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| Looking south from Cemetery Ridge OAFS Photo |
When I was on Cemetery Ridge last week, I had a thought to look towards the south. Much has been made of the way the Round Tops dominate the battlefield. Do you see the Copse of Trees, just to the left, centered between the trees and the obelisk? That's Big Round Top. To its left is Little Round Top.
Here's a close up -
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| OAFS Photo |
Here's a view from Little Round Top¹ -
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| OAFS Photo |
My visit to Gettysburg has very much dominated my thoughts ever since. My brother (a Civil War reenactor and student of that war, he's been there) had told me before I left, "I'm happy that you are going to Gettysburg. Joshua Chamberlain was right. Something does happen inside you when you visit that battlefield."
Left its mark it did. Hallowed ground.
Here's something I wrote a while back about Gettysburg ...
In the middle of June in the year 1863, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia crossed into the state of Maryland, beginning the Confederacy's second, and last, invasion of the United States. On the first day of July, near the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the Confederate States Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of Robert E. Lee, and the United States Army of the Potomac, under the command of George G. Meade, met in battle.
The Army of the Potomac numbered 93,921 men, that of the Army of Northern Virginia numbered 71,699. At the end of three days of fighting, 28,063 men from the South and 23,049 men from the North became casualties, dead, wounded, or missing. One in four of those wearing Northern blue, two in five of those wearing Southern gray had shed their blood on that field, in the largest battle ever fought on American soil. 51,118 Americans paid the price.
For what?
The political differences which caused the southern states to leave the Union had existed long before Confederate cannon opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in April of 1861. I don't pretend to understand the full extent of those differences. There were many.
The balance of power between the Southern states and the Northern states in Congress was a key concern in the South. As Northern population grew, they would gain seats proportionally in the House of Representatives, however, as long as the number of states was equal, or leaned towards Southern interests, the Senate would favor the South. Or at the least not favor the North.
It boiled down, in many minds, to the issue of slavery. As new states entered the union the South wanted a balance of "free" and "slave" states. Figuring, quite rightly I suppose, that a "slave" state would lean more towards Southern interests and not Northern. While slavery was not "the" issue which led to the war, it played a major part. In reality, it was a struggle for power in the Nation's capital which led to the war.
What should we call this war in North America from April of 1861 to April of 1865? Some have argued that "Civil War" is inaccurate as the South did not wish to displace or change the existing system of government, they simply wanted no further part in that government. (An idea which I have only recently accepted, with thanks to Borepatch in his post.)
I don't like the term "War of Northern Aggression," for various reasons. The main one being is that the South wished to dissolve the Union and many in the North refused to accept that. They saw their cause as putting down an unlawful rebellion. Right or wrong, that's how it was perceived in the North by many.
The South's cause was tainted by the issue of slavery, as many Southerners of the time acknowledged. While it is possible that the "Peculiar Institution" may have eventually "gone away" of its own accord, I highly doubt it. Exploitation of the common laborer in the North didn't go away until the early years of the 20th Century and didn't happen without a great deal of violence. To think that slavery would have eventually withered away, on its own, is, perhaps, problematic. Greed never goes away. Eventually those held in thrall would have risen up and started trying to free themselves. No doubt with Northern help. No doubt with great violence as well.
As for the "War for Southern Independence"? Sure, why not, but as it failed, I prefer "The Rebellion." But that's just me. (Just don't call it the "Second American Revolution," that glorifies a somewhat tawdry cause.)
So Gettysburg. Why Gettysburg?
By 1863 it was obvious to the South that the North wasn't just going to quit, not without a huge effort on the part of the various Confederate armies in the field. The most important of those armies was Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. While I'm sure the Confederate armies in the West might dispute that, their string of defeats at the hands of Northern armies weakens their arguments for being "most important." The Army of Northern Virginia had gone from victory to victory for quite some time, Antietam (their first invasion of the North) being the sole "bump in the road" of their dominance of the Army of the Potomac.
