150 years ago today

[tombogan03884]

No one mentioning the 2nd biggest gun related anniversary of the month ?

150 years ago this week America fought the most famous battle of the Civil war.
The battles 3 days, July 1, 2, and 3 each featured an incident of desperate combat that will live in American history forever.
On July 1 1863 a brigade of cavalry, (mostly Michagander's Tim ) under the command of John Buford spotted Confederate troops approaching a small crossroads town called  Gettysburg Pa.
Knowing he had to stop them in order to preserve the favorable terrain for the Union forces his 1200 men held off the entire division of Confederate General Henry Heth until late afternoon when he was finally relieved by the Union I Corps under Gen John Reynolds.
Reynolds, acclaimed by the officers of both sides as the best General in the Union Army, was, like Lee, a former Commandant of the Military Academy at West Point . He was killed by a sniper shortly after arriving on the field .
But Buford's stand had saved the day and preserved for the Army of the Potomac the "good ground" .

http://www.civilwarhome.com/buforddefense.htm

The following day  Col Joshua Chamberlain and the 300 men of the 20th Me regiment were placed on the extreme left of the Union line with orders to " hold, no matter what" .
When Hood's Texas troops came up the Emmettsburg road planning to roll up the entire Union line, they did just that .
When his remaining 150 troops faced one last assault with ammunition gone, Chamberlain, a former professor of rhetoric at Maine's Bowdion College, gave the only orders he could think of, "Fix bayonets, Charge !"
For the first time in 3 long years Union troops watched as Hoods broken Texans fled in terror.

http://www.totalgettysburg.com/20th-maine.html

On the 3rd day, Lee, out of fancy ideas reasoned he had attacked the Union right and been held, he had attacked the Union left and been held . "Those people" could not be strong every where so he launched Longstreet's entire corps toward a clump of trees at the center of the Union line .
10,000 men started walking across a mile of meadowland and fields under constant artillery fire from massed Union guns that had not been bothered by the Confederate barrage .
They damned near broke the Union line but the massed artillery, and rifle fire was just to much, Lewis Armistead, made the deepest penetration of the Union lines, he was shot down with one hand on a Union cannon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickett%27s_Charge

Gen George Gordon Meade, the Union commander, and winner of the battle had been given command  on June 28, 3 days before the battle opened.
While the Union forces held Lee's Army of Northern Va, the battle was essentially a draw, it ended because Lee, low on supplies, could not think of anything else to try and decided to withdraw back to Va.
But the effects of the battle, the used up supplies, loss of morale, and huge losses among the best officers and men sounded the death knell of the Confederacy.
After Gettysburg it was only a matter of time.

[fightingquaker13]

It was the largest land battle ever fought in this hemisphere.

[Pathfinder]

On the third day, JEB Stuart, who had been absent and therefore inconsequential to the battle for the first 2 days, was ordered by Lee to sweep to the east of Cemetery Ridge, and then cut west across the ridge to support the infantry charge, and hopefully divide the Union troops. Then Lee could destroy each of the 2 divided Union forces in detail.

As Stuart led his 12-15,000 strong cavalry troops in column down the road, they were met head on by a much smaller (ca. 4,000) Union cavalry force. Although the Confederates resisted briefly, the attack threw his entire line into confusion, and Stuart shortly led his column off the field, retreating the way he had come. So, for the 3rd day, Stuart's cavalry force was again inconsequential as a military force in the Gettysburg battle.

One of the 2 generals of the Union cavalry was George Armstrong Custer, leading a Michigan cavalry brigade. When he saw Stuart's troops, Custer immediately drew his sword, and yelled to his men - Come on you Wolverines!!! - and led the attack.

[fightingquaker13]

If only he'd had an AK to hold over his head he would have really whupped them.

[Timothy]

I don't believe Custer was a General in the regular Army and he's not from Michigan either.  He was born in Ohio...and not the brightest lad to have graduated the Academy...a bit of a prankster!

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

Custer was a Brevet General, until late in the 19th century Officers were awarded war time promotions, or brevet's instead of medals, for meritorious acts.
Most Officers, though not all reverted to their official ranks at the wars end, Joshua Chamberlain retained his rank while Custer reverted to Lt Col.
The fact that Custer was not from Mich. is irrelevant, the Army gave him command of the Michigan Calvary.
He and Confederate George Pickett both graduated at the bottom of their respective classes at West Point, Confederate John Bell Hood was expelled for breaking a plate over the head of Jubal Early who would also become a renowned Confederate General.

[fightingquaker13]

Custer was a Brevet General, until late in the 19th century Officers were awarded war time promotions, or brevet's instead of medals, for meritorious acts.
Most Officers, though not all reverted to their official ranks at the wars end, Joshua Chamberlain retained his rank while Custer reverted to Lt Col.
The fact that Custer was not from Mich. is irrelevant, the Army gave him command of the Michigan Calvary.
He and Confederate George Pickett both graduated at the bottom of their respective classes at West Point, Confederate John Bell Hood was expelled for breaking a plate over the head of Jubal Early who would also become a renowned Confederate General.

Maybe their instructors were right when it came to those two.

[Timothy]

The fact that Custer was not from Mich. is irrelevant, the Army gave him command of the Michigan Calvary.

The horror...to put a Buckeye in charge of a bunch of Wolverines! 

Either way, everything I've ever read about GA Custer suggest he was arrogant ass and not too bright...but I'm not a big history scholar either!

[tombogan03884]

Custer was an azzhole as a person, but he was actually a very good Calvary officer.
His tactics at Little Bighorn were a classic example of exactly what Calvary were intended to do, the "lightning strike" utilizing surprise, speed, and fire power to sow confusion and create the illusion of a much larger force .
What killed Custer was that he lost the element of surprise and the Indians, who numbered about 3X what he thought, reacted much faster than he expected .

Maybe their instructors were right when it came to those two.

FQ, have you ever actually read anything about either man ?
Custer I covered above, but Georgie Pickett was also a fine officer, steady as a rock under fire, and always ready with a joke, prank, or well told story in camp .
Until the evening of July 2nd 1863 .
He never forgave Lee or Longstreet for the destruction of his division and it badly effected his performance in the withdrawal from Petersburg in the spring of '65.

[blackwolfe]

Custer was born in Ohio and raised in Monroe, MI.  I believe he married a Michigan woman of high standing.