Recently I had the chance to visit Gettysburg for the first time. This was one of the best trips I have been on in my life, partly because I got to share the experience with my father who is a huge history buff. I will save the stories from the road for another post, but today I want to talk about Pickett’s Charge.
This was one of the most incredible things that has ever been tried on a battlefield. And as our tour guide explained, it wasn’t as bad a decision as it might seem at first glance. If I were to tell you that Major General George Pickett led 9-11 brigades (roughly 12,500 men) across an open field nearly a mile wide straight into Union lines, you might think Pickett was a bit crazy. Well let’s start with it wasn’t his plan in the first place.
So, let’s start there. The plan of Robert E. Lee.
The Plan – Pickett’s Charge
The attack came straight at the middle of the Union lines on the 3rd day of fighting. The previous main attacks on the Union lines came on the flanks. Thus Lee surmised that by now the weakest part of the Union line was right in the middle. The problem was that this was where there was nearly a mile of open land between the lines.
The charge was aided by the barrage of around 150 cannon. This was done to weaken the Union lines prior to the Confederate attack. The plan was fairly solid for fighting of that time. The execution of the plan was not.
The cannon barrage was basically ineffective. Many of the cannon overshot the Union lines. With the smoke filling the air it was difficult to see where the cannon were falling. Then the genius of Union General Henry Hunt came into play.
Union Artillery Response
Hunt was long considered the greatest artillery tactician of the time. He knew that the Confederates were overshooting their targets but couldn’t see this due to the amount of smoke being put off by the 150+ cannons firing. Since the Confederates did a poor job concentrating their fire, which would have done more damage, Hunt had the genius idea of halting his own fire. However, he did not just stop the firing all at once. He had his 80 or so cannons stop firing slowly giving the impression that they were being taken out by the Confederate barrage.
It worked. The Confederates continued to think their barrage was working, when in fact it was not.
In addition to fooling the Confederates, Hunt and his men were able to save ammunition for the charge that was yet to come.
On a side note, our tour guide at Gettysburg told us that after the battle Hunt was furious with the Confederate artillery soldiers. Why? He had trained many of them before the war and was upset they did not concentrate their fire better and do more damage as he had taught them. Funny how war can be sometimes.
After the cannon bombardment was over, Pickett led his troops across the open field. It was s courageous effort, vain as it might seem now. But to his credit and the men of the Confederacy, they charged under canon fire, across the field to attack the Union line.
The image above does not necessarily do the area justice. This is the view from where Hunt and his artillery, along with Union infantry, were located. From Klingel Farm to where the Lee Memorial is today was nearly a mile apart. This is where Pickett’s Charge came from. Clear across that land, most likely minus the trees in the photo, Confederate soldiers marched under cannon fire to reach the Union lines.
Part of the problem with Lee’s plan was that his generals had no buy in. Longstreet and others argued against it. Pickett never forgave Lee for ordering the charge. When he saw Lee as the men were retreating, he told Lee, “General Lee, I have no division now.”[1]
Pickett’s Charge was one that has gone down in history for several things. For one, it showed what a brave soldier Pickett and all those men were that day. As one of Pickett’s officers described him after that day, “I never considered him a great or strong man, but he was a good brave soldier and at Gettysburg did his full duty as I believe,” said Lt. William Alexander Gordon.[2]
Aftermath
It may have been Pickett’s worst day on the battlefield, but it was the day when he earned his glory for simply doing his job. The Confederates lost roughly half of their men that day in the charge. Just over 1,100 were killed, 4,000 were injured, and another 3,750 were captured. That is a loss of over 8,800 soldiers out of about 12,500 that charged.
These men marched almost a mile over open land under fire. Once they got within a quarter mile or so, they started running toward the line. But then you had the Union infantry opening fire along with the artillery. Many got up to a small earthen and stone wall and hid behind it before charging again, but to no avail. The Union only lost about 1,500 men that day.
Standing on that field and seeing the distance and terrain those men had to overcome just to get to the Union line was amazing. I have read a lot about that day, but seeing the battlefield in person gives a whole new perspective on it all. And I was glad to have shared that with my father.
Meade decided not to chase after Lee and his army after that. While Lee would get away and regroup, he would never attack on Union soil with such ferocity as he did in early July 1863. The war would go on to last almost another 2 years.
If you want to see some great videos of the area, check out The History Underground on YouTube. He does a great job working with the Gettysburg Museum of History to bring to life many of the places of the battlefield.
Stay tuned for more stories from Gettysburg and other sites I got to see on my 2023 Civil War History Tour.
[1] Earl J. Hess, Pickett’s Charge – The Last Attack at Gettysburg. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001, p. 326.
[2] Ibid., 326.