Lee moved north for various reasons: (1) supply issues, northern Virginia, where most of the fighting took place, was devastated, (2) depress Northern morale, which may have actually worked had CNN been in operation back then, (3) a quest for foreign recognition. While the idea of Great Britain or France recognizing the Confederacy was something of a pipe dream, the British did support the South for their own economic reasons. But support a regime supported, in part, by slavery, the British would have never been able to stomach that.
So Lee moved north as his cavalry leader Stuart galloped off to make headlines. The Army of Northern Virginia went north without its eyes. They stumbled into the fight, thinking they were facing militia. Actually they were facing very good cavalrymen under John Buford. Buford's men held the ground long enough for the rest of the Army of the Potomac to coalesce. Oddly enough, the Army of the Potomac moved into the area around Gettysburg from the south (advancing up from the Washington DC area) and Lee's army moved in from the north and the west.
The first day's fighting was brutal and see-sawed back and forth, though Lee's often ragged and barefoot men eventually drove the Federals back in some disarray. But Meade's army gathered and occupied the ridge and hills south of the town and awaited Lee's attacks.
On this particular day, the 2nd of July, 156 years ago, an obscure colonel by the name of Chamberlain, commanding the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, stood atop² that outcrop in the opening photo, along with his men, and drove back every attack thrown at them.
The position had been chosen by this man -
While Chamberlain receives most of the glory for the Union stand atop Little Round Top, and rightly so, most do not remember that it was General Warren who recognized the importance of the position and got the troops there to do the job. (The general was later unjustly disgraced on the field of another battle by Phil Sheridan, a general I have never cared for, but that is a story for another time.)
Lee's failure to turn the Union left flank at the Round Tops led him to throw the dice in a different place on the 3rd of July. Tested on their right, then tested on their left, the Federals had held their ground, barely.
Surely they must be weak in their center? So Lee may have thought. Pickett's division discovered that they had not been weakened in the center. That charge collapsed in red ruin, and with it the hopes and dreams of Southern Independence.
Though in reality, that dream had been struck a mortal blow in May of that very year, when Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson died of his wounds after the Battle of Chancellorsville. Shot down by his own men when his party had been mistaken for Union cavalrymen.
Just a few thoughts, occasioned by the anniversary of one of the most eventful battles in American history ...
Let us remember those folks and the price they paid. Forgetting would be a dishonor to them and to our own posterity. For there are those who would like to see it all happen again.
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| Little Round Top Google Street View |
The Army of the Potomac numbered 93,921 men, that of the Army of Northern Virginia numbered 71,699. At the end of three days of fighting, 28,063 men from the South and 23,049 men from the North became casualties, dead, wounded, or missing. One in four of those wearing Northern blue, two in five of those wearing Southern gray had shed their blood on that field, in the largest battle ever fought on American soil. 51,118 Americans paid the price.
For what?
The political differences which caused the southern states to leave the Union had existed long before Confederate cannon opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in April of 1861. I don't pretend to understand the full extent of those differences. There were many.
The balance of power between the Southern states and the Northern states in Congress was a key concern in the South. As Northern population grew, they would gain seats proportionally in the House of Representatives, however, as long as the number of states was equal, or leaned towards Southern interests, the Senate would favor the South. Or at the least not favor the North.
It boiled down, in many minds, to the issue of slavery. As new states entered the union the South wanted a balance of "free" and "slave" states. Figuring, quite rightly I suppose, that a "slave" state would lean more towards Southern interests and not Northern. While slavery was not "the" issue which led to the war, it played a major part. In reality, it was a struggle for power in the Nation's capital which led to the war.
What should we call this war in North America from April of 1861 to April of 1865? Some have argued that "Civil War" is inaccurate as the South did not wish to displace or change the existing system of government, they simply wanted no further part in that government. (An idea which I have only recently accepted, with thanks to Borepatch in his post.)
