All language subtitles for The.Ultimate.Civil.War.Series.S01E04.The.Turning.Points.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track4_[eng]

LINCOLN: I have been shown, in
the files of the war

department a statement of the
Adjutent-General of

Massachussetts, that you are
the mother of five sons who

have died gloriously on the
field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless
must be any words of mine

which should attempt to beguile
you from the greif

of a loss so overhwelming.

But I cannot refrain from
tendering to you the

consolation that may be found
in the thanks of the republic

they died to save.

I pray that our heavenly
father may assuage the anguish

of your berievement and leave
you only the cherished memory

of the loved and lost and the
solemn pride that must be

yours to have laid so costly a
sacrifice

on the alter of freedom.

NARRATOR: In May of 1863 the
two principal armies followed

by the northern press, the
eastern army under General

Hooker and the western army
under General Grant were

positioning themselves to
score

two great Union victories.

For Hooker, that hope turned
to utter defeat.

The loss of Jackson was a
terrible blow for the south

and certainly and most
directly,

for the field operations of
the Army of Northern Virginia.

No officer at the time could
honestly and effectively

evaluate the emotions of the
general staff down to the men

in the ranks at the loss of
their world famous battle

commander, but within the next
six weeks,

the plan of march would
quickly force the men in the

Army of Northern Virginia to
finish their lamentations

and move onward.

Lee would be forced to
restructure his army on the

eve of the greatest eastern
campaign of the war,

the Confederate invasion of
Pennsylvania and momentous

Battle of Gettysburg.

Another result of the Battle
of Chancellorsville was the

resulting lack of confidence
many in the northern

leadership, the press, and men
in the army had with Hooker.

He seemed to have been seized
with fear after he thought

he had Lee trapped.

The veteran units of both
armies buried their dead,

wished their wounded the best,
and waited for their next

opportunity to strike at their
foes,

but for different reasons.

The Army of the Northern
Virginia was at its highest

peak of confidence it had had
since its creation.

Both the defensive victory at
Fredericksburg and the

offensive victory at
Chancellorsville had proven

that no matter what
circumstances it may be thrown

into, Lee's men felt they
could take on and defeat any

general that Lincoln placed in
command to come after them.

Once again the Rappahannock
separated the armies,

but in June the distances
apart were somewhat farther

than in the winter.

Most of Lee's men had been
concentrated around Culpepper

where Stuart's cavalry
screened the army by picketing

the various fords within eye
sight of Yankee patrols.

Union General Hooker was
looking to find ways to

initiate a redemption for
himself,

and safely strike at Lee.

This was to be inaugurated by
the newly organized

Cavalry Corps of the Army of the
Potomac

under General Alfred Pleasonton.

This opportunity happened on
June 9,

1863 with the frenzied Battle
of Brandy Station.

Pleasonton was ordered to hit
Stuart and although an

unrealistic objective, he was
to perhaps cripple or run off

Stuart's force, opening a
clearer road in the upcoming

series of marches against Lee;
but at the very least the

Federal troopers would show
what they were made of after

two years of getting bullied
and bested by Stuart's

troopers, the toast of Lee's
army.

The Federal strike force of
11,000 men,

with some infantry supports,

shoved many of the Stuarts
brigades around in the early

portions of the fighting.

The Union cavalry came very
close to pushing right up on

the Confederate cavalier himself

and taking him prisoner.

Stuart was clearly caught off
guard by the branch of service

that the Army of Northern
Virginia may have often chuckled

over in the past, the Federal
cavalry.

Brandy Station changed that
perception.

All types of cavalry fighting
took place around the former

Confederate headquarters,
stables,

and parade fields.

Regiments charged regiments
and fought saber to saber,

some units threw themselves at
the enemy delivering salvos of

pistol rounds, and at various
instances cavalry dismounted

and used their carbines to
slow an opposing force down.

Stuarts veterans did manage to
stabilize the damage and the

Federals pulled off.

