Pickett's charge made it all the way across these fields from the opposite tree line. First the Union artillery and then the Union rifles picked the Confederates to pieces. Only a few made it to the monument you see in the foreground where they were obliterated by concentrated fire.
The charge broke and fell back. As the survivors streamed into their lines a trumpet played "Nearer my God to Thee". This guy did a beautiful rendition.
It was very quiet, looking at just how wide those fields are.
The charge broke and fell back. As the survivors streamed into their lines a trumpet played "Nearer my God to Thee". This guy did a beautiful rendition.
It was very quiet, looking at just how wide those fields are.
6 comments:
That monument is to the 69th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Irishmen recruited in the Philly area, know as the Rock of Erin for their role in breaking the Confederate charge.
If you want truly somber, visit the sites of the Battle of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse. Gettysburg had the most casualties (killed, wounded, missing, captured) of any CW battle, but those two rank fifth and third, respectively, on the list. And very few things in any American war match the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania.
There was a sudden outbreak of dust on the field when I saw that "double canister at ten yards" marker.
Are there MEN like that in American now? That would face canister and concentrated fire for their right to determine the course of their lives? Or that would face such a determined foe, bent on crossing that field, whatever the cost, to wreak havoc on them?
I feel shame at times, knowing I live unworthy of their sacrifice (from the men on either side). What mental and physical toughness to fight through that.
Of course there are. Don't kid yourself.
Remember, it's the "weak, spineless" millenials that largely fought the long war in Afghanistan and that in iraq.
You feel the way you do because the milquetoast cowards have a larger media platform today than they used to.
But men still reside here.
What boggles the mind is that in the American Revolutionary War, the Colonialists learned how to fight guerrilla style, the Native American way and defeated the Brits who continued in their regimented, bright dress, upright marches into the fray as cannon fodder.
Why was it that after so many years, and most of the generals who fought together (north & south) in the wars against the Indians and the French in Mexico (Maximillian) were different tactics not taught at West Point? I refer you to Martin Dugard's book "The Training Ground."
Courage on the part of the men, yes. But the stupidity and downright inhumanity in the way the Civil
War was conducted is still mind boggling. Talk about group think, or getting stuck in a paradigm that was hopeless. So much waste, death, destruction because new tactics would not be adopted by either side.
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