Warren sheaf., 1913-07-03

1.-THE hill country, in the direction oi
IGettysburg, and on the morning oi
July 1, 1863, the two great armies
] met and the struggle began, the
, greatest battle Of the Civil war,
During three whole days the terri
Bile conflict ragged. In the first days
lighting the Conf federates were VIC
torious and drove the Union line
from its position, through the VII
lage, and back to the high ground
southWard. On July 2 the struggle
was continued, the Union forces
Withstanding heroically the furious
onslaughts Of the Confederates and
when firing ceased at ten o'clock in
the evening the positionbof the two
armies had not been greatly chang
ed by aConAict which left forty
thousand dead and wounded men
on the field of battle.
Under the cover of darkness and
also on the forenoon of the 3rd,
both generals prepared for what
was felt would be the decisive ac-
ton. AT midday there was a lull
and then burst the fiercest cannon
aiding ever heard on the American
continent. For more than two
hours the hills shook with the fire
from more than 200 heavy guns.
The Confederate artillerymen con
centrated their fire on the Union
center at Cemetery Hill which be-
came a scene of indescribable up
roar and death. Then the cannon
ade ceased, followed Immediately
by the famous charge of a Confed-
crate column three miles long, led
by the Virgimians under General
Pickett in desperate charge on
the Union center. A terrific enfilad.
ing fire from the Union army NOW
ed down the advancing columns Of
brave men with frightful slaughter.
Again and again the advancing
troops made desperate attempts in
rain of shot and she'll to gain the
height, which was reached by a
few, only to be hurled back again
and the survivors sent struggling
across the valley to the woods from
which they SO calamity had emerg-
ed short time before. Though
unsuccessful, Pickett's charge is
the most daring in modern warfare
and brought undying fame to the
bold leader.
| But all deeds Of valor in that
battle do not belong to the Confed-
crates. Great was the bravery OF
the Union troops. On that battle
field Minnesota soldiers distin-
guished themselves and wrote the
most brilliant chapter Of the whole
war. Every school boy is familiar
with the achievement of the First
Minnesota regiment on the evening
of the second day. A strong Con-
federate force came swarming over
a ridge pursuing a jaded Union
force whose capture seemed immi-
nent. Gen. Hancock espied the
bunch Of men in blue near the bat
terry and riding up to Colonel Will
liam Golville he asked What regi-
ment- is this?'' THE First Minne-
sota," was the reply. Charge those
lines, ordered the corps command
er pointing to the rebel front. Col
vile moved his men at double
quick, and charged the advancing
| Confederates with bayonets, halting
them and afterward poured such a
/! hot fire into. their ranks that they
| We're forced to retreat. OF the men
who joined in that fatal but neces-
5sary charge, only AZ answered to
roll call at retreat; two hundred
and fifteen Minnesota boys lay
dead, dying or wounded the heav-
lest percentage Of loss in the re-
cords Of modern war. But that
charge saved Cemetery Ridge and
in all probability the Gettysburg
field. Had Gettysburg been lost,
the outcome of the Civil war might
have been different. This battle
was the turning point Of the war
and from this time the Confeder-
ates continually lost ground and
their cause became hopeless.
1 The Confederate loss at Gettys-
burg was nearly 10000 men, and
the Union loss $4,000. After the
battle Gen. Lee made mastery
retreat, and was able to prolone
the war more than year.
After fifty years many Of the
survivors of the Civil war, both
Union and Confederate, hold a re-
union on the famous battlefield
The wounds made by that struggle