Gettysburg
By late afternoon, on the 2nd July, 1863, after fierce hand to hand fighting, Major General John B. Hood's 3rd Division's flanking attack on Big Round Top had been successful. Meade realising the lack of troops on the Round Tops had rushed the 1st Maine to try to thwart Jackson who having let Hood bypass Sickles force in the Peach Orchard caught way out in front of the main Union lines and seize the Top (s). Sickle was outflanked and held by Laws Brigade leaving only the 1st Maine to take the brunt of the killing power of the massed Confederate infantry. Colonel Chamberlain, commanding was killed in the first volley and whatever morale the Union troops retained was soon broken. It was over in less than ten minutes, the remnants of the Federal forces streamed back to the relative safety of their main line on Cemetery Ridge.Hood sent reports of the securing of the Tops to Jackson.Thomas'Stonewall' Jackson had assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia after Robert E.Lee was wounded by a stray shell late on the afternoon of the 1st. Though not serious, General Lee had shrapnel wounds to both legs and concussion and command had passed to his deputy, Jackson.
Stuart coming back with his cavalry from wherever early on the morning of the 3rd realised he was riding into a Union rabble instead of an army raised his hat high, cheered and ordered his men to charge . For the retreating , shattered Federal forces the sight of Rebel cavalry was too much. Throwing arms, equipment and anything else that hindered they broke and ran in every direction . The Yankee High Command watched in horror as from seemingly out of nowhere the wild, whooping Confederate cavalry bore down on them before they could react. Meade, Sickles, Sykes, Sedgewick, Slocum, Warren and a host of lesser generals were prisoners inside an hour along with several thousand of the Federal Army of the Potomac. The only leading Union players to escape capture were Hancock (wounded on the 1st and already back in Washington, Howard who had kept his nerve had organised his retreating x1 Corps in good order with Pleasanton's remaining cavalry including Gregg and Kilpatrick and thereby saved half of his artillery as well. Buford whose troopers had borne the brunt on the 1st and had been on the road to Washington when the disaster began was already clear of the debacle.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Cemetery Ridge, Round Top, Colonel Chamberlain, Robert ELee, Gregg Kilpatrick, Washington Jackson, Pipe-Line Creek, Laws Brigade, Yankee Command, Army Potomac, northern virginia, round top, cemetery ridge, 1st maine, union troops, army northern virginia, army northern, federal forces, late afternoon,
Approximate Word count = 788
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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