Battle of East Cemetery Hill The battle of East Cemetery Hill was a Battle of Gettysburg , Second Day , military engagement in which the Louisiana Tigers Brigade and Hoke ' s Brigade of Confederates attacked , and were repelled by , the Harris and von Gilsa brigades of the XI Corps ( Union Army ) plus reinforcements . The site is on Cemetery Hill ' s east - northeast slope , east of the summit of the Baltimore Pike . Confederate General Robert E . Lee assigned Lt . Gen . Richard S . Ewell ' s Second Corps to launch a demonstration ( military ) against the Union right to distract the Army of the Potomac during Longstreet ' s attack to the south - southwest ( Hood ' s Assault , McLaws ' Assault , and Anderson ' s assault ) . Ewell was to exploit any success his demonstration might achieve by following up with a full - scale attack at his discretion . Preceded by a 4 p . m . artillery barrage from Benner Hill , the demonstration ' s infantry attack commenced with Johnson ' s Assault on Culp ' s Hill . The Union artillery lunettes on East Cemetery Hill provided protection from the barrage , and the counterbattery fire on Ewell ' s 4 batteries forced them to withdraw with heavy casualties ( e . g . , Major Joseph W . Latimer ) . Engagement . After the Confederates attacked Culp ' s Hill at about 7 p . m . and as dusk fell around 7 : 30 p . m . , Ewell sent two brigades from the division of Jubal A . Early against East Cemetery Hill from the east , and he alerted the division of Maj . Gen . Robert E . Rodes to prepare a follow - up assault against Cemetery Hill proper from the northwest . The two brigades from Early ' s division were commanded by Brig . Gen . Harry T . Hays : his own Louisiana Tigers Brigade and Hoke ' s Brigade , the latter commanded by Colonel Isaac E . Avery . They stepped off from a line parallel to Winebrenner ' s Run southeast of town . Hays commanded five Louisiana regiments , which together numbered only about 1 , 200 officers and men . Avery had three North Carolina regiments totaling 900 . The 2 Union brigades of 650 and 500 officers and men . Harris ' brigade was at a low stone wall on the northern end of the hill and wrapped around the base of the hill onto Brickyard Lane ( now Wainwright Av ) . Von Gilsa ' s brigade was scattered along the lane as well as on the hill . Two regiments , the 41st New York and the 33rd Massachusetts , were stationed in Culp ' s Meadow beyond Brickyard Lane in expectation of an attack by Johnson ' s division . More westerly on the hill were the divisions of Maj . Gens . Adolph von Steinwehr and Carl Schurz . Colonel Charles S . Wainwright , nominally of the I Corps , commanded the artillery batteries on the hill and on Steven ' s Knoll . The relatively steep slope of East Cemetery Hill made artillery fire difficult to direct against infantry because the gun barrels could not be depressed sufficiently , but they did their best with canister and double canister fire . Attacking with a Rebel yell against the Ohio regiments and the 17th Connecticut in the center , Hays ' forces bounded over a gap in the Union line at the stone wall . Through other weak spots some Confederates reached the batteries at the top of the hill and others fought in the darkness with the 4 remaining Union regiments on the line at the stone wall . On the crest of the hill against the gunners of Wiedrich ' s New York battery and Ricketts ' Pennsylvania battery " " with bayonet , clubbed musket , sword , pistol , and rocks from the wall , … 75 North Carolinians of the Sixth Regiment and 12 Louisianians of Hays ' s brigade … cleared the heights and silenced the guns . " " The 58th and 119th New York regiments of Krzyżanowski ' s brigade reinforced Wiedrich ' s battery from West Cemetery Hill , as did a II Corps brigade under Col . Samuel S . Carroll from Cemetery Ridge arriving in the dark double - quick over the hill ' s south slope through Evergreen Cemeter as the Confederate attack was starting to ebb . Carroll ' s men secured Ricketts ' s battery and swept the North Carolinians down the hill and Krzyżanowski led his men to sweep the Louisiana attackers down the hill until they reached the base and " flopped down " for Wiedrich ' s guns to fire canister at the retreating Confederates . Brig . Gen . Dodson Ramseur , the leading brigade commander , saw the futility of a night assault against artillery - backed Union troops in 2 lines behind stone walls . Ewell had ordered Brig . Gen . James H . Lane , in command of Pender ' s division , to attack if a " favorable opportunity presented " , but when notified Ewell ' s attack was starting and Ewell was requesting cooperation in the unfavorable attack , Lane sent back no reply . Losses on both sides were severe ( e . g . , Confederate Col . Avery : " … tell my father I died with my face to the enemy . " )