Major Turning Points in the Battle of Gettysburg

I think it is clear the the Battle of Little Round Top was the defining engagement of the Civil War

By JIM PURCELL

The American Civil War (April 12, 1861-May 13, 1865) can be argued to be the bloodiest in American history, as both sides in the war were comprised of Americans. 

   Until the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863), the Army of Northern Virginia, under the commmand of General Robert E. Lee had chalked up many victories against the North's Army of the Potomac. In fact, without a single major Northern victory to that point, many people in the North and South alike believed that Lee's army could and would gain victory in the war. More importantly, with each Southern victory, the rogue administration of Confederate President Jefferson Davis was awarded more and more credibility not only in the eyes of Americans, but also foreign governments in Europe.

   Gettysburg was important because the credibility of the administration of President Abraham Lincoln was probably on the line. Should Lee's army have vanquished the army of newly appointed Army of the Potomac Commander General George G. Meade, then it would have resulted in Lee's first and greatest victory in Northern terrirory. And, it would have severely weakened the confidence of Northerners that the war was winnable. Lincoln would have been beseiged in Washington DC even more than he already was. The South would have been a few chess moves away from having succeeded in sucsession and perhaps the Davis government would have been recognized formally by any number of nations. 

   It was not the good intentions of Lincoln, in his opposition to slavery, that created some divine miracle to save the Union. The beginning of the salvation began with BG John Buford's Union cavalry holding Seminary Ridge against superior odds of Confederate Gen. Henry Heath's infantry division. In holding the high ground, he gave a tactical advantage to the North and deprived Lee's army from occupying the heights of the city. If this had happened, Gen. James Longstreet's defensive theory might well have been employed, giving the Confederates a tactical advantage. 

   In engaging Heath's division early, and making it deploy at a time and place not of Lee's choosing, Buford took the Army of Northern Virginia off its plan. This was the first thing that happened 'right' for the Union. Later, Buford's cavalry was reinforced by Gen. John Reynold's infantry, consolidating strength along the ridge and the high ground. This was the good news from the first day.

   The next piece of luck the North had was when Gen. Strong Vincent placed the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment at the end of the Northern line at Little Round Top. General Lee had assigned General Longstreet's corps the responsibility of gaining possession of Little Round Top. Longstreet gave the assignment to division commander  General John Bell Hood. Hood assigned the 15th Alabama Infantry the primary responsibility to attack the 20th Maine. But, not the 15th Regiment, or all of the reserve that was set aside to assist the 15th culd dislodge the 20th Maine from their defensive position.

   If Hood had managed to gain Little Round Top, the situation would have been much different. With Northern forces deplyed along the rige at Big Round Top, Confederate forces could have rolled up Union forces. Should this have happened, Meade's army would have faced certain destruction, defending against Confederate divisions attacking from the front and back. The Army of the Potomac would have been devastated and probably combat ineffective for the rest of what would have been a short war. This was the second day.

   Finally, on the third day, General Lee wanted Gen. Longstreet to attack the center of the Union position, at Cemetary Hill. Lee believed that the flanks of the Union Army had been reinforced overnight and his enemy's strength was not in the center of the Union line. In truth, there were good lines of communication and resupply avenues throughout the Northern line. Northern artillery had ample rounds to fire at advancing Confederates. And, even though Confederate artillery made a strong attempt to prepare the area the infantry would assault, it ultimately came up short. Here is where the human element came into play.

   General Winfield Scott Hancock was the corps commander who had primacy of that area of the battlefield Lee wanted to target. General Hancock was a professional soldier, West Point graduate and veteran of the Mexican War. He trained his soldiers well and had some success in commanding his troops, despite a chain of command above him that was not always prudent or skillfull. This was made apparent on July 3, when Hancock's troops did not run from the artillery that blanketed the area courtesy of Confederate cannons. His men stood when other nits in the Army of the Potomac might not have.

   Well, Longstreet selected one of his division commanders, Gen. George Pickett to lead an assault comprised of Longstreet's corps (minus Hood's division) and elements of Gen. A.P. Hill's corps. But, because of Northern artillery and courage and skill of Hancock's men, Pickett's charge amounted to 60 percent of the charge's 15,000 men being killed, wounded or missing.

