Year: 1877

io -


smoke will obscure the whole field. If, as


infer from your note, there is an alternative


to this attack, it should be carefully consider.


ed before opening our fire, for it will take all


the artillery ammunition we have left to test


this one thoroughly, and if the result is unfa.


vorable, we will have none left for another ef-


fort and even if this is entirely successful, il


can only be so at very bloody cost" still


desired to save my men, and felt that if the


artillery did not produce the desired effect,


would be justified in holding Picket of. !


wrote this note to Colonel Walton at exactly


l 80 p. m.: "Let the batteries open. Order


great precision in firing. If the batteries at


the peach orchard cannot be used against the


point we intend attacking, let them be opened


on the enemy at Rocky Hill" The cannona-


ding, which opened along both lines, was grand.


In few moments courier brought note to


General Pickett, who was standing near me,


from Alexander, which, after reading, he


handed to me. 1t was as follows: "If you


are coming at all, you must come at once, or


I cannot give you proper support but the en-
emy's fire has not slackened at all at least
eighteen guns are still firing from the cemete-
ry ITSELF" .,..,.. s..-


After I had read the note, Pickett said to


me: General, shall I advance {" My feel
ings had so overcome me that would not
speak for fear of betraying my want of conf.
dence to him. bowed affirmation and turned
to mount my horse. Pickett Immediately
said: II shall lead my division forward, sir. }"
I spurred my horse to the wood where Alex
ander was stationed with artillery. When I
reached him, he told me of the disappearance
of the seven guns which were to have led the
charge with Pickett, and that bis ammunition
was so low that be could not properly support
the charge. at once ordered him to stop
Pickett until the ammunition had been re-
plenished. He informed me that he had no
ammunition with which to replenish. l then
saw that there was no help for it, and that
Pickett must advance under his orders. He
swept past our artillery in splendid style, and
the men marched steadily and compactly down
the slope. As they started up the ridge, over
one hundred cannon from the breastworks Of
the Federals hurled rain Of canister, grape
and shell down upon them still they pressed
on until half way up the slope, when the crest
of the hill was lit with solid sheet of fame
as the masses of infantry rose and fired.
When the smoke cleared away Pickett's divis'
ion was gone. Nearly two.thirds of his men
lay dead on the field, and the survivors were
sullenly retreating down the hill. Mortal man
could not have stood that fire. In half an
hour the contested field was cleared and the
battle of Gettysburg was over. ....-


When this charge failed, it was expected
the enemy would throw his whole force on the
shattered Confederate ranks to crush them {;
but the army was soon in compact shape and
faced once more towards Virginia. General
Longstreet gives an extensive review of the
campaign, and furnishes interesting docu-
mentary proof in support ofhis positions, form
ing altogether most interesting and fascina-
ting page of history. In this connection he
says:


II may mention here that it has been ab-
surdly said that General Lee ordered me to
put Hoods and McLaw's divisions in support
of Pickett's assault. General Lee never or
dered any such thing. This is directly at
issue with Colonel Walter w. Taylor, who
was General Lees Adjutant General, and
whose paper on the battle of Gettysburg has
been published heretofore] After our troops
were all arranged for assault, General Lee
rode with me twice over the lines to see that
everything was arranged according to his
wishes. He was told that we had been more
particular in giving the orders than ever be-
fore; that the commanders had been sent for
and the point of attack had been carefully
designated, and that the commanders had
been directed to communicate to their subor-
dinates, and through them to every soldier in
the command, the work that was before them,
so that they should nerve themselves for the
attack and fully underestimate.


"After leaving me, he again rode over the
field once, if not twice, 80 that there was real
ly no room for misconstruction or misunder-
standing of his wishes. He could not have
thought of giving any such an order. Hood
and McLaws were confronted by largely
superior force of the enemy on the right of
Pickett's attack. To have moved them to
Pickett's support, would have disengaged
treble their number of Federals, who would
have swooped down from their rocky fast
nesses against the flank of our attacking COL
umn and swept our army from the field. A
reference to any of the maps of Gettysburg
will show, from the position of the troops, that
this would have been the inevitable result.
General Lee and myself never had any delib-
crate conversation about Gettysburg. The
subject was never broached by either of US to
the other. On one occasion it came up cas-
ually, and he said to me (alluding to the
charge Of Pickett on the 3D., General, why
didn't you stop all that thing that dayr l
replied that could not, under the circum.
stances, assume such responsibility, as no
discretion had been left me"


MARK TWAIN AS SoLD1ER.-Mr. Mark
Twain, in speech at the dinner Of the Ancient
Artillery Company Of Hartford, the other
day, described, with serious simplicity, his
military experiences in Missouri in the early
days of the war. His company Of eleven men
bivouacked in barn, and waited for the in.
vader. "We had good enough time there
at that barn, barring the rain and the rats,
and the mosquitoes and things, We lived on
both parties impartially, and both parties ha.
ted US impartislly. But one day we heard
that the invader was approaching, so we had
to pack up and move. Inside of "a hours the
invader was coming again; so we moved.
And next day be was after US once more.
We didn't like it much, but we moved rather
than to make trouble. This went on for
week or ten days, and We saw considerable
Then Ben Upper lost patience.
He says, war is not what it's cracked up to
be. I'm going home if can't ever get
chance to sit down minute There was
mutiny and dissatisfaction all around, and of
course, here come the enemy pestering us
again, two hours-more than two hours-be-
fore breakfast, and nobody wanted to turn out
at that hour. l detached one of my aids, and
sent him to the brigadier, and asked him to