Regardless of who claimed
victory,

the Federal troopers
demonstrated their equality

to Stuart's best men.

For the idolized Stuart, he
was heavily criticized for his

actions and almost having his
corps broken up and dispersed.

It was known to many that
Stuart was caught unprepared

and was more concerned with
staging shows than keeping

a real eye on Hooker's army.

This lingering effect would
leave a stain on Stuart's

image and he would attempt to
regain some glory in the

movements into the north.

This attempt would have a
subtle but ultimately far

reaching consequence for the
tactical decisions made in

operations soon to come in
Maryland and Pennsylvania.

From this ominous start of the
Gettyburg campaign,

Lee worked on getting his
miltary plans approved in

detail in Richmond with
President Davis and the myriad

military logistics that
needed to be done

in absolute secrecy.

Davis approved and because
this was a more bold move than

the impulsive 1862 invasion,
Lee wanted more men and to

take as many men as could be
afforded to leave posts around

Richmond, Petersburg, and
coastal Carolina.

Lee would assemble over 70,000
men and would have the biggest

army he would ever have at his
disposal.

But, this army had new
commanders,

some new units, and marched
northward in a state

of supreme confidence.

The Army of Northern Virginia
was well armed,

well uniformed, and rather
well rested on the eve of this

march, unlike the previous
Maryland campaign.

The Army of the Potomac under
Hooker did not realize it at

the time but they quickly lost
several days on Lee's army

marching northward, and once
again Hooker seemed to prove

he was ineffective at coping
with Lee's genius.

With the leadership at
Washington not believing in

Hooker and the ranks and file
not trusting him,

the relieving of Hooker was
assured.

In a letter dispatched to
Hooker, Halleck wrote:

HALLECK: Your application to be
relieved

from your present command is
received.

As you were appointed to this
command by the President,

I have no power to relieve
you.

Your dispatch has been duly
referred for Executive action.

NARRATOR: But, Lincoln needed
a proven leader in command of

the army about to fight its
first battle

on Pennsylvanian soil.

The choices were various and
by this point in the career of

the Army of the Potomac, there
were issues of seniority,

competence, and who the men
would follow.

Ultimately the choice would
become Major General George

Meade, commander of the 5th
Corps.

Meade was an old regular
officer with a solid

reputation as a field leader
on the division

and corps command.

More than that, he was a
Pennsylvanian and was

generally respected by his
fellow officers.

General Meade, at his
headquarters just outside

Frederick, was awakened from
his well deserved sleep on

June 28th, and was notified of
his new post.

He wrote in a letter to his
wife:

MEADE: At 3 A.M. I was aroused
from my sleep

by an officer from Washington
entering my tent,

saying he had to give me
trouble.

At first I thought it was to
either relieve or arrest me...

he then handed me a
communication to read;

which I found was an order
relieving Hooker of command

and assigning me to it.

NARRATOR: Meade was officially
placed in command of the Army of

the Potomac on June 28th, what
would be three days before

the Battle of Gettysburg.

By the 30th, the two armies
had bumped into each other in

Pennsylvania, mostly along the
border between Emmitsburg,

Maryland, and the Pennsylvania
towns of Fairfield

and Gettysburg.

It was the Union cavalry that
probed Lee's infantry,

and because Stuart was still
away from Lee and not

screening the infantry,
Pleasonton's troopers were

doing what Stuart should have
done for Lee.

General John Buford could have
let the Confederates enter

the town, as some of Ewell's
men had already done a few

days before, and just watched
from the flanks.

The veteran Indian fighter
decided to occupy and picket

the western approaches to town
and in the morning,

initiate a fight with whatever
was thrown his way.

The crack of carbine in the
early morning hours

of July 1st, 1863 was delivered
by Lt. Marcellus Jones,

an officer of the picket along
the Chambersburg Pike

a few miles west of town.

