maneuvering to get into
the best position to meet the daring as
saults of Longstreet's Confederates, com.
ing from two directions against the angle
Col. Madill found his regiment alone
facing a whitening fire from artillery and
musketry on both fronts. When whole
Confederate division emerged from a shell
tering wood and dashed for the Peach Or
chard, one of the captains of the regiments
said to the colonel, Hadn't we better get
out of this?
81 have no orders to get out. If I had
my old regiment l could whip all of them, u
was the response. In twenty minutes,
however, the brave colonel found that he
must go or leave his last man in the fatal
angle. At the first Confederate volley
30 fell. In a few minutes % lay dead
within sight of the colonel. The major
and the adjutant were killed, and all
the color guards and both color bearers
were killed or wounded. A wounded man
saw the bearer of the state flag shot down
and took the staff from his hands. In a
few minutes the bearer of the stars and
stripes fell, and the same wounded man
caught up the falling flag and carried il
until relieved of it by the colonel. With
nineteen unwounded men and his flag intact
Col. Madill marched bach before the wave
of enemies pressing up on all sides.
Graham had been wounded and captured
and the line at the angle was destroyed.
Gen. Sickles, surprised and overcome by
the sudden and awful disaster, was hasten
ing forward into the very jaws of death to
try and save something. But it was too
late. Where an hour before two lines of his
troops had shown bold fronts west and
south, the Confederates were in possession
and were following up their successes by
pushing boldly and with all the ardor of
triumphant soldiers toward Little Round
Top, the key to Gettysburg. Seeing Col.
Madill moving off with his beggarly hand
full the general pleaded, Colonel, for God s
sake, can't you hold on?"
The leader of the once proud One Hun
dred and b'orty-first cast an eye along the
ground behind his few followers, as though
measuring ghostly ranks filed by his fallen
heroes, and with husky voice exclaimed,
Where are my men?
Could he have held on with 70 soldiers
against 10000? He would have tried
had it been so ordered, but in an in
slant SickleS was cut down by a musket
ball, and resistance at the Peach Orchard
and the Wheatfeld in fact everywhere in
front of Little Round Top, was ended.
The One Hundred and Forty first lost 149
killed and wounded The killed and NOR
tally hurt numbered 49, Out of officers 6
were killed or wounded. The loss amount
ed TO over IS per cent. of those engaged
and was exceeded only once on the Union
side III the war-namely, the First Mime
sofa, which lost 50 per cent.
Yet the regiment was not wiped out. IL
was transferred to the Second corps in the
spring of 1854, and took part in all the
bloody charges led by Hancock from the
Wilderness TO Petersburg. Lieut. Col
Watkins, having recovered from his Chan
celIorSville wound and returned from cap
uvlty, was in command. In the assaults
at Petersburg, June Is, 1864, the regiment
stormed the Confederate intrenchments.
and there Col Watkins met mis- doom. He
was shot through the body while leading
his men in the heat of battle and died on
the field He had redeemed his pledge.
GEORGE l. kILMER