The FReeper Foxhole Revisits Little Round Top - Gettysburg (7/2/1863) - June 24th, 2005

military.com ^ | James R. Brann

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

The Defense of Little Round Top

Union Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain has long been lauded as the hero of Gettysburg's Little Round Top. But does Chamberlain deserve all the credit, or did he have some unheralded help?

Late in the afternoon of July 2, 1863, on a boulder-strewn hillside in southern Pennsylvania, Union Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain dashed headlong into history, leading his 20th Maine Regiment in perhaps the most famous counterattack of the Civil War. The regiment's sudden, desperate bayonet charge blunted the Confederate assault on Little Round Top and has been credited with saving Major General George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac, winning the Battle of Gettysburg and setting the South on a long, irreversible path to defeat.


20th Maine on the Taneytown Road

For many years, historians and writers have given the lion's share of the credit for the 20th's dramatic action on Little Round Top to Chamberlain. Numerous books and even the popular movie Gettysburg have helped fuel adulation for the Union officer. But did Chamberlain really deserve the credit he received? Or, to put it another way, did he deserve all the credit? Answering that question adequately requires taking another look at the Battle of Gettysburg and the hell-raising fighting that occurred among the scattered stones of Little Round Top.

On June 3, 1863, Confederate General Robert E. Lee began the Army of Northern Virginia's second invasion of the North. Lee's main objective was to move across the Potomac River and try to separate the Union forces from Washington. When the Army of the Potomac's commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, belatedly became aware of the Confederates' movement, he began to force-march his army north, trying to keep Lee to the west and screen Washington from the Rebel troops. On June 28, as the bulk of the Federal troops enjoyed a brief respite near Frederick, Md., Meade replaced Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac.


Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Meade faced a daunting task. By June 30 Lee's forces, including those of corps commanders Lt. Gens. James "Pete" Longstreet and Ambrose P. Hill, were marching on the Chambersburg Road in southern Pennsylvania, while Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell was leading his corps westward from York. Major General J.E.B. Stuart, directing Lee's cavalry, had not returned to the main Southern column from his screening mission around the Union forces. In fact, Stuart would not return until July 2, a crucial error in judgment.

Lacking adequate intelligence from his scouting forces, Lee directed his army to gather at Gettysburg. The general did not want to fight at Gettysburg, but alert Union horsemen had reached the area -- a fact that would put a wrinkle in Lee's plans. When Confederate Brig. Gen. James J. Pettigrew approached the town leading a 2,584-man brigade that was part of Maj. Gen. Henry Heth's division, he became aware of the Union cavalry force positioned there. Pettigrew withdrew his troops and then reported back to Heth. The next day, July 1, Heth headed toward Gettysburg with four brigades of infantry to drive off the reported Union troopers and secure the town.


Little Round Top from the northwest.
Brady photograph.

To Heth's surprise, waiting for him was Union Brig. Gen. John Buford, who had dismounted and deployed his cavalry on McPherson's Ridge, west of Gettysburg. Buford's forces fired first, temporarily halting Heth's force and starting the Battle of Gettysburg. Both sides sent dispatches to inform their superiors of the confrontation. Meade reinforced his Union position with the I Corps, which was now led by Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday since Maj. Gen. John Reynolds had been mortally wounded earlier that day. Additional Union reinforcements came from Maj. Gens. Henry W. Slocum's XII Corps and Daniel Sickles' III Corps. Throughout the morning, Confederate pressure continued to build against the Union line.


Signals From Little Round Top

Although spread thinly, the Union troopers held their ground with repeating carbines. As the fighting intensified, both sides added more infantry divisions to the battle. The Confederates managed to exploit weaknesses in the Federals' deployment, and their attacks caused heavy losses to the Union troops, who were forced to retreat. Confederate General Ewell's failure to carry out his orders and attack Cemetery Hill on the afternoon of July 1 wasted a golden opportunity for a quick, decisive victory. The Union had lost 4,000 men by that time -- and the town of Gettysburg itself -- but Meade quickly moved reinforcing divisions onto the high ground south of Gettysburg. The two armies spent a restless night.



The Union defensive line on aptly named Cemetery Ridge resembled an inverted fishhook, extending from Culp's Hill on the north, down Cemetery Ridge and southward toward Big and Little Round Tops. Although the 650-foot-high Little Round Top was overshadowed by its larger neighbor, its position was more important because much of the hill was cleared of trees and it could better accommodate troops. Strategically, Little Round Top held the key to the developing battle. If the Southern troops could take and hold the hill, they could theoretically roll up the entire Union line.



On the morning of July 2, Little Round Top proper held perhaps just a handful of Federal soldiers. Pennsylvania native Brig. Gen. John W. Geary's division was aligned just north of the hill and was the largest Union force in the immediate area. Geary was ordered to rejoin the rest of his XII Corps at Culp's Hill after elements of Sickles' III Corps took his place. In the confusion of shifting troops, however, Geary pulled his men out too soon, before Sickles' men had moved to replace them. Little Round Top was left uncovered. Later, when Sickles' infantry did arrive, the controversial general moved his men, without orders, westward toward the Emmitsburg Road. Once again Little Round Top went wanting for protectors in blue.


