As the sun begins to set over the lush Pennsylvania countryside the smell of violence permeates the air. Two Confederate Brigades, under the command of General Henry Heth, have been held to a stalemate by the Union Cavalry of General John Buford. Caught by surprise, the Yankee soldiers rallied and threw themselves into the fray and held the line until General Reynolds could arrive with reinforcements.
At least a thousand men are lying dead or wounded on the soft green fields outside Gettysburg. General Reynolds is killed and General Winfield Hancock, on the orders of General Meade, has taken overall command of the Union Army at Cemetery Hill and along Cemetery Ridge.
At the end of the day Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia is arriving on Seminary Ridge and consolidating its position. In the morning, Thursday the 2nd of July, hell would break loose and by Friday, the 3rd. Lee's dream of forcing Abraham Lincoln to sue for peace, was dead, along with 10-12,000 men on both sides..
I was there….149 years ago.
http://adventures-in-time.blogspot.com/2007/12/adventures-in-time-gettysburg.html
Jack Dallas
The High Tide at Gettysburg
Will Henry Thompson is the author of this poem. He took part in Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863. He also served in the Fourth Georgia. His poem, " The High Tide at Gettysburg," describes the battle at Gettysburg from the perspective of a Southern soldier.
A cloud possessed the hollow field,
The gathering battle's smoky shield:
Athwart the gloom the lightning flashed,
And through the cloud some horsemen dashed,
And from the heights the thunder pealed.
Then, at the brief command of Lee,
Moved out that matchless infantry,
With Pickett leading grandly down,
To rush against the roaring crown
Of those dread heights of destiny.
Far heard above the angry guns
A cry across the tumult runs,--
The voice that rang from Shilo's woods
And Chickamauga's solitudes,
The fierce South cheering on her sons!
Ah, how the withering tempest blew
Against the front of Pettigrew!
A Khamsin wind that scorched and singed
Like that infernal flame that fringed
The British squares at Waterloo!
A thousand fell where Kemper led;
A thousand died where Garnett bled:
In blinding flame and strangling smoke
Their remnant through the batteries broke
And crossed the works with Armistead.
"Once more in Glory's van with me!"
Virginia cried to Tennessee;
"We two together, come what may,
Shall stand upon these works to-day!"
(The reddest day in history.)
Brave Tennessee! In reckless way
Virginia heard her comrade say:
"Close round this rent and riddled rag!"
What time she set her battle-flag
Amid the guns of Doubleday.
But who shall break the guards that wait
Before the awful face of Fate?
The tattered standards of the South
Were shriveled at the cannon's mouth,
And all her hopes were desolate.
In vain the Tennessean set
His breast against the bayonet;
In vain Virginia charged and raged,
A tigress in her wrath uncaged,
Till all the hill was red and wet!
Above the bayonets, mixed and crossed,
Men saw a gray, gigantic ghost
Receding through the battle-cloud,
And heard across the tempset loud
The death-cry of a nation lost!
The brave went down! Without disgrace
They leaped to Ruin's red embrace;
They heard Fame's thunders wake,
And saw the dazzling sun-burst break
In smiles on Glory's bloody face!
They fell, who lifted up a hand
And bade the sun in heaven to stand;
They smote and fell, who set the bars
Against the progress of the stars,
And stayed the march of Motherland!
They stood, who saw the future come
On through the fight's delirium;
They smote and stood, who held the hope
Of nations on that slippery slope
Amid the cheers of Christendom.
God lives! He forged the iron will
That clutched and held that trembling hill!
God lives and reigns! He built and lent
The heights for freedom's battlement
Where floats her flag in triumph still!
Fold up the banners! Smelt the guns!
Love rules. Her gentler purpose runs.
A mighty mother turns in tears
The pages of her battle years,
Lamenting all her fallen sons!
At least a thousand men are lying dead or wounded on the soft green fields outside Gettysburg. General Reynolds is killed and General Winfield Hancock, on the orders of General Meade, has taken overall command of the Union Army at Cemetery Hill and along Cemetery Ridge.
At the end of the day Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia is arriving on Seminary Ridge and consolidating its position. In the morning, Thursday the 2nd of July, hell would break loose and by Friday, the 3rd. Lee's dream of forcing Abraham Lincoln to sue for peace, was dead, along with 10-12,000 men on both sides..
I was there….149 years ago.
http://adventures-in-time.blogspot.com/2007/12/adventures-in-time-gettysburg.html
Jack Dallas
The High Tide at Gettysburg
Will Henry Thompson is the author of this poem. He took part in Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863. He also served in the Fourth Georgia. His poem, " The High Tide at Gettysburg," describes the battle at Gettysburg from the perspective of a Southern soldier.
A cloud possessed the hollow field,
The gathering battle's smoky shield:
Athwart the gloom the lightning flashed,
And through the cloud some horsemen dashed,
And from the heights the thunder pealed.
Then, at the brief command of Lee,
Moved out that matchless infantry,
With Pickett leading grandly down,
To rush against the roaring crown
Of those dread heights of destiny.
Far heard above the angry guns
A cry across the tumult runs,--
The voice that rang from Shilo's woods
And Chickamauga's solitudes,
The fierce South cheering on her sons!
Ah, how the withering tempest blew
Against the front of Pettigrew!
A Khamsin wind that scorched and singed
Like that infernal flame that fringed
The British squares at Waterloo!
A thousand fell where Kemper led;
A thousand died where Garnett bled:
In blinding flame and strangling smoke
Their remnant through the batteries broke
And crossed the works with Armistead.
"Once more in Glory's van with me!"
Virginia cried to Tennessee;
"We two together, come what may,
Shall stand upon these works to-day!"
(The reddest day in history.)
Brave Tennessee! In reckless way
Virginia heard her comrade say:
"Close round this rent and riddled rag!"
What time she set her battle-flag
Amid the guns of Doubleday.
But who shall break the guards that wait
Before the awful face of Fate?
The tattered standards of the South
Were shriveled at the cannon's mouth,
And all her hopes were desolate.
In vain the Tennessean set
His breast against the bayonet;
In vain Virginia charged and raged,
A tigress in her wrath uncaged,
Till all the hill was red and wet!
Above the bayonets, mixed and crossed,
Men saw a gray, gigantic ghost
Receding through the battle-cloud,
And heard across the tempset loud
The death-cry of a nation lost!
The brave went down! Without disgrace
They leaped to Ruin's red embrace;
They heard Fame's thunders wake,
And saw the dazzling sun-burst break
In smiles on Glory's bloody face!
They fell, who lifted up a hand
And bade the sun in heaven to stand;
They smote and fell, who set the bars
Against the progress of the stars,
And stayed the march of Motherland!
They stood, who saw the future come
On through the fight's delirium;
They smote and stood, who held the hope
Of nations on that slippery slope
Amid the cheers of Christendom.
God lives! He forged the iron will
That clutched and held that trembling hill!
God lives and reigns! He built and lent
The heights for freedom's battlement
Where floats her flag in triumph still!
Fold up the banners! Smelt the guns!
Love rules. Her gentler purpose runs.
A mighty mother turns in tears
The pages of her battle years,
Lamenting all her fallen sons!