The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-08-15
FACTS OF BATTLE
AT GETTYSBURG
Chief Justice Clark Tells of North
Carolinians Going Fufthest
to the Front

North Carolina made her record III
the wal by hard fighting. 1t seems
that she must make a constant strus-
gle to MAINTAIN it. The recent on
troversy in the Senate between Sena-
tor Dixon OF Montana. Ca native born
Tar Heel) and senator Martin, OF
Virginia, over the Gettysburg incl
dent has attracted attention. ana as
usual many letters have come from
his old comrades to Chief justice
Clark to furnish data. He has sen
to enator Dixon the following taken
from the official Confederate Reports
which are row on tile IN
ton.
AT Gettysburg 1852 Confederate
were killed and 1901 were wounded
OF the killed, 40 were from NORTH
Carolina, 435 were Georgians, D9
Virginians, 25S Mississippians, Il
South Carolinians and 204 Alaba1n-
ians. The three ~brigades that los
Carolina, 600 killed): Davis, Missis-
sippi, 1SO killed) which had in il
one North Carolina regiment, AND
Daniels North Carolina, (165 killed)
Pickett's entire division had 214 kill
ed. No brigade in Pickett's Division
lost-as many killed and wounded as
the 18th North Carolina Regiment
whose loss Was 90 hiItCu anu OVZ
wounded. the heaviest loss of any
regiment, on either side, in any bat
tie during the war. In h first
days fight there were Is Confeder-
ate brigades of which Z (~nearly half)
were from North Carolina. In
"Longstreet's Assault" which has
been miscalied by some 'Plcketts
charge there.were IA Virginia and
Is North Carolina regiments. besides
tho trnnnc frono otbnr Stotoc'
Judge Clark stated yesterday that
the Gettysburg controversy originated
in the fact that Pickett's friends
hoped from his being placed in com
mand Of the Charge that he would
receive his reward by promotion to
Li%eutenant-General and that when it
failed the Richmond papers to ex-
onerate Pickett threw the blame upon
the North Carolinians. This was
promptly resented by showing the
fact that the North CarOlinianS went
a little farther to h front than the
Virginians. This was largely due to
the fact that opposite the V~irginians
the wall was somewhat nearer the
Confederate line, and though some
Virginians crossed it, yet the North
CarOlinians opposite the r~e-entrant
angle Of the wall went 80 yards fur
| Their to the front. This incident would
never have been noticed by us, but for
the charges made against us. Pickett
himself never crossed the Emmetts-
burg road, while Pettigrew went for
ward INC vas wounded near the wall
Inc General ArmiStead was killed
just beyond it.
Judge Clark further said that Gen.
Pickett was given another chance by
being put In command Of the expedi-
ton against New Bern, where he again
failed. And that after the battle at
Five Forks. l April. 1865, Gen. Pick
EFT was summarily cashiered by Gen.
Lee for misconduct. He says that be-
ing invited to deliver, some years ago
an address before the Virginia Bar AS
ISOLATION. he heard Gen. Eppa Hunter
and Gen. w. II. Payne make the above
statement in the presence Of several
gentlemen, and they added that two or
three days afterwards, during the re-
treat to A~ppOmattOx, when General
Lee and several other general officers
were watering tn cir horses, they saw
Pickett On foot cross the road a few
yards Off, Whereupon General Lee cOn-
t~emptuously said: Hasn't that fellow
left here YETI" Judge Clark said that
he would not have repeated the mat
ter, though thus publicly related, as
Gen. Pick EFT is dead. but that recently
Col. John S. Mosby, in a magazine
article (Munsey's Magazine for April,
1919 has narrated exactly the same
incident. The memOry of the brave
North Carolinians who fell at Gettys-
burg ought no longer to be called in
question to save the Of Cen
eraI Pickett. North CarolinianS have
never questioned the gailantry Of the
VirginianS in that charge. They
have only claimed the same merit for
their own soldiers
Another controversy has recently
sprung up in Virginia over the sun
posed Clair chat Henry l.. Wyatt was
the first nan killed in the war. The
we'll ~subStantiated claim of North
Carolina is that Wyatt was the frs,
man 'fkilled in battle" Capt Mari
was killed a few days before. but not
in battle. He was in citizens clothes
walking alons the streets of Warren