Alabama native John Purifoy (1842 - 1927) was not simply a contributor to Confederate Veteran Magazine, he was a former combatant in that war as well. Throughout the years the one topic he would refer to often was the Battle of Gettysburg, and his service as a Rebel artilleryman.
July 1, 1863 was the day his unit first arrived at Gettysburg; he participated in that famous clash that collapsed both the U.S. Eleventh Corps and the U.S. First. Having thought about that day for sixty years, Purifoy concluded that:
"...the first great mistake in the conduct of that battle was made when the Confederates failed to drive the demoralized Federal troops from their lodgment on Cemetery Hill and Ridge... the victory just won was incomplete without the evacuation of the hill by the Federal remnants and its occupation by the Confederate troops."
Click here to read an 1862 review about the Civil War photographs of Mathew Brady.
Click here to read more about the Battle of Gettysburg.
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