The National tribune., 1901-07-11

withdrawn from the extreme right, pro
sumably to reinforce the imperiled flank
| leaving that portion Of the line unguarded
In the attack which Early made late IL
the day upon the right he made no I'm
preston upon any portion Of the defend
ed line, but Of course there was no diff
fculty In carrying the line from which tbs
troops had been withdrawn.
The rebels, instead Of pressing to the
| front In force, finding themselves well
upon the right flank of our position, turned
to their right and moved down and inside
our lines with the intention Of putting to
rout the entire right Of our army. They
soon ran UP against Greene's Brigade
behind well built rife pits which Greene
had built to meet just such contingency
Greene and his men made a splendid fight
and the enemy's advance in this direction
failed. They advanced in front, however
| almost to the Baltimore pike without a
soldier In line to stop their progress; but
the curtain of night had fallen and the
great advantage gained by the enemy was
dissipated by timidity and darkness. Some
one had committed a b!under, and only
| the shades of night saved the army from
grave, if not disastrous consequences
At the Cemetery, where the Louisiana
| Tigers led n most reckless and gallant
charge, the enemy was repulsed with great
slaughter, and the Tigers, as an organiza-
tion, are said to have been eliminated from
further operations during the war.
During the night Slocum's forces re-
turned to occupy their former position only
to find their works occupied by the enemy;
and at daylight attacked the rebels, and
after prolonged and severe fighting drove
the enemy away, regalned their works,
and thereafter no considerable fighting
took place on this portion of the line.
Elsewhere during the night the lines were
strengthened, preparatory for the events
of the third day.
LEES UNwIsE MOVE.
Whatever criticisms may justly be
made to the conduct of the defense on the
part of the Union cause, no such terrific
blunder was made on the Union side as
that which impeilcd Lee to hurl his troops
against Cemetery Ridge on the third and
last day of the fight. | need not repeat
the story. 1t has been often told and is
familiar as household words" or a
'twicc told tale" 1t was a sad mistake
only relieved in its awful consequences by
the desperate yalOr of the brave men who
in obedience to orders, went down to
death in an effort to accomplish the i'm
possible. 1t did not require great tactical
skill to repel that attack. The issue de-
pended, not solely, but principally, as to
whether the man with the musket, after
Il deluge of shot and shell hurled for two
hours along that battle front from $50
braZen thrOats, could be relied upon to
stand firm and repel the mighty force to
follow in the wake Of that terrific cannon
aiding. Not for an instant did the issue
trcmble in the balance, and the impetuous
charge of Pickett went to pieces in front
of the Union line, which never for a mo-
ment was seriously shaken. With the re-
pulse of Pickett's grand charge the battle
of Gettysburg practically ended.
Much can be said for and against the
subsequent management of that historical
campaign as conducted by Meade. The
defeat of Lee had relieved him for the
present of burden of responsibility and
care which well might have overwhelmed
Il greater Captain than Meade. Secure
what you have rather than get what you
may seems to have been his policy, which
certainly cannot be asSailed as unwise,
and yet, the thought unbidden comes to
us that had Grant or Sherman or Sheridan
been in command Of the Army of the Po-
tomac on the night of July 3, 1868, Lee
with his shattered army would never have
recrossed the Potomac.
MAGNITUDE OF LOSSES.
There were - regiments in the battle
of Gettysburg, whose losses each exceeded
"a per cent. The following is a list Of
the regiments in the order of their per-
centage of loss:
Per cent.
1st Mimi, Second Corps. ps......... So
Hist Pa, Third Corps. 76.7
111th n. Y, Second Corps. ........ 63.S
ojth Mich I St CorDS 80 z