The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-06-23


the ground unchallenged.
Pickett's charge will ever live In
the minds of men as the climatic cpl
sode of Gettysburg; but military men
agree that In the menace 1t held, In the
fierceness of the assaults that were
made. In the carnage that was wrought,
the attack made by the men whom
Stonewall Jackson had led at Bull
Run. Antietam, Fredericksburg, and
Charlottesville deserves an equal
place In the annals of war. That at
tack lasted for six hours. Pickett's
charge moved out at three o'clock,
reached High Water Mark at 3 20, be-
gan its retreat at 3:40, and was off
the field a little after four o'clock.
AS a military spectacle. that con-
GLIDING act has never been excelled.
Its prelude was played by 300 guns.
as battery answered battery across the
gently rolling fields over which the
historic charge was to sweep. "Every
position seems to have broken out with
guns everywhere, and from Round
Top to Cemetery Hill is like a blazing
volcano" reported one officer. '"The
grand roar of nearly the whole ar
tillery Of both armies burst in on the
silence, almost as suddenly as the full
notes of an organ would fill
church." wrote another.
In an hour and half the Federals
slackened their fire, so that their guns
might cool, wrecked batteries be re-
placed, and the atmosphere allowed to
clear.
Forty-two Confederate regiments
move out. Pickett leads them, with
his own division in the center. The
charge begins with the precision of
dress parade. A murmur of admira-
ton sweeps the Union line. And then
its artillery opens again with every
ounce of its reinforced power. Pres
emily, torn by shot and shell, the
They press on. They are within 80
yards of their goal, facing death in a
thousand forms.
End of the Bloody Fight.
Pickett's men melt like snow on
hot day, but second and third wave
sweeps on. They face double canister
at 10 PAGES, but they silence the guns
that fire them. Into Webb's rifle pits
they leap and over the barbados.
Armistead and his men vault over the
stone wall He falls MORALLY wound
ed. The momentum Of the charge
wanes and dies.
Raked with fire and cross-fre, there
is nothing to do but fall back. But
they return across the sanguinary field
in such fashion that the repulse does
not become a rout. Out Of the 1880
men of Pickett's division, not more
than 1000 return. OF the Is field Off
GERS and four generals, only Pickett
and one lieutenant colonel escape un.
scathed.
The Battle of Gettysburg is ended.
AS one walks over the scene and tries
to measure the courage of the men
who fought here, he comes to under
stand why there is pride In every
American heart that this battle field
is now a military park, and that it
was dedicated in immortal words by
Abraham Lincoln.
The fine generosity Of the federal
government, that knows no North and
no South in the marking of those hal
lowed acres, cements in the f1rmest
bonds of history the sons and daugh-
tiers Of those whose bravery and cour-
age made the field the sacred spot it is.
First established by the Gettysburg
Battle Field Memorial association in
1864, taken over by the government
in 1895, more adequately marked by
the GETTYSBURG National Park COM
mission, the park now consists Of
$3.50 acres Of government-owned land.
1t has 221s miles of avenues, in addi-
ton to the state and county highways
that traverse it. In 1t there are SO
statues, In addition to nearly 800 other
monuments. There are also 1,410
bronze and iron tablets and 323 gran
lite markers on pedestals, while 419
show the artillery position of the field.
AS a recent army report declares:
1T has been well said that Gettys-
burg was in measure the American
soldiers battle, battle of the ranks,
a struggle Of American prowess and
courage, of discipline and tenacity, Of
answering fidelity and unselfish de-
votion, contest of American man.
hood"