That shot was delivered into
Confederate General Heth's

Division moving in strength up
the road,

obviously attempting to bully
General Buford's men

out of the way.

Many men in Lee's army had no
idea that the Army of the

Potomac had caught up to them
and thought that the blue

coated uniforms around
Gettysburg would have belonged

to militia and home guard
units.

Heth's Division, led by
General Archer's Alabama and

Tennessee Brigade, along with
General Joseph Davis'

Mississippi and North Carolina
Brigade,

slowly pushed Buford's
dismounted cavalry back.

During this fight, the lead
elements of the infantry of

the Army of the Potomac under
General John Reynolds,

moved up the several miles
from their advance position

between Emmitsburg and
Gettysburg.

The infantry moved pass the
Lutheran Theological Seminary

and relieved the Union
troopers not too soon before

they may have been driven off.

The leading elements belonged
to General Cutler's Brigade of

Pennsylvania and New York
troops and the vaunted and

well known unit of westerners
often referred to as either

the "Iron Brigade" or "Black
Hat Brigade,

the later in reference to their
distinctive black army hats.

The first infantry volley of
the battle was appropriately

shot by the 56th Pennsylvania
on a place just beyond

an unfinished railroad cut.

The Federals along the cut
repulsed Davis and the Iron

Brigade slammed into Archer's
Brigade in the woods.

This close in fighting would
also see the death of the man

who was suggested to take
command of the Army of the

Potomac, Major General John F.
Reynolds,

commander of the 1st Corps and
the army's left wing.

The 11th Corps held as long as
the 1st Corps did but they

were being pressed hard and on
the flanks,

but despite that would often
times charge

into the Confederates.

One soldier, Sidney J.
Richardson of the 21st

Georgia Infantry wrote home of
his respect

for the men on the 11th Corps
front:

RICHARDSON: ...one yankee
regiment charged us,

but we all fell down behind a
fence,

and received the charge first
before they got to us...

I think they fight harder in
their own country then they do

in Virginia, I'd rather to
fight them in Virginia than

here, for we had to leave a
great many of our wounded in

the hands of the Yankees.

NARRATOR: The end was slowly
coming for the Federals,

where many companies and
regiments

were just ceasing to exist.

The 24th Michigan Infantry was
the cornerstone of the defense

in McPherson's Woods and their
service exemplifies the

courage of the Federal
defenders.

One soldier, Corporal Orson B.
Curtis wrote of one of several

defenses his regiments put up
on July 1:

CURTIS: A fifth line of battle
where he [Colonel Morrow]

planted the colors.

On this new line, while waving
his sword over his head to

rally the men, Captain
O'Donnell was instantly

killed, and Lt. Grace received
two wounds,

both of which were mortal.

Gradually contesting every
foot of ground,

step by step, frequently
almost surrounded,

through and out the woods and
over the open field,

what was now left of the 24th
had been forced back to the

friendly rail fence barricade
just west of the seminary.

NARRATOR: In the end the 24th
Michigan sustained 399 losses

of 496 men engaged and would
retreat from the Seminary with

only 26 men around the
colors.

The line at the Seminary was
flanked on the left by portions

of General McGowan's matchless
South Carolina Brigade

and about the same time of day
Early's Division

of Ewell's Corps flanked the
right of the 11th Corps.

The stream of men started to
move back through Gettysburg.

Regiments on the field that
could still form a line often

did not want to quit the
action.

One Federal surgeon, James
Fulton of the 143rd

Pennsylvania Infantry, wrote
of an incident where he

encountered some members of
the 11th Corps

about this time of retreat:

FULTON: I tried to get these
poor fellows,

11th Corps men, to go on and
make their escape to our

lines, they being on the
retreat.

But I could not get them to
move,

and many were taken prisoners
that night who could easily

have made their escape.