I don't like the term "War of Northern Aggression," for various reasons. The main one being is that the South wished to dissolve the Union and many in the North refused to accept that. They saw their cause as putting down an unlawful rebellion. Right or wrong, that's how it was perceived in the North by many.
The South's cause was tainted by the issue of slavery, as many Southerners of the time acknowledged. While it is possible that the "Peculiar Institution" may have eventually "gone away" of its own accord, I highly doubt it. Exploitation of the common laborer in the North didn't go away until the early years of the 20th Century and didn't happen without a great deal of violence. To think that slavery would have eventually withered away, on its own, is, perhaps, problematic. Greed never goes away. Eventually those held in thrall would have risen up and started trying to free themselves. No doubt with Northern help. No doubt with great violence as well.
As for the "War for Southern Independence"? Sure, why not, but as it failed, I prefer "The Rebellion." But that's just me. (Just don't call it the "Second American Revolution," that glorifies a somewhat tawdry cause.)
So Gettysburg. Why Gettysburg?
By 1863 it was obvious to the South that the North wasn't just going to quit, not without a huge effort on the part of the various Confederate armies in the field. The most important of those armies was Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. While I'm sure the Confederate armies in the West might dispute that, their string of defeats at the hands of Northern armies weakens their arguments for being "most important." The Army of Northern Virginia had gone from victory to victory for quite some time, Antietam (their first invasion of the North) being the sole "bump in the road" of their dominance of the Army of the Potomac.
Lee moved north for various reasons: (1) supply issues, northern Virginia, where most of the fighting took place, was devastated, (2) depress Northern morale, which may have actually worked had CNN been in operation back then, (3) a quest for foreign recognition. While the idea of Great Britain or France recognizing the Confederacy was something of a pipe dream, the British did support the South for their own economic reasons. But support a regime supported, in part, by slavery, the British would have never been able to stomach that.
So Lee moved north as his cavalry leader Stuart galloped off to make headlines. The Army of Northern Virginia went north without its eyes. They stumbled into the fight, thinking they were facing militia. Actually they were facing very good cavalrymen under John Buford. Buford's men held the ground long enough for the rest of the Army of the Potomac to coalesce. Oddly enough, the Army of the Potomac moved into the area around Gettysburg from the south (advancing up from the Washington DC area) and Lee's army moved in from the north and the west.
The first day's fighting was brutal and see-sawed back and forth, though Lee's often ragged and barefoot men eventually drove the Federals back in some disarray. But Meade's army gathered and occupied the ridge and hills south of the town and awaited Lee's attacks.
On this particular day, the 2nd of July, 156 years ago, an obscure colonel by the name of Chamberlain, commanding the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, stood atop² that outcrop in the opening photo, along with his men, and drove back every attack thrown at them.
The position had been chosen by this man -
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| Brigadier General Gouverneur Kemble Warren, US Army Corps of Engineers |
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| Statue of Brigadier General G.K. Warren atop Little Round Top |
Surely they must be weak in their center? So Lee may have thought. Pickett's division discovered that they had not been weakened in the center. That charge collapsed in red ruin, and with it the hopes and dreams of Southern Independence.
Though in reality, that dream had been struck a mortal blow in May of that very year, when Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson died of his wounds after the Battle of Chancellorsville. Shot down by his own men when his party had been mistaken for Union cavalrymen.
Just a few thoughts, occasioned by the anniversary of one of the most eventful battles in American history ...
To which I added a few more thoughts, occasioned by my visit last week.
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| OAFS Photo |
And yes, there is a special place in Hell for people like that.
I've been rereading this book ...
... I highly recommend it.
¹ Yes, I should have stepped a couple of paces to my left, but I wanted to get the monument in the picture and the kids were yelling from the car that the grandkids were "anxious" to get out of the wind. There was quite a stiff breeze up there that day, chilled me to the bone. Well, that along with thoughts of the ground I was standing on.
