Home | Prev Page | Next Page

At 4:00 James Longstreets Confederate Corps steps off the Confederate attack. The Yankees will attempt to reinforce Sickles, but to no avail. Sickles III Corps is wrecked. Longstreet will describe his assault as "Two hours of the best fighting of any army on any field." This day, however, fate will side with the nonh. First, Yankee reinforcements will arrive at Little Round Top moments before the Confederates seize it and the Yankees will hold the hill. As the Confederate assault reaches northward, holes begin opening in the federal line. General Meade, however, is very active on the defense. He strips men from various portions of his line and plugs them in where needed. In a very bold move, Meade orders most of the Yankees manning Culp's Hill (the hook of the fishhook, on the right of the Yankee line) to move to Cemetery Ridge. Some arrive barely in time to repulse the main Confederate assault, and the action on the left of the Yankee line will ebb to a close on Cemetery Ridge It about 8:00, in the area known as "The Angle". Thus ends the major fighting on the south end of the field on July 2.

We now move across the fishhook to Spangler's Spring. During the morning and afternoon the Yankees constructed trenches and breastworks on Culp's Hill as we have seen. Most of the Union Troops manning these defenses were sent over to Cemetery Ridge. Remaining on the crest of the hill are some 1,500 New Yorker, commanded by the oldest Yankee General on the field, George S. Greene. As daylight disappears, nearly 10,000 Confederates begin moving up the hill. Almost immediately they occupy the abandoned trenches. However, when the rebels reach for the crest, they find Green's position very difficult to take.

It is now dark. We must remember that Rober E. Lee has initiated the assaults on Culps and Cemetery Hills to function as supporting attacks. As we have seen, the main assault has already come to a close. Nothing remains to support. The Yankees will move troops back from Cernetery Ridge to repulse these assaults, and as July 2nd ends, the Yankees still hold almost all of the formidable fishhook line. As concerns the Union line, one of their Generals sums up the situation in a nutshell to Meade. "General Meade, I think you ought to feel much gratified with today's results... they have hankered us into a solid position they cannot whip us out of."

July 3, 1863:

As the sun rises on July 3rd, the Federals will begin the action and retake the trenches at the base of Culp's Hill. This done, a lull settles over the field as Lee's army readies itself for the final act. Lee has planned an assault to punch through the very center of the Yankee Line. Lee selects a little copse of trees as the target point. Standing here at "The Angle , we can see the Confederate position on Seminary Ridge described by the line of trees running more or less north and south about 1 mile away. Lee collects 140 artillery pieces and concentrates their fire on The Angle for 2 hours.

Home | Prev Page | Next Page