They had, however, done good
work;

for had the 11th Corps not
come up and supported the

right of the 1st Corps in that
first day's fight,

when General Gordon was trying
to get around our right flank,

the left being slowly turned
all day towards the right...

but in helping us the 11th Corps
suffered severely.

NARRATOR: The Federal soldiers
soon found themselves moving

rearward, some units in order
and some squads of men and

individuals making themselves
generals

and issuing their own commands.

When they emerged from the
southern end of town they

found General Hancock,
commander of the 2nd Corps,

who was sent ahead to assume
command of the defense of the

heights beyond the town and
organize the troops

coming upon the field.

Also there, and somewhat
displeased that Hancock

commanded the field, was
Howard,

who assisted in placing troops
on the heights of Cemetery

Hill, Culp's Hill, and
Cemetery Ridge.

It was organized chaos but the
calmness of Hancock

reassured the men.

Meade was moving with the
trailing elements of the army

and would arrive on the field
later that evening.

The first day of fighting
ended with a Confederate

victory, but the bloodletting
was unimagineable.

The 1st and 11th Corps took
approximately 10,000

collective casualties in killed,
wounded, and missing.

A great many of the
Confederate regiments fought

on July 2 and July 3 so
determining their exact

casualties on the day is
difficult,

but some units were torn to
shreds.

The 26th North Carolina lost
almost 600 men in their fight

against the Iron Brigade.

Whereas officers in the Army
of the Potomac would show

quick and prompt boldness in
their command and control,

their enemies were for the
first time... timid.

Lee was on the field the night
of July 1 with most of his army.

Ewell and Hill bore the brunt
of the first day's fighting,

with Hill's men taking the
lion's share of the casualties.

Longstreet's Corps was mostly
stacked up between

Chambersburg and Gettysburg,
but would be marching through

the early hours of July 2 to get
on the field ready for action.

The men of both armies knew
the next day would bring on

the main bout of fighting.

The fighting on July 2 would
demonstrate just how good

these two armies were at
fighting and methodically

killing each other.

For the civilians who remained
in Gettysburg,

their homes were becoming
hospitals and there were dead

men and horses in the streets
and yards.

But some tried to just go on
and help the wounded

when possible.

Most of the first part of the
day was spent in skirmishing

and probing each others lines.

Lee wanted to attack with his
whole force and that depended

on Longstreet's men coming up
the pike.

Due to some errors in marching
and unforgivable delays,

Longstreet's Corps, designed
to launch the attack,

was delayed.

This delay allowed the Army of
the Potomac to get more troops

into line and fix its positions.

For the Army of Northern
Virginia and General Lee,

the plan was clear - hit both
the flanks with simultaneous

vigor if possible.

Ewell would hit the heights of
Culp's Hill and Cemetery

Hill, the right flank of Meade's
army and Longstreet

would slam into the left flank
by the Round Tops.

A.P. Hill's Corps, still
smarting from its wounds

the day before would hold the
center.

As remembered by the civilians
of Gettysburg,

4pm and the crash of artillery
signaled the start

of the attack.

Longstreet's assault would
move right to left with a

front of nearly a mile.

One of the leading units in
those attacks was the famous

Texas Brigade in General
Hood's Division.

This brigade was renown for
its ferocity in the attack,

earned at places like Gaines
Mill,

2nd Manassas, and the
cornfield at Sharpsburg,

and now in front of them was
the 3rd Corps of the Army of

the Potomac occupying strong
positions at the Devil's Den

and behind them, Little Round
Top and Big Round Top.

Once the Texas Brigade was
ordered to advance,

they eagerly stepped off into
the fight.

Soldier J.B. Polley of the 4th
Texas wrote of that moment:

POLLEY: We moved quietly forward
down the steep decline,

gaining impetus as we reached
the more level ground below.

The enemy had already opened
fire on us,

but we did not stop to return
it,

"Forward, Double Quick!"

rang out, and then Texas
turned loose.

Across the valley and over the
little stream that ran out

through it, they swept, every
man for himself.