   These were major points of decision in the Battle of Gettysburg. And, each of these points were vital to saving the Union. However, if the 20th Maine had not stood on July 2nd at Little Round Top there would have likely not been a Union Army at Gettysburg to fight on the 3rd at all.

   The poitical cannot help but be entwined in the story of the Civil War. Remember, the United States was not quite 100 years old by the time the Civil War broke out. The American Experiment in democracy was fairly new to the world. And, Great Britain was not entirely adjusted to the notion that its former Colonies would remain its own, independent republic. The Civil War was the opportunity for British rulers to hope. The only thing that England disagreed with the Confederate States about was its use of human slaves. I cannot help but think that, should the Confederate States have won their freedom, the South would have had to rid itself of slavery to enjoy the good graces of English trade and protection. At that point, the South would have had little to no leverage to submitting to English dictates.

   I believe that, in any version of the ending of the Civil War, the South would have had to abolish slavery. However, if such a thing happened at the tip of a British bayonet, as oppposed to a Northern one, then the America we have all come to know would have never happened.

(Jim Purcell is a retired journalist. Mr. Purcell is a U.S. Army veteran who served as a sergeant in the Military Intelligence Corps. He is retired and lives in Western North Carolina with his wife.)

   

   

20th Maine Regiment XO Wanted to Set Record Straight

(This is an update to a previous story that appeared on this site, titled "Chamberlain's 20th Maine Saves the Union at Little Round Top." This is done to provide all points of view about the the action at Little Round Top )

By JIM PURCELL

The Battle of Little Round Top (July 2, 1863), during the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863), is considered by many to be the key engagement in the most important battle of the American Civil War (April 1861-May 1865).

   Until today, there are differing stories about what exactly happened during that terrible battle between the North and South at Little Round Top.

Major (later General) Ellis Spear

   One of the most popular authors who wrote the history of the battle was Michael Shaara (1928-1988), who penned, among others, the book “The Killer Angels,” in 1974. The book was later made into a movie, which spent a great deal of time chronicling the actions of the 20^th Maine Regiment, of the Army of the Potomac, which was led by then-Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

   The book and movie subscribe to the accounts of the battle allegedly given by Col. Chamberlain and several members of the regiment. In these accounts, the role of Col. Chamberlain is cast as very heroic in nature – so much so that Colonel, later General, Chamberlain was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions the day of Little Round Top. Indeed, Col. Chamberlain was heroic that day, but just what occurred has been disputed.

   Col. Chamberlain’s right hand in commanding the 20^th Maine was then-Major Ellis Spear (who later became a general himself). Maj. Spear was with the 20^th Maine during that terrible day when it faced off against the 15^th Alabama Regiment, among others in Gen. John Bell Hood's Confederate division.

   According to Spear, who had been a long-time friend of Col. Chamberlain’s since before the war, in Maine, Col. Chamberlain’s published account of the battle exaggerated his role in the 20^th Maine’s victory at Little Round Top. At the same time, though, I believe it is safe to say that every soldier who took part in the Battle of Little Round Top showed an amazing amount of courage and soldierly skill that terrible July day.

MG J.L. Chamberlain 

   Both Generals Chamberlain and Spear survived the war and went on to be very prosperous in civilian life. So, there was no discernable reason why Spear would be frivolous in his rebuke of Chamberlain’s side of the story regarding the battle.

   Yet, Spear claimed that the version of Chamberlain’s story printed by Hearst Publications in the former commander’s later life may well have been “corrected” by the news outlet in a manner which gave a false impression of “vain glory” on the battlefield. Not only was Spear upset about Hearst publication’s account of Little Round Top, but also of the 20^th Maine’s participation in the Battle of Fredericksburg previous to the Battle of Gettysburg.

The 20th Maine Regiment can be said to have played a key role at the Battle of Gettysburg

   Essentially, Spear contended that there was far more of a committee to Chamberlain’s leadership that day among officers of the regiment. And, the signature bayonet charge at Little Round Top was the consensus of a group of officers and not the bold unilateral order of Chamberlain.

   With that said, Chamberlain and Spear were, in fact, life-long friends. This clarification on the part of Spear was, in his point of view, nothing more than trying to give an accurate account of a major Civil War battle. 

   Though Spear did not seek to muddy Chamberlain’s name in any way he did seek to set the record straight about the events of July 2, 1863.

