Chapter 19: Day One: 3:20–4:00 PM – Union Lines

A full eight hours of fighting has occurred before General Meade receives a shocking note from Buford around 3:20 PM announcing that Reynolds has been killed and the troops are in full retreat back to the town. He immediately orders General Winfield Hancock – nicknamed “The Superb” –to turn his II Corps over to General Gibbon and ride to Gettysburg to replace the higher ranked Howard as overall commander.

Hancock arrives there around 4:00, finding a general panic and relatively few of the I Corps and XI Corps soldiers still fit for action. Howard initially balks at turning over the command, but Hancock immediately takes charge, ordering what’s left of Wadsworth’s Division to occupy Culp’s Hill and Doubleday to form up on Cemetery Ridge.