The first man down was my
right file man,

William Langley, a noble,
brave boy with a minie ball

straight through his brain.

I caught him as he fell
against me,

and laid him down, dead.

NARRATOR: This attack by
Hood's men smashed into the

3rd Corps, the fighting along
the heights getting close and

much apart from the
traditional linear tactics

of the time.

Units moved around boulders
and trees and the fighting

became much like Indian
fighting that many of the

Texans were familiar with.

The defenders of the 3rd Corps
could not hold their left

flank around those heights and
a call for reinforcements

was sent out.

The 5th Corps would be on the
way but Sickles men would have

to sell out to by that time.

The action around the Texans
at Devils Den and the

Wheatfield moved quickly as
other troops attacked past the

Rose Farm and Peach Orchard.

Sickles men were doing exactly
what the 1st Corps did the day

before, trading lives for
time.

The artillery of the Army of
the Potomac supported the

infantry with reckless
abandon.

This combat was no better
described than by a staff

officer surveying the
fighting.

Lt. Adolfo Cavada, a
Pennsylvanian of Cuban origins,

wrote of the Confederate
attacks

and his own troops heroic
defense:

CAVADA: A copious shower of
shell and

canister from the enemy was
followed up by a diabolical

cheer and yell, and "here they
come" rang along our line.

At this moment my horse was
shot in the leg

and pranced around frantically.

Our batteries opened , our
troops rose to their feet,

the crash of artillery and the
tearing rattle of our musketry

was staggering and added to
the noise of our side.

The advancing roar and cheer
of the enemies masses,

coming on like devils
incarnate.

NARRATOR: These attacks at the
Peach Orchard were led by

General William Barksdale's
Brigade of Mississippians,

whose men pierced the Federal
center there.

The Mississippians were
tornadoes wrecking the Federal

lines along the Emmitsburg
Road.

The combat was close, too,

ranges usually less than
50 yards.

Sickles himself was removed from
the field,

seriously wounded, but his
troops retreated and made

stand after stand, fighting
and pulling back.

It was brilliant fighting on
both sides

and the casualties mounted.

The question was, how long
could the Confederates keep on

with the same intensity on
that hot, July day?

When Colonel Strong Vincent's
Brigade and other troops

rushed to the Round Tops, the
Texas Brigade and the Alabama

troops astride them could make
little headway.

General Hood was down wounded,
too,

which may have slowed the
coordination

of taking the heights.

Counterattacks coming across
the northern face of the

Little Round Top showed that
there was seemingly endless

supports arriving behind Union
lines,

but there was no way to know
where from and how many.

Once again, valuable
intelligence was lacking

because Stuart was not on the
field.

Portions of Hill's Corps,
which were to go in after

Longstreet's men, started to
make headway on the ground in

front of Cemetery Ridge, but
coordination in the chain of

command faltered, and the
attack slowed to a halt.

Federal troops, often directed
by General Hancock himself,

counterattacked, most notably
the 1st Minnesota Infantry,

which charged into a
Confederate brigade and lost

over 80% of its men.

Each unit fought like their
nation's life depended on it,

and they took the steam out of
the attack.

The action would shift to
Culp's Hill where the fighting

would be even closer and
desperate amongst the

fortified positions that the
12th Corps built there since

the early morning hours.

But, unlike the fighting south
of town,

this fight would be of a much
smaller scale

in a confined space.

The 7th Indiana Infantry was
the first unit posted on

Culp's Hill, and that by
Hancock's direct order the

night of July 1, and then
later that night

more troops joined them.

Paul Truitt, a sergeant in
Company K,

7th Indiana Infantry wrote of
the defense there:

TRUITT: At 3 O'Clock in the
morning the 12th Corps came

and joined us on our right.

Greene's Brigade of the 12th
Corps,

composed of New York troops,
joined us.

We fought on that line the
second and third days.