Gouverneur Kemble. Warren
During the battle of Gettysburg, General Warren is credited with the discovery of the Confederate troop movements attempting to attack the area known as "Little Round Top". His subsequent action is reported to have saved the entire left flank of the Union Army.

Robert E. Lee, with his eerie sense of a battlefield, was hastily assembling a force to attack the Union left, but it would take him the greater part of the day to get his men ready to strike. Meanwhile, Meade also sensed something significant about the two adjacent hills to his left. That afternoon he sent his chief of engineers, Brig. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren, to assess the situation. To his utter chagrin, Warren found Little Round Top completely undefended. He hastily sent messengers to Meade and Sickles, requesting immediate assistance. Sickles, by that time hotly engaged with el-ements of Longstreet's corps, had none to spare. But Colonel Strong Vincent, who commanded the 3rd Brigade of Brig. Gen. Charles Griffin's 1st Division of the V Corps, received word from a harried courier about the threat to Little Round Top and led his men to the hill at the double-quick. Vincent's brigade included the 44th New York, 16th Michigan, 83rd Pennsylvania and the 358-man 20th Maine under Joshua L. Chamberlain.


The 20th Maine & the 15th Alabama
At Little Round Top, Gettysburg, Pa

The 34-year-old Chamberlain was one of the most interesting figures in the Civil War. A highly cultured, somewhat sedentary professor of modern languages at Maine's exclusive Bowdoin College, he had sat out the first year of the war on Bowdoin's stately campus. But in July 1862, sensing perhaps that the war was going to last a good deal longer than he had first believed, Chamberlain offered his services to the Union cause. "I have always been interested in military matters," he informed Maine Governor Israel Washburn, "and what I do not know in that line, I know how to learn." He was given command of the newly formed 20th Maine, a unit comprised of extra men left over from other new regiments. It was not, Chamberlain noted, one of the state's favorite fighting units -- "No county claimed it; no city gave it a flag; and there was no send-off at the station."


Union breastworks. Interior view of breastworks on Little Round Top, Gettysburg

The 20th Maine had been organized under President Abraham Lincoln's second call for troops on July 2, 1862. The regiment initially fielded a total complement of 1,621 men, but by the time of the Battle of Gettysburg the stress of campaigning had reduced the regiment's ranks to some 266 soldiers, and the 20th was considered a weak link in Vincent's brigade. Fortune, however, was to smile on Chamberlain's regiment in the form of unexpected reinforcements.

On May 23, 1863, 120 three-year enlistees from the 2nd Maine Infantry were marched under guard into the regimental area of the 20th Maine. The 2nd Maine men were in a state of mutiny and refused to fight, angry because the bulk of the regiment -- men with only two-year enlistments -- had been discharged and sent home, and the regiment had been disbanded. The mutineers claimed they had only enlisted to fight under the 2nd Maine flag, and if their flag went home, so should they. By law, however, the men still owed the Army another year of service.



Chamberlain had orders to shoot the mutineers if they refused duty. Fortunately for the men of the 2nd Maine, Chamberlain was born and grew up in Brewer, the twin city to Bangor across the Penobscot River where the 2nd Maine regiment was recruited. The mutineers were not just soldiers but also Chamberlain's childhood neighbors. Instead of shooting them, Chamberlain wisely distributed the 2nd Maine veterans evenly to fill out the 20th Maine's ranks and integrate experienced soldiers among the untested 20th Maine. He sympathized with the mutineers and wrote to Maine Governor Abner Coburn, asking that he write to the men personally about the mix-up in three-year versus two-year contracts they had signed. On Little Round Top the 120 experienced combat veterans from the 2nd Maine brought the 20th's ranks up to 386 infantrymen and helped hold Chamberlain's wobbling line together.

As he arrived on Little Round Top, Colonel Vincent chose a line of defense that started on the west slope of the hill. When the first regiments reached the rocky outcrops in that area, Vincent put them into line. The 16th Michigan took up a position on the right flank, and the 44th New York and 83rd Pennsylvania held the center. Later in life, Chamberlain wrote that his regiment was the first in line, but it actually took up its position last, curving its line back around to the east and forming the Union Army's extreme left flank.