² Actually, and this surprised the heck out of me, the 20th Maine was nowhere near the top of Little Round Top, they were positioned near the southern foot of Little Round Top covering the little valley between it and Big Round Top. A most important position as it prevented a Confederate force from getting behind and flanking the men on top of Little Round Top. (Big Round Top, then and now, is too heavily wooded to provide a quick and easy way into the Federal rear.)
I wonder if they put the guns indoors for the winter? Or if they have been painted with an acrylic sealant paint, so they are weather proof?
ReplyDeleteThey remain in place year round.
DeleteThe artillery carriages are metal (iron, I think, but maybe aluminum) not wood. The NPS has a full time maintenance shop at Gbg where they have an aggressive maintenance cycle and run them thru on a regular basis to keep them spiffy.
Video visits are available on YouTube if you want to see how they do it.
JB
As JB says, the guns are on station year round. Many of the carriages are aluminum, fabricated by the now defunct Steen Cannon Works. Steen was for a couple of decades THE company for accurate reproductions of muzzle loading artillery.
DeleteDid not know that.
DeleteYour post made me look up General Warren, entered West Point at the age of sixteen and then the Army's Corps of Topographical Engineers in 1850. Like you stated Sarge, he had the experience to recognize a salient battlefield position. Oh....and another book........my credit card is frowning as I type this.
ReplyDeleteSorry Nylon12, my credit card screams every time I see a book I want. Oh wait, that's my wife screaming ...
DeleteThanks for the re-post, Sarge.
ReplyDeleteThe Civil War (somewhat like the Napoleonic Wars) is something that I remember happened but not much more than that, a week or two in the Junior year of U.S. History (Not being from The South or The East, there were virtually no historical memorabilia associated with it locally). Your post was very helpful in explaining context (and outcome).
Odd that some areas of the country provided so little teaching on the Civil War, a seminal event in our history. Of course, here in the northeast we spent some time on the conflict, looking back though, it wasn't very good teaching.
DeleteThe funny thing is that the Army War College is just up the road in Carlisle. My father went to the Navy one instead but he gave me all of his books of Civil War including all the campaigns and maps and the rest that he got at Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth back in 69 where they really stressed the Civil War almost as much as Vietnam and of course I have all his books on the Civil War from West Point. Nothing about war was taught when I was 3 years in high school in Alabama.....I'm sure that was just an oversight. But at least I don't have to buy any more books on that war
DeleteWhat to call it is always a problem, which is why I've gone to calling it ""The War of 1861."
ReplyDeleteI can't agree that the Confederacy wanted to "dissolve" the Union. The seven states of the deep south just wanted to leave. The rest of the Union would have remained United States with a functioning Constitution. A Constitution which did not prohibit a state or states from leaving. At least New England didn't think so before 1860, since three times before that several of them threatened to leave the Union. In fact, ALL the states seemed to think that any state had the right under the Constitution to leave and there were no screams that the Union was perpetual, as it was under the unbreakable and immutable Articles of Confederation. But, somehow, in the 1780s when the Articles were not only altered, but broken and tossed out, and what replaced them did not include a perpetual union clause. See also 10th Amendment.
Smart to leave? No, especially when you have no industrial base and lack natural resources. But not prohibeted.
A comparison would be removing a back porch from a house. It doesn't demolish the whole house.
The South called it a Civil War, the North called it the Rebellion. As the newspapers in the South said "the Union is dissolved," I'll go with that. The Union, as constituted, was "dissolved" in the eyes of the South, so we'll go with that.
DeleteAs to the Constitutionality of secession, that's another thing entirely. Really now, who gives a shit what politicians say about that document, they ignore it all the time. They did at the time.
Lincoln made the right call, regardless of what some modern writers might think.
Lincoln's suspension of Habeus Corpus was, since the Union saw the war as a rebellion, totally legal. Totally allowed by law. Which is something the people that hate Lincoln forget to acknowledge.
