Anderson's assault
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| Hancock & Humphreys vs. Anderson | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Battle of Gettysburg | |||||||
 Anderson's assault on Cemetery Ridge at about 6 p. m.[citation needed] (Mahone's and Posey's brigades not shown) followed McLaws' Assault south of Trostle lane. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 USA (Union) |
 CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Richard H. Anderson |
II Corps: Winfield Scott Hancock III Corps, 2nd Div. (Humphreys) | ||||||
Anderson's assault was a Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day, military engagement after Hood's Assault and McLaws' Assault in which a Third Corps Confederate division of the Army of Northern Virginia's initiated a 3rd attack on the Army of the Potomac eastward across the Emmitsburg Road over farmland toward Cemetery Ridge.
Initial positions
After a long march from Seminary Ridge,[citation needed] Anderson's division was positioned with 5 brigades along Seminary Ridge.
The Army of the Potomac was northward from "The Peach Orchard Salient" ("angle of the Peach Orchard") on the Emmitsburg Road line and had a "relatively weak"[verification needed] position on Cemetery Ridge as reinforcements had been sent to defend against the earlier assaults to the south and the subsequent Culp's Hill battle.[2]: 346 [3]: 318 Near the end of McLaws' Assault, Lt. Col. Freeman McGilvery's artillery had retreated to the south end of Cemetery Ridge.[specify]
Engagement
At about 6 p.m., the brigade of Brig. Gen. Cadmus M. Wilcox advanced and was followed by Perry's Brigade (commanded by Col. David Lang) and those of Brigadier Generals Ambrose R. Wright, Carnot Posey, and William Mahone.[4] The brigades of Wilcox and Lang drove the front and right flank of Humphreys Union forces from the Emmitsburg Road line: "Twenty times did I [bring] my men to a halt and face about ... forcing the men to it" (Humphreys to his wife).[2]: 307 [3]: 368 Except for Wright's brigade at the saddle area near Stevens Run, the Confederate commanders paused momentarily to reorganize at Plum Run (Rock Creek) between the Codori Farm on the north and the Trostle Farm (south).[2]: 318 [3]: 404
1 MN v. Wilcox' brigade
To engage Wilcox' brigade nearing the base of Cemetery Ridge toward a gap in the Union line, II Corps commander Winfield Scott Hancock ordered the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry guarding Thomas's U.S. Battery: "Advance, Colonel [Colvill], and take those colors!" The 262 Minnesotans charged with fixed bayonets toward Plum Run, incurring 215 casualties (including 40 KIA)[5] while, with the support of Willard's brigade on their left, checking the advance of Wilcox's brigade, which withdrew.[6]
Attacking during McLaws' Assault south of Trostle lane after 6 p.m., Barksdale's brigade advanced on Humphreys' division for which Birney ordered a "change of front".[7] Barksdale's Confederate brigade of McLaws' Assault was subsequently driven back[when?] to the Emmitsburg Road by Willard's II Corps brigade--both Barksdale and Willard were killed.
Wright's brigade
On the north, Wright's Confederate brigade defeated 2 regiments on the Emmitsburg Road, captured the guns of 2 batteries, and advanced toward a gap in the Union line south of the Copse of Trees (at a time only occupied by Gen. Meade and some of his staff.) Wright's after-action report claimed his division reached the Cemetery Ridge crest and beyond--seeing the Union troops on the Baltimore Pike--and his brigade was attacked in the flank[which?] and repulsed by Union reinforcements (Stannard's Vermont brigade).[2]: 323 [8][6] Brigades which could have reinforced Wright were Posey's, which made slow progress and never crossed the Emmitsburg Road (despite protestations from Wright) and Mahone's which never moved at all[verification needed] after Anderson ordered him to advance.[2]: 323 [3]: 387
Aftermath
The Confederate forces retreated back to Seminary Ridge, while some troops and batteries of McLaws Assault remained at The Peach Orchard to the south. The larger Pickett's charge of several divisions on Cemetery Ridge during the Battle of Gettysburg, Third Day, was also repulsed and led to the retreat from Gettysburg.
References
- ^ Swain, Craig (February 3, 2009). "13th Vermont Volunteer Infantry" (HMdb.org webpage, marker 16385). Retrieved 2011-11-15.
- ^ a b c d e Sears, Stephen W. (2003). Gettysburg. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-86761-4. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ a b c d Pfanz, Harry W (1987). Gettysburg – The Second Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-1749-X.
- ^ Pfanz, Second Day, pp. 351-63.[specify]
- ^ Busey, John W.; Martin, David G. (2005-4th ed.) [original year tbd]. Regimental Strengths and Losses at Gettysburg. Hightstown, New Jersey. p. 129. ISBN 0-944413-67-6.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=(help); Text "publisher-Longstreet House" ignored (help) - ^ a b Eicher, David J. (2001). The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. Simon & Schuster. p. 536. ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
- ^ Birney, David B. (August 7, 1863). Reports of Maj. Gen. David B. Birney, U. S. Army, Commanding First Division of, and Third Army Corps (CivilWarHome.com transcription) (Report). Retrieved 2011-08-03.
- ^ Pfanz, Second Day, pp. 387-417.[specify]