The National tribune., 1908-09-17

al II
a terrible, and destructive fire. With my
knowledSe offthe situation 1 could see
the despkrates and hopeless nature of
the charge and the cruel slaughter il
would cause. NV heart was heavy when
l left Pickett / rode once or twice
taiong the' ground between Pickett and
the Federals.s examining the positions
and studying the matter over in all its
phases SO far as we could anticipate"
In Posting the Guns.
Gen. Alexander tells how he posted
the guns beefnnins with Longstreet s
SO, of which eigff were left on the en-
treme right, aGd IS posted in an irregu-
lar line 1900 yards long. beginning at
the Peach Orchard and. extending TO the
lSpangler wood. Other guns were
jl,rought Up ,iffsfi iic had 1T2 in position.
He says that the Federal guns opposed
to him numtcr.' 22e, but Grn Hunt.
Chief cf Artlier Army of the Poto-
mac. says that ne was able . Nring TO
bear on the Second Corps & dis
tance of a mile, only II 81 These
were on an open crest, plainly visible
Iguns presented a magnificent sight Our
whole front for two miles was covered
by batteries already in line or going
| into position. They stretched. appar-
Eently in one. unbroken mass from op-
pesite the town to the Peach. Orchard,
which bounded the view to the left. the
ridges of which were planted thick with
cannon.. Never before had such a sight
been witnessed, on this continent. and
rarely if ever abroad. What did it
mean"
Mende ArranEes His line.
Meade and his Generals were conf
4 fhn nj iDt,t hot hot thn hat In
Twas not. over, and industriously em-
Iployed the hours in getting ready for a
fresh assault, in whatever direction it
might come
| On the extreme right the Twelfth
ECorps had only followed Johnson a
short distance, and then settled down
to strengthening the strong position it
had taken the night before. On its left
was Wadsworth's Division of the First
Corps then the Eleventh Corps, with
! Carrolfs Brigade of the Second remain
| ing on the hill after it's fierce and sue
cussful charge of the previous evening.
| Next came RobinsOn's Division of the
First Corps, Hays's Division of the Sec
ond and DoubIeday's of the First 70
the latter had been added Stannard''s ;
Brigade of Vermont nine-months men
Fthe 18th, 18th, I4th, 18th and 10th VT.
This had reached the battlefield too late
to take part in the first days battle.
The 18th and 18th vt. had been de-
tached by Gen. Reynolds's order to
guard trains in the rear The 18th VT.
came UP and took it's place in the bri-
gade, but was again ordered back to
the wagons
Next in line came Caldwell's Division
of the Second Corps, and on its left
the Third Corps. joining on to the Fifth,
which held the extreme left of the line
and the Round Tops.
Gen. Hunts Description.
In Battles and Leaders" Gen. Hunt
says:
"Compactly arranged on its crest was
McGilvery's artillery, Al guns, consisting
| of his own batteries, reinforced by 9TH
ers from the Rrtillery Reserve. Well
to the right, in front of Hays and Glib
bon, was rhe artillery of the Second
Corps under Its chief, Capt. Hazard.
Woodruff 8 Battery was in front of Zieg-
ler's Grove, on his left, in succession,
Arnold's Rhode Island, Cushing's United
States, Brow%ss Rhode Island and
Rorty's New York. In the fight of the
preceding day the two last-named bat
teries had beenSto the front and suffered
severely. Lieift. T. Fred Brown was
severely Wounded. and his command de-
volved on Lieut.. Perrin. So great had
been the loss in men and horses that
they were noE of four guns each, reduc-
ing the total number in the corps to 26.
Daniels's Battery of horse artillery, four
guns, was at the angle. Cowan's 1st n.
Y. Battery six rifles, was placed on the
left of Rofty's soon after the cannonade
| commenced. y SInraddition some of the
i guns on Cemetery Hill, and Ritten-
houses, on Efttle Round Top. could be
] brought to bear, but these were Offset
by batteries similarly placed on the
fianks of the enemy, so that on the
/ Second (rOrng line within the af
| a mile, were II guns to oppose nearly
/ $50. They were on an open crest, plain
i ly visible from all parts of the opposite
line. Between 10 and IL a. m., every
thing looking favorable at Culp's Hill,
4 crossed over to Cemetery Ridge, to
see what might be going on at other
i points. Here 4 magnificent display
| greeted my eyes. Our whole front for
! two miles was covered by batteries al
ready in line or going into position.
/ They stretched-apparentl in one un-
broken mass-from opposite the town
! to the Peach Orchard, which bounded
/ the view to the left, the ridges of which
4 were planted thick with cannon. Meyer
before had such sight been witnessed
on this continent. and rarely If ever
n abroad. What did it mean? 1t might
i possibly he TO hold that line while its
| infantry was sent to aid Ewen, or to
i guard against counterstroke from us,
4 but 1T most probably meant an assault
on our center, 10 be preceded by can
4 nonade, In order to crush our batteries
and shake our infantry; 1T least to cause
US to exhaust our ammunition in reply,
); SO that the assaulting troops might pass
in good condition over the half mile of
i open ground which was beyond our ef-
! fective musketry fire. With such an
object the cannonade would be long
and followed Immediately by the as
leo fl,at,. 1,.Il in
j READINGS -. - r'<i"""ss. From
NJ