Section #1 - Three Days At Gettysburg
Chapter 33: Day Three: 4:30 AM–Noon
The Union barrage is in response to General Meade’s order to Henry Slocum and his XII Corps to retake the ground lost around lower Culp’s Hill on July 2. But the initiative throughout the day belongs to the Confederate’s, led by “Allegheny” Edward Johnson’s Second Division of Ewell’s II Corps.
(Map by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Johnson makes three separate assaults over a seven hour period:
- Around 5:30AM by 66 year old “Extra Billy” Smith and his Virginia brigade
- At 8:00AM by Col. Edward O’Neal and James Walker’s Stonewall Brigade
- 10:30AM by Brigadier George Steuart and his Maryland units
The ground confronting the attackers is formidable. It calls for a steep 55 degree climb some 210 yards to the summit. At various intervals Union breastworks have been constructed out of fallen trees and boulders, fronted by sharp abatis. At each level, the Union rotates in fresh troops to fire off a round before retreating to reload, while replacements take the lead. Thus the hail of lead is uninterrupted.
Upon examining the defenses, General Rodes finds them “so strong they could not be taken by any force.” His assessment prevails after all three attempts are turned back.
Ewell finally calls off the carnage by noon.