The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-08-08

A&ilt- snR reElElPHf IOSt ~
per cent of its NUMBER"
Not a word here in n. Encyclo-
pcoia Britannica about the other rsgl-
ments from other States that partici-
pated In that heroi< assault
The erroneous sta,suIca- leaves the
reader under the impression that
only Virginia soldiers participated
1t was not one OF Picket;s regi-
ments that lost 90 per cent Of its
numbers. as stated in this cncyclo-
pedia. but the Twenty-sixth North
Carolina regiment that Is undoubtedly
referred 10.
h whole trend OF that story is
that il was "Pickett's V~ir-infans"
alone who made his great assault at
Gettysburg | sent 10 the library and
got voluee ; OF Battles and Leaders OF
the civil War. which gives Long
streets account OF it. Longs,reet.
who under Lees order WAS in direct
mman of the charge. in his official
report says:
As the commands reported. Pick
EFT was assigned on the right. kem-
pefS and Garnett'S brigades to be
supported by Armisted's. Wilcox.s
brigade Of the Third corps en- echelon
and guarding Ptckett's right
Wilcox's brigade was an Alabama
brigade exclusively
Two brigades OF Fender. Scales and
Lane, under command of Gen Trim
bic. The b~rigadeS of Pettigreu's di-
vision We're Archer's, P~ettigrew's,
Rrockenbrough's-
Which was an Alabama brigade
and Davis"
That portion of Pickett's brigade
present were all Firginians. -Wilcox's
five regiments were all ~Alabamians.
PettIgrew's column on the left COM
prlSed four b~rigadeS. 1t comprised
six North Carolina regiments, three
Tennesseean, three M~ississippian. and
n Alabamian. or Is in all. Petit
crews two supporting brigades. COM
posed of 10 regiments, all of which
were North Carolinians. SO that Of
~Pettigrew's column 16 Of his - regi-
ments hailed from the old North
State.
The mistake that is most frequently
made lies in this fact: Pickett's di-
vision had not participated in the bat
tie until that day. They had been left
pack on the Chambersburg pix as
the real guard. A portion of Pickett's
division did not participate at all in
the assault. LOngstreet, in his report,
gives the Der. of men engaged at
about 1900 and gives the strength
of Pickett's division az 1900. The last
official return of Which we nave
record, made by Pickett on June 20.
1863, previous to the battle of Gettys-
burg, showed Pickett's division num-
bered 6,114 men present and fit for
duty, but a part of the STA men had
been left back on the Chambersburg
pike.
l want to take no credit from any
man. The Viroinians under Pickett
did more than mortal men could be
expected to do; but | do want ii to
appear, so that the world may know.
that the majority Of the men who
went up Cemetery Ridge on the after
noon of July-3, 1863. in the face of
that murderous fire Of shot and she'll
from Meade's i~ntrenched line of in
fantry and artillery, were North Caro-
l~inians, and that they bore the brunt
of that historic assault. The Twenty
sixth North Carolina regiment was
partially recruited from my own coun-
ty. and in that assault and in the first
days fighting. on July j, lost the
greatest percentage in killed and
wounded of any regiment of either the
Federal or the Confederate armies. L
have here on my desk 4 boob from the
Congressiol al library, entitled "Resi-
mental Losses in the American Civil
War which gives the loss Of O1e
T~wenty-sixth North Carolina regiment
as SO per cent in the total casualties.
The regiment mustered 500 men
when the Dattie began ~ July - At
ter the roll had been called 1T night
fall of that terrible first days Stru2-
gle. 584 were numbered 2monS the
dead. wounded. and carture-t- OF lie
remaining 21j who responded here
at the End or The first days lighting
and who again SprdnS Tor ttfu On
that afternoon of July ; at the word
of command. 80 never returned.
Just Sc of that heroic regiment Of
heroic North Carolinians shouldered
their muskets and with heavy hearts
took I'D the line of retreat to the shell
tering banks Of the Potomac. n
story of the Light Brigade and its
Sacrifice at Balaklava pales beside
the story of the Twenty-sixth North
Carolina al Gettysburg.
/ speak Without any feeling except or
pure kindness for my Virginia friends.
II ia true that, as shown by the official
annals Of the Civil War. Nirginlans.