Civil War History - Gettysburg History
Gettysburg History Film Clips 
[General] Picket's "column of assault consisted of 42 regiments: 19 Virginia, 15 North Carolina, 2 Alabama, 3 Tennessee and 3 Mississippi - a total of 15,000 men" This essay clearly states why the Battle of Gettysburg is a significant event in Civil War history, what the Rebels intended and why the battle was such a decisive victory for the Federal Army: "In the first rush the Confederates were successful, the scattered Union regiments under General Hancock were pressed back. But on the second day, the main body of the Northern army under General Meade arrived, and the contest held even, with awful slaughter on both sides. The third day the Confederates made one last desperate charge..." Abraham Lincoln: Short Story Writer... Attached is a Gettysburg reminiscence by one W.T. White, veteran of the First Texas Regiment who had documented his experience on Little Round Top in his earlier writings, but preferred to dwell on some other "glorious moments" on this page.
As a result of their charge up Little Round Top, the boys of the Twentieth Maine sent the First Texas Infantry to the bottom of the hill leaving 25 dead, 20 missing and 48 wounded.
This article, from Confederate Veteran Magazine, presented the drama of events as they unfolded on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg with an eye to specifically telling the tale of the North Carolina regiments and the part they played as the battle was taking shape. The author, Captain S.A. Ashe (author of the 1902 book, "The charge at Gettysburg") explained thoroughly which Confederate and Federal units arrived first at Gettysburg and at what hour, while indulging in just a little Monday morning quarterbacking:
"If General Longstreet, with his very fine corps, had struck the Federals early the next morning, there probably never would have been a third day at Gettysburg." "Our own losses were very severe, two thousand eight hundred and thirty-four killed, thirteen thousand seven hundred and nine wounded, and six thousand six hundred and forty-three missing - in all twenty-three thousand, one hundred and eighty-six." "It is impossible, in a report of this nature, to enumerate all the the instances of gallantry and good conduct which distinguished our success on the hard-fought field of Gettysburg. The reports of corps commanders and their subordinates, herewith submitted, will furnish all information upon this subject."
Click here to read about the military record of U.S. General George Gordon Meade.
Click here to read about the finest generals of the American Civil War.
"By the afternoon of July 2, the powerful forces of Meade and Lee were at hand, and battle on a tremendous scale was imminent. That part of the Union line extending diagonally across the valley between Seminary and Cemetery Ridges held. Late in the forenoon, General Dan Sickles, commanding the Third Corps which lay north of Little Round Top, sent Berdan's sharpshooters and some of the men of the 3rd Maine Regiment forward from Emmitsburg Road to Pitzer's Woods... as they reached the woods, a strong Confederate force fired upon them..."
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