The rebels charged on this
line of troops repeatedly,

and at times they came over
the breastworks,

but our men stayed right there
and fought the rebels

to a finish.

We had a better location than
they and were better protected.

We had a cross fire on the
rebels and we could help our

New York boys stand the
johnnies off.

Those New York troops did as
hard fighting as I ever saw

men do... I walked over to
Culp's Hill to see what we

and the New York boys did to
the johnnies.

The ground was literally
covered with dead men.

They were piled up on each
other four and five deep;

one couldn't walk without
stepping on the dead bodies.

The trees in front were shot
down by our minie balls.

NARRATOR: It was fighting that
would ultimately repeat itself

on July 3.

But the fighting shifted on
the night of July 2

to east Cemetery Hill.

There the Louisiana Brigade of
General Harry Hays,

the "Tigers" as they were
called,

charged upon the artillery
atop the hill,

fought hand to hand and in the
darkness were counterattacked

by elements of the 2nd Corps.

While that was being enacted,
Colonel Isaac Avery,

commanding the North Carolina
Brigade on right of the

Tigers, was stricken and
mortally wounded.

He found his last moments
occupied by having an aide

assist him in scribbling a
note,

"tell father I died with my
face to the enemy."

That sad affair ended with the
repulse of the night attack

and nothing more would occur
until the climatic events

of July 3.

The Confederates hammered both
flanks of the Army of the

Potomac, and with equal
resolve the blue coats held

the line, inflicting ghastly
casualties

upon Lee's veterans.

Meade held a council of war
late the night of July 2 and

the Corps commanders of the
Army of the Potomac agreed to

hold the line rather than pull
out

under the cover of darkness.

Meade let it be known that he
thought Lee tried both flanks

and failed and thought that if
there were another attack in

the morning it would directed
at the center,

thought to be possibly the
weakest position of the

Army of the Potomac.

For Lee, he turned to
Longstreet,

his "War Horse" and for the
leadership to orchestrate and

attack Meade's center.

At about 1pm, Longstreet had
all his forces organized for a

bold strike against the
center.

His forces consisted of
Pickett's Division,

fresh and ready to go,
Pettigrew's Divison - formerly

Heth's who was recovering from
his wound of July 1,

whose troops were completely
battered,

and then a supporting force of
two North Carolina Brigades

commanded by General Isaac
Trimble,

who finally found a command.

All told the force numbered
approximately 12,000 men.

The signal guns may have been
fired around 1pm,

but that is often debated as
everyone seemed to record a

slightly different time, but
sometime between 1pm and 2pm

the attack commenced.

The artilleryman who was
tasked with coordinating the

bombardment prior to the
attack was E.P. Alexander,

a sturdy and true
West Pointer,

and a genius of artillery
tactics.

Alexander wrote of the
beginning of the most famous

attack of the war:

ALEXANDER: So I wrote another
note to Pickett and sent it

at 1:35 - ten minutes after the
first note.

"For God's sake come quick.
The 18 guns are gone.

Come quick or I cannot support
you."

I sent two written and one
verbal message to that effect,

for I was afraid of their
losing time in their little

preliminaries, and I wanted to
get them inspired to disregard

everything but getting
there... on getting the first

one, Pickett rode to
Longstreet,

who was near by and showed it.

Longstreet read it and made no
comment,

Pickett said, "General, shall
I advance?"

...Picket paused a few seconds
and saluted,

and said, "I am going to move
forward, sir."

NARRATOR: Longstreet was
actually frozen with

disapproval, as he believed
the attack would fail and did

respectfully suggest that to
Lee;

but at this moment his order
was not needed.

Every officer, especially the
gallant Pickett,

knew what needed to be done.

Pickett rode to his men and got
the brigades moving forward.

Garnett and Kemper would be in
front,

with Armistead in support.

Everyone in the command staff
knew he was attacking his old

pre-war army friend, Hancock.

