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This Day in History|July 3rd, 1863 - Pickett leads his infamous charge at Gettysburg
The History Channel ^
| July 3rd, 2005
| The History Channel
Posted on 07/03/2005 6:53:20 AM PDT by timpad
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50,000 Americans dead or wounded in three days.
May God bless those who give up all their tomorrows for our today. Past, present and future.
1
posted on
07/03/2005 6:53:21 AM PDT
by
timpad
To: timpad
yeah the battle really illustrated to all that the Napoleonic school of warfare was completely and suicidally outdated.
All were heroes in their respective rights, but the guy who won the battle was Gen. John Buford. Had he not held the heights until Gen. Reynolds showed up on 1 July, the battle would have turned out very differently...
2
posted on
07/03/2005 6:55:55 AM PDT
by
MikefromOhio
(Sleep in peace, comrades dear...)
To: All
"Well, it is all over now. The battle is lost, and many of us are prisoners, many are dead, many wounded, bleeding and dying. Your Soldier lives and mourns and but for you, my darling, he would rather, a million times rather, be back there with his dead, to sleep for all time in an unknown grave."
Major General George Pickett, CSA, to his fiancée, July 4, 1863
3
posted on
07/03/2005 6:56:46 AM PDT
by
timpad
(The Wizard Tim - Keeper of the Holy Hand Grenade, Finder of Obscurata)
To: timpad
Uh-oh....War Between the States/War of Northern Aggression/Civil War thread breaking out...
4
posted on
07/03/2005 6:59:23 AM PDT
by
dakine
To: MikeinIraq
yeah the battle really illustrated to all that the Napoleonic school of warfare was completely and suicidally outdated. True, but I've always been fascinated by how long it took for people to understand this. Fifty years after Gettysburg, the British suffered 60,000 casualties on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
5
posted on
07/03/2005 7:01:01 AM PDT
by
THX 1138
To: THX 1138
they didnt march into the fire at the Somme like they did at Gettysburg. There wasn't any marching as such and it wasn't the Napoleonic school at the time....
at the Battle of the Somme, they used an early and horribly thought out version of the loose order drill that was used very successfully in World War 2.
6
posted on
07/03/2005 7:03:47 AM PDT
by
MikefromOhio
(Sleep in peace, comrades dear...)
To: MikeinIraq
but the guy who won the battle was Gen. John Buford
He certainly set the stage, and I happen to agree he is the unsung hero.
One of the great cavalry actions in American history. Buford, with his small screening force, arrived in Gettysburg, immediately recognized the danger and seized the high ground. He and his units held until relieved. Had he failed, Lee's army would have had a nearly invincible position when Reynolds arrived.
"The enemy knows the importance of this position and will strain every nerve to secure it, and if we are able to hold it, we will do well.
- Union Brigadier General John Buford to Colonels Thomas Devin and William Gamble the night before the Battle of Gettysburg, 30 June 1863.
|
![Union Brigadier General John Buford, USA. 1826 - 1863; Courtesy of the Library of Congress](http://www.brotherswar.com/buford.jpg) |
-from brotherswar.com
7
posted on
07/03/2005 7:03:55 AM PDT
by
timpad
(The Wizard Tim - Keeper of the Holy Hand Grenade, Finder of Obscurata)
To: dakine
War Between the States/War of Northern Aggression/Civil War thread breaking out...
They do stir things up a bit, don't they?
8
posted on
07/03/2005 7:05:25 AM PDT
by
timpad
(The Wizard Tim - Keeper of the Holy Hand Grenade, Finder of Obscurata)
To: timpad
Yep....
If you have ever read "The Killer Angels", the book does give him his due....
the battlefield at Gettysburg shows what he did as well, especially the electronic map....
9
posted on
07/03/2005 7:05:42 AM PDT
by
MikefromOhio
(Sleep in peace, comrades dear...)
To: MikeinIraq
And not to forget Joshua Chamberlain and his regiment's desperate defense of the Union extreme left at Little Round Top.
10
posted on
07/03/2005 7:09:09 AM PDT
by
kezekiel
To: MikeinIraq
If you have ever read "The Killer Angels",
Shaara's book that backed the movie "Gettysburg" with Jeff Daniels. I have not read it yet. One of those on the "Things to do before I pass" list...:-)
11
posted on
07/03/2005 7:10:31 AM PDT
by
timpad
(The Wizard Tim - Keeper of the Holy Hand Grenade, Finder of Obscurata)
To: kezekiel
And not to forget Joshua Chamberlain
I think it was Col. Chamberlain's action that, more than anything else, convinced Lee that the Union center was weak and could be broken by Pickett. I think that Lee believed the Union was stronger on the flank than it really was because of the 20th Maine's tenacity.
12
posted on
07/03/2005 7:14:50 AM PDT
by
timpad
(The Wizard Tim - Keeper of the Holy Hand Grenade, Finder of Obscurata)
To: kezekiel
Certainly, but he would have never been in the position to made that charge without Buford.
Not to diminish what he did, but Buford held and set it up...
13
posted on
07/03/2005 7:16:59 AM PDT
by
MikefromOhio
(Sleep in peace, comrades dear...)
To: timpad
its a great read...
better than the movie was, but Jeff Daniels was great in that movie....
14
posted on
07/03/2005 7:17:34 AM PDT
by
MikefromOhio
(Sleep in peace, comrades dear...)
To: timpad
This charge was, arguably, the point where the 19th century ended and the twentieth began. I have heard it and dismissed it as a legend but it has been said that the Union soldiers actually cried as they fired into the defenseless Confederate ranks because the carnage was so great.
I am humbled by the history of this conflict and the men on both sides who died.
15
posted on
07/03/2005 7:20:23 AM PDT
by
muir_redwoods
(Free Sirhan Sirhan, after all, the bastard who killed Mary Jo Kopeckne is walking around free)
To: MikeinIraq
Yeah, whatever.
I was referring to the whole notion of massed charge against fortified positions. The lack of imagination was appalling.
16
posted on
07/03/2005 7:22:25 AM PDT
by
THX 1138
To: MikeinIraq
Can't wait for "The Last Full Measure" to come out, but I haven't heard a release date or even if they are up and running yet.
17
posted on
07/03/2005 7:23:08 AM PDT
by
timpad
(The Wizard Tim - Keeper of the Holy Hand Grenade, Finder of Obscurata)
To: THX 1138
yes it was....
as a matter of fact, we did more at the squad and platoon level than most companies and some REGIMENTS did in world war 1....
18
posted on
07/03/2005 7:23:25 AM PDT
by
MikefromOhio
(Sleep in peace, comrades dear...)
To: kezekiel
"And not to forget Joshua Chamberlain and his regiment's desperate defense of the Union extreme left at Little Round Top."
Chamberlain's defense of Little Round Top was briliant, and his ordering a counterattack with fixed bayonets and empty muskets was a great example of performance under pressure.
People in the South who have studied the Civil War also hold Chamberlain in very high regard for his class act after Appomattox. As the Confederates marched up to surrender their weapons and colors Chamberlain ordered his men to salute.
19
posted on
07/03/2005 7:24:27 AM PDT
by
billnaz
(What part of "shall not be infringed" don't you understand?)
To: timpad
yeah I haven't heard anything about it either, but Robert DuVall is infinitely better as R.E. Lee than that moron Sheen was....
20
posted on
07/03/2005 7:25:22 AM PDT
by
MikefromOhio
(Sleep in peace, comrades dear...)
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