DeleteAnd the South had played merry hob with the Constitution and federal law, like how slavery was supposed to twilight out starting about 1820 and the South got that stopped.
Lots of factors, too little time to go into all of them. Both sides thought it was a righteous war.
Both sides usually think they're fighting a righteous war. Usually one is dead wrong, sometimes both.
DeleteThe thing is of course, both sides were correct in their own eyes. You could say the same about almost every war in history. Both sides have an underlying reason that supports the idea of going to war so both sides can be 'right'.
DeleteIn their own eyes, yes. I suppose every cause has a kernel of "rightness" in it.
DeleteThey'd marched all night to catch up with Lee, arriving on the lines just before 0600. There had been some heavy fighting the day before. The fighting hadn't picked up yet so they ate what they could and tried to get a nap. Firing was picking up to their left, rousting some to observe... why were there colors so far forward? Rifle fire crescendoed in the distance, colors advancing into smoke, retreating, reforming, and advancing again. It was getting heavy, the advancing troops created a gap in the line. The order went out to form up and protect a battery of artillery. The fighting to the left front was moving back, Blue uniforms streaming out of the run and toward the ridge. Rebs coming... so many flags. "Mien Gott, we are loosing" A familiar looking general rides up and orders to take those colors... Colonel orders "Fix Bayonets!" they start off .
ReplyDeleteWillum had been through most of the major battles in the east... they couldn't lose, not now. They'd started out with 1000 men, there were fewer than 300 left. Now they were marching to a slaughter, so many Rebs, too few on their side, where was the rest of the Army? "We have to buy time for reinforcements" "quick step march!" Fire concentrating on them from a front of men 4 times their size. Horrible sounds of lead hitting flesh, the ripping of the air as a ball whizzes past. Men going down, can't stop, always the screams... Every time they stopped to fire and reload more went down. "That's Alabama in front of us!" Call goes out to guide to the center, but the colors keep getting shot down, can't see the center... load and fire, damn bayonet slows down his reload... "Charge!!!" those remaining rush forward bayonets leveled, they are outnumbered, have seen other units routed, and half their own number downed. They could hear firing to their right as another unit rushed up to the gap. Five minutes is all it took to reduce them down to less than 50 men...Those that could... made their way out of the fight.
Willum limped back, passing a group moving forward, "Well done Minnesota"... he replied "Gif 'dem Hell Vermont."
Billy Yank fought well, even with a few dolts in command.
DeleteAvalon Hill's "Gettysburg" instilled upon me the concept of high ground. Both Little Round Top and Big Round Top absolutely dominated the battlefield and whomever got there fastest with the mostest stood a great chance of winning.
ReplyDeleteFor those who never played that game, the gameboard was basically a topographically correct reconstruction of the battlefield and the surrounding areas. The rules for fighting uphill and downhill definitely give the advantage to those shooting/attacking downhill. Uphill sucks. And the additional height allows artillery to reach farther. Open fields using 'modern' (for the times) weapons meant lots and loads of death. Even something simple like a split-rail fence could give somewhat levels of protection.
Always seize the high ground. Something George Washington learned through bitter experience in the French and Indian War.
The high ground conveys a number of advantages.
DeleteIt can also be a trap. Get to the top without enough water and it doesn't end well. Get there without ammo to hold it and reinforce and it doesn't end well. Fustest with the mostest works just fine in a charge with sabres. It doesn't work with artillery unless they have their ammo train up with the guns.
DeleteThink I aimed too high with this one. Had to check timelines to see if the units were on the area of the battle at near the same time. Tried playing with the accent. I'm aware of leaving out details... I can get graphic (very),(very), your blog/ audience, I'm not going there because of that. Public decency and all. It didn't come out as planned. Too long to be a short, too short to tell the story I wanted. I forced this one rather than let it flow out.
ReplyDeleteThat's why writers gotta' write.
