The National tribune., 1902-04-10
OPENING THE BATTLE.
The Cannoneer Contributes His State
ment to the History OF Gettysburg.
BY AUGUSTUS BUELL..


In The National Tribune of April 3,
Comrade Daniel l.. Lewis, Co. G., 9th N
Y. Cav, remarks: 1T is claimed, and. l
believe, admitted, that the 9th n Y Cav.
opened the fight tat Gettysburg), etc
1t IS not a matter of doubt. The first
shot Of Gettysburg was fired by Corporal
Alphonse Hodges, of the 9th n. Y. Cav
He was sent out early in the morning of
July /, as q scout or yidet, in advance
OF the picket line, west of Willoughby's
Greek. He proceeded to the top of the
second ridge west Of the creek, and from
that point saw the head of column of
Heth's Division coming down the opposite
slope, from the direction of Cashtown. So
far as the statements of his comrades
show, Hodges was alone, or il q squad
had gone out with him, he was consider
ably In advance of the rest. He at once
Tired his carbine at the approaching troops
and then fell back to the main picket line
Our records do not show the exact moment
of this occurrence; but Gen. Heth says:
we encountered the outlying cavalry
picket of the Union forces at a few min
utes to n. m. The first seen was a sin
gle cayalryman. But the determination
with which he skirmished as he fell back
INDICATED that there was a heavy force
| behind him, that he was doing his best
to warn of our approach. Though when
starting from Cashtown with my division
earlier in the morning. | had been led to
believe that Gettysburg might be occupied
by half-past nine without serious opposi-
tion, the behavior of this cayalryman
caused me to modify that impression. He
was plainly a veteran soldier, who knew
what 10 do in situation of that kind.
knew that a veteran cdyalryman there at
that moment must mean that at least the
cavalry of the Army of the Potomac or a
considerable force of it, had already
reached a position to cover Gettysburg
and knew also that their presence must
mean more or less concentration of in
fantry and artillery behind them. There
fore, though the theory when we left
Cashtown was that our movement had for
ITS primary purpose the capture of a guam
tlty OF shoes and other supplies at Get
tysburg, this incident satisfied me that
we were on the eve of a heavy battle.
disposed my order of march accordingly
and sent word to Gen. Pender advising
him of the situation. In half an hour my
leading brigades were in full contact with
Bufords Cavalry Division, having artiI-
lery. In an hour the Union infantry began
to deploy. In an hour and half to two
hours my division and part of Pender's
were in contact with the First Corps of
the Army Of the Potomac. Personally, l
saw only the beginning of the infantry
fight that morning, being hit in the head
by rifle bullet, which made me uncon-
scious for some time and practically put
me hors de combat for the rest of the
day. But my observation up to the mo-
ment of being hit was, think, clear and
accurate
In the official records as printed, | was
unable to find the name of this brave and
steady-nerved cavalryman. But when writ
ing The Cannoneer," | made inquiries
among the survivors of the 9th II. Y Cav
and learned from cumulative evidence that
it was Corpl Alphonse Hodges; where
upon, | recorded with much pleasure the
fact on page 100 of The Cannoneer."