The National tribune., 1901-10-17

dishearten us. Some of our men cursed
them for towards"
So far no great courage had been re-
quired.
But what troops were they that Pickett's
people were cursing for towards! On
the right they were Perry's Florida and
Wilcoxs Alabama, under the command
of the latter General. Their orders were
that when 90 minutes had elapsed after
the line had started they We're to march
straight ahead and repel any body of
fankers who should attack the right.
This order was obeyed to the letter.
At the required time they moved forward
and kept moving. About where Pickett
should have been Pickett's line had pre-
viously obliqued to the left not a Con
federate was to be seen. They kept on
and single handed and alone attacked the
whole Federal army, then exulting in vic
tory.
OF course they were repulsed, but when
they knew they were beaten did they sur
render that they might be sheltered in
Northern prisons from Northern bullets.
Not they. They simply fell back and
made their way, as best they could, to the
Confederate lines.
Is there any significance in the facts
that shortly after this battle Gen. Wilcox
was promoted and Gen. Pickett and his
W
other troops were they whom these men
were cursing for being towards?
Some of them were the choice troops Of
4. i. Hills old division. ever famous for
its fighting qualities; others were the sur
viyors of Archer's Brigade of Tennes-
scans, Mississippians, brave and impetu-
Gus; North Carolinians, always steady, al
ways true.
These men were cursed as towards, and
by Picketts Virginians! Achilles cursed
by Thersites, a lion barked at by cur!
ONE BRIGADE FAILED.
one, in Pettigrew's Division which failed
in the hour of trial. 1t was from their
own State, and had once been an efficient
body of soldiers, and even on this occa-
sion something might be said in its de-
Tense. But had this not been the case, to
the men of Armistead's Brigade (who
We're doing the cursing) the memory of
thei: own behavior at Sharpsburg and
Shepherdstown should have had the effect
of making them charitable towards the
OF others
Let us allow the Colonel to continue:
From the time the charge began up to
this moment, not a shot had been fired at
us nor had we been able to see, because
of the density of the smoke, which hung
over the battlefield like pail, that there
was an enemy in front Of us. The smoke
now lifted from our front, and there, right
before us, scarcely 200 yards away, stood
Cemetery flights in awful grandeur.
AT their base was a double line of Fed
eral infantry and several pieces of artil
lery, posted behind stone walls, and to the
right and left of them both artillery and
infantry supports were hurriedly coming
up. The situation was indeed appalling,
though it did not seem to appall. The
idea Of retreat did not seem to occur to
anyone. Having obtained view of the
enemy's position, the men now advanced
at the double-qmick, and for the first time
since the charge began they gave utterance
to the famous Confederate YELL"
So it seems that all that has been spoken
and written about their having marched
LOCO yards under the fire of 100 cannon
and 10000 muskets, is the veriest bosh
and nonsense. They marched 800 yards
as safely as if on parade. When the
smoke lifted they charged for 200 yards
toward the breastworks; the left only
reached 1.-THE right never did, but lay
down in the field and there and then / 800
of them threw down their muskets for
the war;
Col. Wood continued: "The batteries to
the right and left of Cemetery flights now
began to rain grapeshot and canister upon
us, and the enemy's infantry at the base
of the Nights poured volley after volley
into our ranks. The carnage was indeed
terrible; but still the division, staggering
and bleeding, pushed on toward the
flights they had been ordered to take. OF
course, such terrible slaughter could not
last long. The brave little division did not
number men enough to make material for
prolonged slaughter"
The carnage was for them indeed ter
rible, and their subsequent behavior up to
their defeat and rout at Five Forks
showed that they never forgot il. Let
us see what was this horrible carnage:
Inc 10 regiments, according to Gen.
Longstreet, carried into the charge, Of Of