I think you had the Vermonters get there too early, but I could be wrong. You captured the atmosphere very well.
DeleteVERY well done. Call it a short chapter. Or vignette within a chapter as seems to be the fashion within some schools of writing. Clancy and Michener come to mind.
DeleteAmen to that, Joe!
DeleteSarge: from what I could piece together, 2nd Vermont arrived late the first day and bivouacked in reserve behind Cemetery ridge. July 2, they were held in reserve until the afternoon, when pushed to the left to (also) defend an artillery position, and then forward to plug some "gaps". Somewhere in there I figured they'd meet. OR the two units could have "bumped "into each other the third day. The remaining 40 something Minnesotans, extracted some "payback" at Pickett's charge, and by accounts, Vermont may have stopped the wave with some fine flanking maneuvers. Either way I wanted to get close. My connection with Minnesota, and your posting of the Vermont regiment monument, almost forced me to try this tale. I know, with time, I could nail these. See why I try to be vague with some of the details of history, they're a devil to deal with. Why I'm amazed at some of your writings.
ReplyDeleteJ.L. : Thank you... and I'm almost blushing, Clancy, Michener, Hemingway and I hate to mention him but I like the writing style...S. King. My top4, now throw in Heinlein and some other early sci-fi authors, Zane Grey, sprinkle in some Sarge and some Lex, now you've got a writer's class. I'm sooooo out of practice.
I wanted to bring the fatalism of knowing you were marching to death, and then have it happen all around you, expecting any second to be hit to suffer and die. Like I said, graphic. To quote a long movie... "The Horror"
Very plausible, thanks for working in my Green Mountain boys.
DeleteI like to write that way, find an historical framework to hang a story on, doesn't have to be 100% accurate, but plausible. And if the story rings true, the details can be vague. See my post tomorrow on the vagaries of the historical "record."
If you want to write something longer, send it to me via oldafsarge AT gmail DOT com. I can make you a guest poster like John Blackshoe. No muss, no fuss. If you've a mind to that is.
You write very well.
Thank you.
DeleteI will seriously consider a much longer work (devil's in the details).
Particular interesting settings would be welcome. Suggest some short ideas and I'll give a try.
AND a scary thought came to mind... I'm not AI, I will always try to throw something in so human... they can't computrifier it out. cute sister, twine from a box, taste of blackpowder, messed up accents,... I'm human. So were who I'm writing about.
It's obvious you're not AI, AI is dry and boring. You're anything but.
DeleteWanted to do something of Warren, IF I remember , he was instrumental getting artillery to Little Round Top, no roads. Horse, man, block and tackle.
DeleteRe: Fatalism. "Why is it us? Why us?"
Delete"Because we're here, lad. Nobody else. Just us."
There is a story there of getting artillery pieces onto Little Round Top. Pushing, pulling, whipping, cursing, begging...
DeleteA vast majority of history is made of those words..."Because we're here, lad. Nobody else. Just us." No matter the language, It. Means. The. Same. Start smashing skulls...
DeleteYour Little Big Horn vignette has a sequel. The steamboat Far West was waiting at the mouth of the Little Big Horn River during the battle. She took on 52 wounded from Terry's force and set off for Bismarck, Dakota Territory a thousand river miles away. Down the Big Horn. then down the falling waters of the Yellowstone, then down the treacherous Missouri. Six days later she arrived at Bismarck to safely bring the wounded and the news of the battle.
DeleteYes! that would be an interesting exploration of the aftermath. The feelings/ fears of the escaping survivors. I have to check but I believe the news got out 04 July 1876. I think I've read of a steamboat or two that was involved.
DeleteWith regard to your footnotes:
ReplyDeleteI've found that the only way to really visit the battlefields is with like minded buffs/peers or alone. Going with family or the SO is self-defeating in the extreme. As you say, it's hard to step into that time and place with kids screaming at you or somebody moaning about the bathroom. I love the pieces so please carry on!
Concur!
Delete