Furthest at Gettysburg
I'raclically every North Carolinian lias
hoard llial expression, hul (here are niany
— particular! v anion" tin* > ouii^or gener¬
ation — who do not know its full meaning
and signifieanee.
CAROLINA claims lo have been
"lir-t at Bethel, furt he» t at Get¬
tysburg, last at Appomattox.” It
ratinol lie questioned that Henry
Wyatt of Edgecombe wa» first to fail
at Bethel, or that the brigade of Wil¬
liam II. Co* made the la-t charge at
Apjioiiinttox, hut what of the claim
that our troop» were furthe»! at Get¬
tysburg!
Carolina troop* brought on that bat-
tl.-, for on .bi:.. Ilrth's divi-
•iou n-arhr.1 Ca-htnwn, from which
I'oint he sent forward the Carolina
brigade of Pettigrew to t Jetty.* burg
in search of supplies. Pettigrew found
the town occupied by Federal cavalry,
and it- environ* became the theatre
of the three days battle which ensued.
The First Day
On duly I, Pender’s Carolina divi¬
sion and that of General Heth. which
included Pettigrew’s Carolina brigade.
Colonel Connally of the ,15th Carolina
(brigaded with Mi»*i--ippi troop-)
to his assistance but was told : “Pay no
attention to me; take the colors and
keep ahead of the Mi««i— ippians.**
field, his first division embraced the
Carolina brigade* of Iverson and Dan¬
iels. In Karlv’s division was the Caro¬
lina brigade of Hoke. Uamseur’s Caro¬
lina brigade was in reserve.
In the cii-tting battle the ’.'fith Xorth
Carolina lost more than half it- num-
I
«
r« , including it» "boy Colonel.” the
gallant
И.
K. Burgwrn, Jr., who was
k:l!* 1 >nd Li* ut. Colonel laar, ,-e-
rcrely w oonded. Major !{•••• of ibr
11th wa- killed and Col. D-avcn-
tW|T wound.-l. Scale.’ brigade
charged the enemy in the face of a
intirdexius artillery fire, and the Gen¬
eral himself wa- wounded. The Fed¬
eral- were driven through the town
If;/ II. C. LAURENCE
of Gettysburg which was thereupon oc¬
cupied by the Confederates.
That night thirteen Confederate
brigade* bivouacked around Gettys¬
burg. of w hich six were from Carolina.
Of the sixteen brigades in the first
day’s lighting, seven were from Caro¬
lina: Daniels, Hoke. Iverson. Lane,
Pettigrew. Pain-cur. Scale*.
Second Day
Xo Carolina troops participated in
the lighting in the morning or early
afternoon except the batteries of Man¬
ly. Reilly, Latham, and Graham, all
of which were heavily engaged. In the
late afternoon an assault wa* made
again-! the key position of Culp’s hill,
held by the enemy in heavy force. This
attack was participated in by the 1st
and .’hi Xorth Carolina, and by the
that a simultaneous attack should he
made on Cemetery Hill, which bristled
with Federal artillery, stone walls and
was to
he the focus of the decisive conflict of
the morrow. Early, wlm commanded
the attacking column, selected the
Carolina brigades of Hays and Hoke
neck and unable to speak. he scrawled
on a piece of
ра|м-г:
“Major Tate, tell
father that 1 died with my fare to the
enemy."
Third Day: Pickett’s Charge
The a**ault ordered by Genera! Lee
again*! the heights of Cemetery ridge
•hould have Iwcn made in the early
morning, bill I>>ng-trcct delayed until
afternoon. To cover the a**au!ting col¬
umn, 11.1 Confederate guns had liecn
mns-.-l in front of the center of the
Federal position, hut their ammuni¬
tion wa» »o nearly exhausted that the
chief of artillery sent word to Long-
street that if lie did not advance then,
lie would not have enough ammunition
left to serve his guns.
The column of assault consisted of
Pickett’s Virginians on the right ; Pet¬
tigrew’s Carolinians on the left. In the
second line marched the Carolina bri¬
gade. of Seales and Lane. In this fa-
moils charge where the assaulting
troop* marched “into the jaws of
death” a* did the immortal *ix hun¬
dred at Balaklava. there were forty-
-even Confederate regiment*, of which
fifteen were from Carolina : five of
Scale-' brigade; five of Lan*'* : four
of Pettigrew's, one of Davis’.
The attacking force marched
through open fields against the en¬
trenched enemy nearly u mile di-tunt.
occupying a position of great natural
strength upon the summit of lofty
Cemetery ridge, crowned with a for¬
midable artillery and protect»-! bv
stnnc wall- and fortification*, behind
which lay the serried rank* of the
Federal*. The Federal line wa- parallel
with Pickett’s front, hut it turned
hack at an angle in front of Pettigrew,
whose troops therefor-* had to go u
greater distance to reach the Federal
line*. Pettigrew's division reached the
Enuuitt-hurg road and threw down the
fir*t fence it encountered, its survivors
climbed the other fence, ami rushed
for the enemy gun* and works. They
broke the first Federal line, hill a s»*r-
ond rushed tip in support, and a mur¬
derous artillery fire was concentrated
upon them which tore great holes in
the aitneking lines. X<* troop* could
withstand such odds. The Confederate
line, slowly gave way. and it* broken
remnant* sullenly drifted hack down
the slopes whence they had come.
When the battle opened on July 1.
Pettigrew’s brigade numbered nearly
3,000 hut after the charge on the 3d
hut 835 were present. All its field offi¬
cer* save one were killed, ami the -dr
exception wa* captured. After the
charge it. -enior officer was Major
Jones of the 26th who had hinnelf
been wounded on the 1st. On that -lav
a company of that regiment went into
action officered by two lieutenants,
(f’nnlinueil on page froi/ylro)
advanced to moot the force of the
опе¬
шу.
Heavy lighting ensued and the
spirit of our troops was shown when
brigade of Daniels. It had been ordered
wa* -hot down. A field officer sprang other obstructions, and which
Pettigrew's brigade was in the fir.-t
line of battle: while the division of
Pender Constituted the «••com! line, his
brigade* including those of Scales ami
Lane. When Ewell's troop, reached the
(commanded by Colonel I sane
К
Avery) to make the assault. Failure
of other troop* to cooperate as planned,
rained the attack to miscarry. Colonel
\very wa- killed. Shot through the
