by Diana Loski

On the afternoon of July 3, 1863, a pivotal change occurred in American history.  On a mile-wide field south of Gettysburg, at least 12,000 (and possibly many more) Confederates made a central assault on the Union line on Cemetery Ridge, against thousands of Union defenders.  In less than an hour, the attack, officially known as Longstreet’s Assault but more familiarly called Pickett’s Charge, was turned.  It marked the end of the Battle of Gettysburg.  It proved to be the beginning of the end of the war – General Lee’s army was never the same.

Here, in their own words, are the memories of some of those who participated in or witnessed this epic struggle:

“The trouble is not in going there.  I went there with my brigade yesterday…The trouble is to stay there after you get there, for the whole Yankee army is there in a bunch.” – Brigadier General A.R. Wright, on the opinion of whether the charge would succeed ¹

“The smoke soon darkened the Run, and the scene produced was similar to a gigantic thunder-storm, the screeching of shot and shell producing the sound of whistling blast of winds.  Man seldom ever sees or hears the like of this but once in a lifetime: and those that saw and heard this infernal crash and witnessed the havoc made by the shrieking, howling missiles of death as they plowed the earth and tore the trees will never forget it.” – Lt. John Lewis, 9th Virginia Infantry, on the preceding cannonade²

“While we lay on the ground – every man expecting to be killed – General Hays was riding his horse in several directions, watching every move.  While he stood close by me, a man did not like his position, so he thought to better it by running to a rock near by [sic ] .  So up he starts, and ran as hard as he could.  But the general yelled out, ‘lay still you damned fool, you will get killed.’ [This] drove him back for fear of his being killed.  By lying flat on the ground while Gen. Hays sat up straight on his horse, this cured my fears in a great measure.” – Sgt. Isaac Barnes, 125 th New York Infantry ³  

“[With] one withering fire the small body of Confederates are swept off their feet, Gen’l Armistead receiving three bullets at the first fire, Col. Martin, this writer and numbers of others having fallen, and the Federals, after a short hand to hand conflict soon surrounded and captured the few not yet desperately wounded.” – Sgt. Robert Tyler Jones, 53rd Virginia Regiment ⁴

“Above the turmoil of the battle we could hear curses, shouts, shrieks, and could see hats, guns, legs, arms, and mutilated carcasses hurled out into the less murky atmosphere.  It was a fearful, ghastly sight to see men slaughtered so.” – Lt. Col. Franklin Sawyer, 8th Ohio Infantry ⁵

“Our men were falling in every direction but we managed to struggle on with a tolerably good line…Our men kept up a weak fire through the plank fence [ the Emmitsburg Road ].  The enemy’s fire slackened and we climbed the fence and attempted to advance.  They rushed out from their works to meet us, and we were then fired on by a flanking party on our left who closed in upon us and compelled us to surrender.” – Lt. Henry Moore, 38th North Carolina Regiment ⁶

“There was a wounded rebel laying [sic] across that wall with his head towards us.  He asked me if I wouldn’t pull him down and I caught him under the shoulders and pulled him on to level ground.” – Lt. William Wheeler, 13th New York Battery ⁷

“In less time than I can recount it, they were throwing away their arms and appealing most piteously for mercy.” – Brigadier General Alexander Hays ⁸

“I can’t give [an] exact number killed and wounded…We went down not in a straight line, but we fought down to the wall, saw other members of the regiment down at the wall, plenty of them.  I saw a good many of the dead of the regiment piled up at the wall.  They were piled up close inside the wall.” – Capt. Robert McBride, 71st Pennsylvania Infantry ⁹

“Here a headless trunk, there a severed limb; in all the grotesque positions that unbearable pain and intense suffering contorts the human form, they lay.  Upon the faces of some death had frozen a smile; some showed the trembling shadow of fear, while upon others was indelibly set the grim stamp of determination.” – Sgt. Thomas Marbaker, 11th New Jersey, on seeing the field after the battle ¹⁰

“May God spare me from ever witnessing another such scene.  I will never again go over a battle-field from mere curiosity, before the dead are buried.” – Private Edmund R. Brown, 27th Indiana, after witnessing the field of Pickett’s Charge ¹¹