   There may be some contention about the exact accounts of what happened during the furious battle between the 20^th Maine and the rebels at Gettysburg, yet the fact remains that it was a day when a group of Maine men saved the Union in a bloody action that still resonates today.

Chamberlain's 20th Maine Saves the Union at Little Round Top

The legendary advance of the 20th Maine Regiment

By JIM PURCELL

The most decisive battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought between July 1-3 in and around the small Pennsylvania town. It was an epic and deadly clash that pitted the Union Army of the Potomac, and its newly appointed commander, Major Genera George G. Meade, against the Army of Northern Virginia, and its legendary commander, General Robert E. Lee.

Gettysburg in History

The Battle of Gettysburg would be the most strategic struggle of the Civil War (April 12, 1861-May 9, 1865) and the most bloody. Going into the clash, Gen. Lee's army numbered approximately 71,000-75,000 soldiers. Meade's army outnumbered the rebels, with a force of 104,256. By the battle's end, though, Gen. Lee would suffer loses between 23,000-28,000, while Union forces would sustain 23,048 casualties.

'Gettysburg was not a battlefield that either Gen. Lee or MG. Meade had picked to hold their fight.'

This second invasion of the North by Gen. Lee would prove to be his last and the high-water mark for the Confederacy. Before Gettysburg, the contest between North and South was one hallmarked by frequent Southern victories and advances. Afterward, the South would never again be in striking range of subduing the Union Army. 

The Army of Northern Virginia began its invasion of the North on June 3, 1863. Gen. Lee's objective for the invasion was to advance across the Potomac River, which separated Union Forces from Washington, DC. He hoped that by effectively striking Washington, he could compel President Abraham Lincoln to sue for peace terms from the Southern Confederacy. All that stood between Gen. Lee and the realization of his mission was the Army of the Potomac, which he had beaten regularly for two years at that point, and MG Meade, who was just one of a succession of generals that had been promoted to that post only to be dismissed.

In fact, Meade's predecessor, MG Joseph Hooker was marching north with Union Forces when, during a brief respite in Frederick, Maryland, he was informed that he was relieved of command of Northern forces, in favor of MG Meade.
MG Meade's task was not a simple one: He faced Gen. Lee's forces, including those of Confederate corps commanders Lieutenant-General James "Pete" Longstreet and LTG Ambrose P. "AP" Hill, which were moving along the Chambersburg Road in southern Pennsylvania, while LTG Richard S. Ewell was leading his corps west from York. One piece of luck MG Meade did enjoy was that the eyes of the Southern force, specifically MG J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, was performing a screening mission against the Union's forces and did not report back to Gen. Lee's headquarters until after the two forces had clashed for the first two days of the battle.

Col. (later MG) Joshua L. Chamberlain

Gettysburg was not a battlefield that either Gen. Lee or MG Meade had picked to hold their fight. Like many things in war, it happened as an accident.

Unexpected by either force, Union Cavalry Division Commander Brigadier General John Buford encountered elements of the Confederate division commanded by MG Henry "Harry" Heth, which belonged to LTG Hill's corps) on the Chambersburg Pike. LTG Hill, under orders from Gen. Lee, reinforced Heth's position while BG Buford was reinforced by the Union division commanded by MG John Reynolds, who was killed in action that first day.

Both Gen. Lee and MG Meade were caught entirely off guard by the actions that were fast taking place at Gettysburg and both them, their staffs and their commanders worked quickly to acclimate themselves to the situation.

From the very beginning of the fight, the matter of which army was going to hold the heights surrounding Gettysburg was they key issue involved in the battle. Big Round Top is the commanding position on the battlefield, with Little Round Top being adjacent to the taller hill. While the approach to Big Round Top was highly defensible, the approach to Little Round Top was not so, and was thereby able to be exploited by an attacking enemy.