Armistead told his men to
remember their homes,

families, and Virginia.

Pickett was on the right flank
of the attack and Pettigrew on

the left with Trimble in
support.

They were ordered to a
converging point,

or a concentration point on
the Federal lines,

near a copse of trees adjacent
to an abrupt angle

in a nearby stonewall.

That is where they would
hopefully pierce the lines of

the Army of the Potomac.

It was a wide open field and
almost a mile across.

The artillery of both sides
pounded each other

for quite some time.

In Pickett's Division alone,
hundreds of men were knocked

out of the ranks before they
even cleared their own lines.

The battle lines were a miles
across but Pettigrew and

Pickett had to concentrate and
connect their men and that

took place just before the
Emmitsburg Road.

Before that time, dozens of
Federal batteries

pounded the attackers.

When the troops reached the
road they found themselves in

musket range of the infantry
behind slight fortifications

ahead of them.

That last 200 yards to Federal
lines was one that none of

those Confederates wanted to
cross, but cross they did.

Some of them raided themselves
high over the turnpike fence

only to be cut down, and the
remnants of Garnett's Brigade

surged towards to the "angle"
near the Copse of Trees.

Kemper bogged down behind the
Codori Farmyards

just south of the Angle.

His men were getting flanked
by General Stannard's

9-months Vermont Brigade.

Armistead rushed his men up to
the road and tried to get his

men along to help Garnett.

At some point in the fight
thereafter,

the ailing general, who was
mounted,

moved up close to the Angle
and a blast of canister

obliterated the Virginian.

His horse trotted back towards
Armistead's men.

Not too far from this, Kemper
was also shot down,

but not before some of his men
had briefly pierced the

Federal lines south of the
Copse of Trees.

Those men, as remembered by
survivors of the battle,

raised the rebel yell and took
several steps forward when

Captain Andrew Cowan's New
York Battery unleashed 6

cannons of double cannister at
about 30-40 feet.

The Virginians vanished into a
pinkish-red mist.

That left Armistead to
accomplish the objective.

Not knowing that the attack
was crumbling,

Armistead came up towards the
Angle with a good number of

his men and some remnants of
Garnett's Brigade.

With about 200-300 men he was
conspicuous with his hat atop

his sword, he called on the
men to follow him,

and reminded them that "home
was just over those hills."

Some of Pickett's men also got
a prize for a good shot as

General Hancock was shot from
his horse,

and like Kemper, seriously
wounded.

Men were falling fast on both
sides.

The bravest of Pickett's men
kept moving and over the

stone wall with Armistead.

This surge broke the Federal
lines,

with Virginians being joined
by some elements of the right

flank of Pettigrew's force,
Tennessee troops

from Archer's Brigade.

The spot was in front of
Lt. Alonzo Cushing's

United States Artillery battery.

Cushing had already fallen,
killed by several shots,

one of which went through his
mouth as he was giving his

last command.

It was upon Cushing's
artillery that Armistead

poised and directed his men.

It was there that he was shot
down, mortally wounded.

By this point, the attack had
completely fallen apart.

Most regiments were busted up
into squads or clusters of men

protecting their colors,
or helping their wounded.

Trimble was shot down in these
final moments,

just as there was a universal
falling back

of all the troops.

This retreat was nothing more
than these clusters of men

planning what would be better -

surrender or risk death on the
retreat.

Pickett's survivors, those
that were not killed,

wounded, or captured, moved
past General Lee

near the Confederate lines.

The commanding general told
them it was his fault and they

had done their work nobly.

At first Lee tried to react
with due propriety as the

military situation would call
for.

Lee told Pickett that he
should reform his Division to

which Pickett reminded Lee
that it no longer existed.

He was not far from the truth.

There would only be several
hundred men that would reform

and they did not stop
retreating until the got a few

miles from the battlefield.

