Walking The Charge
Day two dawned cold and clear
After a quick breakfast we headed off to the beautiful Sachs Covered Bridge
This is where the battle took place on the 3rd of July
While the Union lost about 1,500 killed and wounded, the Confederate casualty rate was over 50%. Pickett's division suffered 2,655 casualties (498 killed, 643 wounded, 833 wounded and captured, and 681 captured, unwounded). Pettigrew's losses are estimated to be about 2,700 (470 killed, 1,893 wounded, 337 captured). Trimble's two brigades lost 885 (155 killed, 650 wounded, and 80 captured). Wilcox's brigade reported losses of 200, Lang's about 400. Thus, total losses during the attack were 6,555, of which at least 1,123 Confederates were killed on the battlefield, 4,019 were wounded, and a good number of the injured were also captured. Confederate prisoner totals are difficult to estimate from their reports; Union reports indicated that 3,750 men were captured.
It is about one mile from the Virginia Monument side to the Pennsylvania side. We had just arrived back when we saw this group of Scouts getting ready to walk across.
We watched them awhile then headed off to do other things
We hung out there awhile chatting with a couple a few years old than us. They approached us asking if we had seen any ghost. We exchanged a few stories, I gave her the URL to ghost hunting blog and we moved on. We had plans to walk the fields where Pickett's Charge took place
While the Union lost about 1,500 killed and wounded, the Confederate casualty rate was over 50%. Pickett's division suffered 2,655 casualties (498 killed, 643 wounded, 833 wounded and captured, and 681 captured, unwounded). Pettigrew's losses are estimated to be about 2,700 (470 killed, 1,893 wounded, 337 captured). Trimble's two brigades lost 885 (155 killed, 650 wounded, and 80 captured). Wilcox's brigade reported losses of 200, Lang's about 400. Thus, total losses during the attack were 6,555, of which at least 1,123 Confederates were killed on the battlefield, 4,019 were wounded, and a good number of the injured were also captured. Confederate prisoner totals are difficult to estimate from their reports; Union reports indicated that 3,750 men were captured.
It is about one mile from the Virginia Monument side to the Pennsylvania side. We had just arrived back when we saw this group of Scouts getting ready to walk across.
We watched them awhile then headed off to do other things
Labels: Civil War History, Gettysburg
posted by Patty at
Thursday, October 15, 2009
3 Comments:
I would so love to soak up the history this time of the year. Lucky! Lucky! Enjoy every second of it.
Never seen a ghost there, but can feel so many presences while I'm there.
On the list to do next time I'm at Gettysburg (along with lots of other stuff!).
Such devastating losses and such a waste, too, as I can't help but look across that expanse of fields and wonder what on earth General Lee was thinking when he ordered that charge. It just seems like suicide as they were so exposed and a mile is a long, long way to go when someone is firing cannons and rifles at you.
Sad. Very, very sad.
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