page_title: Cadmus M. Wilcox
section_title: Gettysburg
hierarchical_section_title: Cadmus M. Wilcox / Civil War service / Gettysburg
caption_attribution_description: Map of Cemetery Ridge actions in the Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day, of the American Civil War. Updated unit positions and made topographical background consistent with many other Wikipedia Gettysburg maps. Drawn in Adobe Illustrator CS5 by Hal Jespersen. Graphic source file is available at http://www.posix.com/CWmaps/
context_page_description: Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox was a career United States Army officer who served in the Mexican–American War and also was a Confederate general during the American Civil War.
context_section_description: Wilcox and his command participated in the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863. On the battle's second day, July 2, his charge against a weakened Union line was met (and held off) by a suicidally brave countercharge from the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry.
  On the third day of the battle, during Pickett's Charge, his brigade served as support on the right flank of the division of his West Point classmate, Maj. Gen. George Pickett. Heavy Union artillery fire, particularly from those guns on Cemetery Ridge under the command of Lt. Col. Freeman McGilvery, readily broke up Wilcox's assault, who ordered the brigade to withdraw.
  With the death of Dorsey Pender at Gettysburg, Wilcox was promoted to major general on August 3, 1863, and assigned command of Pender's division in Hill's Third Corps. Wilcox's new command consisted of Lane's North Carolina brigade, Thomas's Georgia brigade, McGowan's South Carolina brigade, and Scales's North Carolina brigade.
  For the rest of the war, Wilcox's Division saw heavy fighting, from the Overland Campaign through Appomattox Court House. During the final days of the Siege of Petersburg in 1865, Wilcox's last-ditch stand on April 2 at Fort Gregg helped delay the Union forces long enough for Longstreet to maneuver into position to cover the army's retreat to the west.
caption: Attack by Anderson's division, July 2
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