The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1908-08-06

lied, and bring up those which had not
yet reached the field.
HancOcI-Decides to Fight II Out There.
A weighty responsibility devolved
upon Gen. Hancock in deciding whether
to continue the battle at Gettysburg or
withdraw the forces to the Pipe Creek
line, as Meade had planned. On the
way from Taneytown he had ridden
part of the time in an ambulance in
order to study the maps and inform
himself as to the lay of the land. Han
cocks temper, like that of Reynoldss.
was decidedly adverse to any avoidance
of the enemy, which had been too much
the rule in the Army of the Potomac
He believed in seeking the enemy and
striking him good and hard when found
and he knew this to be the temper of
the soldiers. The battle had begun, it
had been fought so far with desperate
energy, and there were the strongest
moral reasons why it should be con-
tinued upon the same ground. A retire
ment would be a confession of defeat
and the encouragement of the men,
Immediately upon his arrival on the
field he saw its possibilities, and sent a
messenger back at once to Meade with
the information that the position was
strong one, but could be easily turned
This question of turning, however, is a
i'cbdthpic oiit- dubISGu Lee
to turn our left and interpose between
us and Washington, while Ewell wanted
to turn our right. These things sound
better great deal than they work out
in practice generally. A flank move
| ment either way would have been at
tended with far more danger and diff
culties than had been considered, and
Lee was too good a General to enter
tain either of the propositions. He was
Mt tn oil a,-Itr
that there was little hope of safety or
| success for flank movement while
the enemy in front remained unhurt.
| Assisted by Gems Howard, Warren
| and BuforS Hancock established a line
Ion Cemetery Ridge with the skirmish-
ers extended to the town. As Williams's
Division of the Twelfth Corps arrived
it was sent to attack Wolfe Hill, which
was occupied by the enemy but before
the attack was delivered it was found
that the Union troops had fallen back
so far that this would place the division
out of touch, and it therefore returned
to the Baltimore pike, where It bivou-
acked for the night on the right of the
army. Gen. Geary's Division was sent
to occupy the ground near the Round
Top, the Importance of which Gen Ham
cock had taken notice. BY this time
IL was O'Clock, and Gen. Slocum hav-
| ing arrived on Cemetery Hill, Ger. Ham
| COCK turned over the command to him
and rode back to Taneytown to make
personal report to Gen. Meade.
The Advance of the Third CORPS.
Early on July 1 Gen. Sickles, in COM
pany with Gen. A. A. Humphreys, COM
mander of his First Division and a
most accomplished engineer and schol-
ar, was engaged in pursuance of orders
in studying the ground around Emmits-
burg with reference to its becoming a
battlefield. Having the general trend
of Lees heads of columns i'm view with
out knowing of the orders to concern
trate at Gettysburg, it was not unlikely
that a stroke might be made at Meade's
left flank, expecting to turn it and in
terpose between the army and Wash
ington. This was Meadets ever-present
fear, as 1t was that of. his principal
subordinates. At $40 p. m. dispatch
from Howard came to Sickles with the
startling news of the death of Reynolds
and the terrible battle which had been
going on since the middle of the fore
noon. The same phenomenon of the
direction of the wind which had car
ried the thunder Of the cannon to Lees