"Colonel Strong Vincent"

The last thing Vincent told Chamberlain was: "This is the left of the Union line. You are to hold this ground at all costs!" Chamberlain ordered the regiment to go on line by file. He deployed Company B, recruited from Piscataquis County and commanded by level-headed Captain Walter G. Morrill of Williamsburg, forward to the regiment's left front flank as skirmishers. Company B, with its 44 men, was subsequently cut off by a flanking attack by the enemy, leaving the 20th with only 314 armed men on the main regimental line.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Maj. Greg Hicks, commander, explosive ordnance disposal control team, examines a potential mine on a boomerang trail on Hill 3070. The troops were on the mountain outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, June 19, 2005, to check out a future training area and to recover remains from a Feb. 3, 2005, Kam Air crash that killed 104. Combined Joint Task Force 76 photo by Sgt. Adrian Schulte

Contrary to popular media belief, the USA is not arrogantly forcing unwilling allied countries to bend to our policies. They are working with us to combat terrorism/piracy. Fighting those evil forces benefits EVERYBODY:

050618-N-3904I-029 Dakar, Senegal (June 18, 2005) - Senegal Army Soldiers static-line parachute jump from a U.S. Air Force MC-130 Talon over Dakar, Senegal, during Exercise Flintlock '05. Flintlock is a series of military exercises conducted throughout the Trans-Saharan region of Africa, concentrating on ground, air operations, land navigation, human rights training and collaboration between militaries. Other countries participating in the exercise is Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Chad. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Jeremy L. Wood (RELEASED)

050621-N-4104L-040 Sattahip, Thailand (June 21, 2005) - A Royal Thai Navy bugler aboard HTMS Phutthayotfa Chulalok sounds a call marking evening colors aboard his ship was the colors detail, right, stationed aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) prepares to lower the Ensign. The two ships are participating together in exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2005. Phutthayotfa Chulalok was formerly the U.S. Navy Knox-class frigate USS Ouellet (FF 1077), which was decommissioned in 1993 and sold to Thailand in 1996. CARAT Thailand is a the second part of an annual series of bilateral military training exercises with several Southeast Asian nations designed to enhance the interoperability of the respective sea services. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Journalist Melinda Larson (RELEASED)

050526-N-5663H-018 South China Sea (May 26, 2005) -- Philippine Navy SEALS have weapons drawn as they search compartments on board the U.S. Navy dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) during a visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) exercise. VBSS training is being conducted as part of Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism (SEACAT) 2005. SEACAT is a weeklong, at sea anti-terrorism exercise in the Philippine and South China Seas. This was the first boarding by the Philippine Navy in the four-year history of SEACAT. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 3rd Class David J. Ham (RELEASED)

[snippy_about_it]

:-)

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. Here kitty, kitty.

[SAMWolf]

Morning all.

Won something at the Special Chamber Meeting this morning that I can't use.
Look for a small package in a few days, w_over_w.
I figure you can use them. :-)

[w_over_w]

Let me guess . . . golf balls? ;^)

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. No fair guessing.

I haven't let Sam close the box up yet, there is a little space left in it.... Looking for something to fill it with. How about a suet cage and some suet? On the house?

[SAMWolf]

Hey! You peeked!!

Don't know anything about golf balls except that they're round and dimpled. Are Nike "Power Distance" Super Fly any good?

[snippy_about_it]

Tell everyone what else we won Sam.

[w_over_w]

Are Nike "Power Distance" Super Fly any good?

Sure! I like the "Titleist Pro V1x" but I think you have the prototype of what Tiger Woods used to win the Masters. I've been curious to give it a try.

But most important to all this is your thoughtfulness . . . that's the winner!

[colorado tanker]

Nice post to reflect on as we prepare for Independence Day celebrations.

It's also interesting to reflect on the fact that Lincoln had to fight the war with the Copperhead Democrats constantly trying to undercut the war effort, just as the Democrats are doing today. A majority backed Lincoln then, despite horrific casualties, but will a majority back President Bush despite a couple of thousand casualties? (I do not mean to diminish the terrible sacrifice of our fallen heroes, but the denizens of these threads know how unusually light our casualties have been from a historical perspective.)

[snippy_about_it]

Ok, I'll tell. We won a complimentary dance lesson. LOL.

[snippy_about_it]

I don't think it is the casualty count that is causing the problem with the right. I think what some of us (me included) would like to see is a harder stance taken. This war is too PC for me. As an example, I would have preferred we flattened Fallujah the first time.

[SAMWolf]

Snippy won a "Dance Lesson"

I ain't going along ;-)

[snippy_about_it]

ROTFLOL.

[colorado tanker]

Snippy, I agree we need to drop the kid gloves treatment. I was really disappointed we backed down the first time in Fallujah.

But what I'm worried about are the critics on the left who are calling for a pullout or a "timetable." All those statements do is tell the terrorists to keep it up and America will cut and run again, just like we did in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia. What the Democrats are saying will lengthen the war and put our troops at greater risk, but apparently that doesn't matter as much to them as political gains.

[snippy_about_it]

You and I agree. My beef is either fight like we mean it or get out. I never thought I'd compare the WOT to Vietnam but with limitations on rules of engagement it can't be denied. Take off the gloves and fight like a man!

[Professional Engineer]

Good afternoon ladies. It's Friday!

[snippy_about_it]

Oh darn it! I had a Friday flag-o-gram and forgot to send it. Hold on....

[snippy_about_it]

Here ya go. Sam and I toured a B-24 last Sunday after work and also got to see a B-17.

This is from the 24.

[Professional Engineer]

1947 Peter Weller actor (Robocop)

SpankenTruppen recruit! Unfortunately, the pictures I found were either protected, couldn't swipe, or not forum appropriate.