Col. Strong Vincent's 3rd Brigade

By the end of the first day, it was simply the fortunes of war that it was the undersized 3rd Brigade, 1st Division of the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Col. Strong Vincent, that held a tenuous grip on the vital piece of real-estate that was Little Round Top. With the first terrible day of fighting coming to a close, it was the Union that ended up commanding the heights of the battlefield.
Col. Vincent's command was comprised of the 16th Michigan Regiment, the 12th and 44th New York regiments, the 83rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment, a company of Michigan sharpshooters and the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

This graphic depicts the grading of Little Round Top at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg

The commanding general of the Army of the Potomac was not the only new commander at Gettysburg for the Union side. In fact, the commander of the 20th Maine was also brand new at the job. Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain had joined the regiment in August, 1862, when it was mustered into Federal service after Lincoln's second call for units. Before being given a commission in the 20th Maine, he served as a professor at Bowdoin College, in Maine, where he taught rhetoric and languages. Now, less than a year after his military career had begun, Col. Chamberlain was promoted when the regiment's founding commander, Col. Adelbert Ames, was promoted away from the command.

The defense of Little Round Top include hand-to-hand fighting

Throughout the Civil War, the 20th Maine's enrollment numbered 1,621 men (including original muster soldiers, replacements and drafts). But, as the men of the 20th moved into their position atop Little Round Top, Col. Chamberlain's command numbered approximately 360 men. The regiment's numbers had dwindled considerably during their engagements since Fredericksburg, which was the 20th's first taste of battle.

Confederate Col. William Oates

Chamberlain's 20th Maine Cannot Break

In positioning his brigade for the inevitable onslaught of Rebels to come, Col. Vincent chose a line of defense that began on the western slope of the hill. When the first regiments of his brigade arrived at the rocky outcropping of the area, Col. Vincent put them in a line. The 16th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment took up position on the right flank, and the 44th New York and 83rd Pennsylvania regiments held the center. Meanwhile, it was the responsibility of the 20th Maine Regiment to hold the left flank of the brigade, which also happened to be the extreme left flank of the entire Union force that had taken up defensive positions along Big and Little Round Top.

The last thing Col. Vincent told Col. Chamberlain was: "This is the left of the Union line. You are to hold this ground at all costs!"

Col. Chamberlain ordered Company B, recruited from Piscataquis County and commanded by Captain Walter G. Morril, forward to the regiment's left flank as skirmishers. However, soon after the fighting began, Company B would be cut-off by a flanking attack by the enemy, leaving the 20th Maine only 314 armed men on the main regimental line.

Each man in his regiment had about 60 shots for their rifles. They had water. The afternoon temperature was about 72 degrees and, despite some cloud cover, rain had not fallen. There was some thunder echoing along the battlefield, but as a local clergyman, the Rev. Dr. Davis Jacobs wrote later, "The thunder seemed tame after the artillery firing of the afternoon."

Depicts the 15th Alabama preparing for action

So, Col. Chamberlain waited, along with his brother, 2nd Lt. Thomas Chamberlain, who was also an officer in the regiment. In that pregnant pause, the men from Maine readied their cartridges and powder, put together what defenses they could. Then, the battle they were awaiting found them.

The first wave of Confederate infantry that attacked was comprised of 824 men from the 4th and 5th Texas regiments, which were a part of MG John Bell Hood's division. They hammered the slope of Little Round Top, pushing toward the center and right of Col. Vincent's brigade. As the Confederates attacked, their infantry began migrating toward the left flank of the Union position. Col. Chamberlain was informed of the enemy movements by Company K's commander, Capt. James H. Nichols.

Col. Chamberlain read the enemy intent and believed they were searching for the extreme left flank of the brigade position. So, the 20th Maine's commander ordered a right-angle formation, extending his line farther to the east.
At this point, though, the 4th and 5th Texas were making their case to breaking the center of the brigade formation. But, Col. Vincent rallied his soldiers, and was reinforced by the 140th New York Zouaves Regiment. Col. Vincent's efforts, along with those of 140th commander, Col. Patrick O'Rourke worked. Sadly, though, both men died during the Confederate assault.

After testing the Union center and not being able to break them, the Confederate infantry formed again and, this time, made its move against the 20th Maine with fresh troops.

The classic depiction of the charge at Little Round Top

The 15th and 47th Alabama regiments began their ascent of Little Round Top, straight into the 20th Maine's position. The 15th was a hard-fighting unit commanded by Col. William C. Oates. Meanwhile, the 47th Regiment was commanded by the battle-tested LTC Michael Bulger, who would become a captive of the 20th Maine by the end of the action. The mission of the attack was simple: Find the Union left and destroy the Federal unit there. Once accomplished, the Rebels would roll up the line of Union positions along the heights, securing victory for MG Hood and the Confederate cause.

Col. Strong Vincent was killed during the battle

Col. Chamberlain's regiment would end up fighting off Confederate forces for about an hour-and-a-half of non-stop battle. During the action, heroes were revealed, one of them being Color Sgt. Andrew J. Tozier of the 20th Maine. As the 20th Maine's position was on the verge of breaking against the weight of the Alabama infantry, Sgt. Tozier stood firm, remaining upright as bullets buzzed and snapped in the air around him. Had Sgt. Tozier fled, so too would the soldiers defending the position. Had Sgt. Tozier not stood firm at that decisive moment, it was likely that the 20th Maine would not have held.
Instead, fighting became savage, as combat went from rifles and pistols to hand-to-hand. Still, the iron men of Maine would not break and fended off the furious attack of the Alabamians.

Though the 20th Maine had stood its ground, the depleted force was left almost without ammunition. There are varying accounts of what happened next. According to the rendition of the story offered by Col. Chamberlain, knowing he could not defend his regimental position with rifle fire, he sent word to Captain Ellis Spear, the acting battalion commander of the unit's left flank, to fix bayonets and charge into the next wave of Confederate attackers.

However, Captain Spear later said he received no such orders.

2LT Thomas Chamberlain also fought with the 20th

'Col. Chamberlain died on Feb. 24, 1914 and is considered by some as the last casualty of the Civil War.'

The other account of what happened came from Corporal Elisha Coan, who was a member of the 20th Maine's Color Guard. He claimed that the acting commander of Company F, 1st Lt. Holman S. Melcher, conceived of the idea for the colors to advance and there to be a bayonet charge. Cpl. Coan's account said that Col. Chamberlain initially balked at the idea, but that other officers joined 1st Lt. Melcher in urging him to order the command, which he did.

In Col. Chamberlain's account of the battle, he said that he ordered a right-wheel maneuver and screamed "Bayonet!" There is some speculation that 1st Lt. Melcher sought for the colors to advance to retrieve the wounded. However, with all of the noise that was going on, coupled with the fact that they could not stave off another Rebel onslaught, a bayonet charge was likely the only think left for the 20th Maine to do, short of abandoning their position to the Rebels.

A Maine state commission would later conclude that 1st Lt. Melcher might have conceived of the idea of the bayonet attack to recover ground where the wounded were, but Col. Chamberlain expounded on that idea to run the Confederate infantry down the face of Little Round Top, winning the day.

It was that bayonet attack that finally broke the Confederate lines. The Rebel brigade attacking the Union lines atop Little Round Top belonged to BG Evander M. Law. His brigade, by the end of the action, though, was no longer able to go on with the fight.

After the Fight

So ended the most fabled episode of the 20th Maine Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. Though the fighting for them in the Civil War was far from over, it was the bravery of the officers and men of the Maine regiment that turned the tide of the war on that hill along the heights outside of small Gettysburg.

20th Maine veterans at a regimental reunion at Little Round Top

For the actions at Little Round Top, Sgt. Tozier would receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, along with Col. Chamberlain. Captain Spear would rise to the rank of major before being mustered out at the end of the war, and Col. Chamberlain's brother, Thomas, would rise to the rank lieutenant colonel.

Col. Chamberlain would survive the war and go back to his native man to eventually become the president of Bodwoin College and, later, the 32nd governor of Maine during four, one-year terms. Yet, he did not survive the war unscathed. Rather, in 1864, Col. Chamberlain (who rose to the rank of major general during the war) was wounded terribly in his leg. Though he was able to keep his leg, it became the source of great pain and discomfort for the rest of his life. In fact, it was because of complications from this wound that Col. Chamberlain died on Feb. 24, 1914 and is considered by some as "...the last casualty of the Civil War."

Meanwhile, the commander of the Confederate 15th Alabama would also survive the war. He became a brigadier general in the Confederate Army before its surrender. After the war, he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives from 1870-1872, the U.S. House of Representatives from 1881-1894, and as the 29th governor of the state of Alabama, from 1894-1896.

Though the war was eventually won by the North, in 1865 with the surrender of Gen. Lee, it might be said that it could only have ended in the favor of the North thanks to the last full measure given for their country and their commander by the 20th Maine Regiment.