From the lines of the Army of
the Potomac came a chant of

"Fredericksburg" from some of
those regiments in the 2nd

Corps that got wrecked in a
similar fashion attacking the

Stone wall there.

The combined casualties of
both sides were approximately

51,000 men, or of the
approximately 160,000 men

that entered the battle,
a brutal number to comprehend.

But, the campaign was not
over,

Lee offered a defensive battle
from his own men dug in

through the 4th of July.

Some skirmishing was conducted
throughout the next day,

but Lee got his men going back
towards the Potomac.

The retreat began with moving
a 17 mile long ambulance wagon

train in motion on a far track
away from possible Federal

attacks, then through the
mountains Lee's army limped

along, often with downpours of
rain,

making the plodding through
the mud even more miserable.

Eventually Lee's men would get
to the area around

Williamsport, Maryland and
there found the Potomac

swollen and impassable.

Lee's men would be harassed by
Federal cavalry the entire

way, with Kilpatrick nipping
on his army's heels all the

while, The feelings of many of
the army may have been summed

up by Colonel David Aiken of
the 7th

South Carolina Infantry.

Aiken was not completely
downcast by the defeat but

offered this explanation to
his wife. He wrote:

AIKEN: By tomorrow night our
wagons may be across,

and if the enemy does not attack
us,

I think, or rather hope, we
will take up our line of march

for Virginia soil.

This would be cheering news to
this army.

I don't think General Lee or
anyone else will ever get back

into Maryland again.

I never want to try it over
certain.

NARRATOR: By the time most of
Lee's men had gotten back into

Virginia, the news of events
happening in Mississippi had

reached the army.

Vicksburg, the strong bastion
along the Mississippi River,

had fallen.

Vicksburg was a product of
western soldiering and

campaigning where wide
sweeping movements often

culminated in a battle a
hundred miles

from a previous engagement.

The distances seem to have
been greater,

and in the early phases of the
war in the west -

controlling the river ways.

There was no doubt at the time
that Grant was the right man

for the job in the west.

His victories in 1862, Fort's
Henry and Donaldson,

and then Shiloh, launched
Grant's career and along with

some other subordinates, such
as General William T.

Sherman, would offer a tandem
stronger perhaps

than Lee and Jackson.

That cooperation was needed to
crack the "Gibraltar"

of Vicksburg that everyone all
the way up to President

Jefferson Davis knew was the
"nail-head" that kept

the two sides of the river
together.

If the city was taken, it
would surely give the entirety

of the waterway control to the
Federal army and navy.

The first actions against it
would come in December when

Sherman took his command,
split from Grant's,

and with those 32,000 men came
in from the south.

Grant with 40,000 men would
come in from the north,

or the direction of Holly
Springs,

the Federal base of
operations.

By the start of the April
campaign against Vicksburg

Grant's Army of the Tennessee
would consist

of approximately 75,000 men.

His primary opponent, General
John Pemberton,

a Pennsylvanian loyal to his
new home in the south,

commanded approximately 44,000
men of the Army of Mississippi.

General Joseph Johnston, the
senior field commander in the

campaign, attempted to
coordinate with Pemberton and

to Johnston's dismay, Pemberton
failed to accomplish anything.

With additional victories
against the forces of

Pemberton at Champions Hill
and then Big Black River on

May 16 and 17, respectively,
Grant seemed to be leading

an unstoppable force.

His men eventually bullied
Pemberton's men back into

their fortifications at
Vicksburg.

This set the stage for the
first assaults

on the defenses there.

Johnston wanted Pemberton to
save the army over the city,

but Pemberton refused and
planned to make the price of

taking the city too high for
Grant.

On May 22, elements from
Grant's army tested the

defenses of Vicksburg.

This type of attack was
exactly what the defenders

wanted, and the Confederate
defenders inflicted 3,200

casualties in a matter of a
few hours.

It convinced Grant that he
would lay on a siege

against Pemberton.

Rear-Admiral David Dixon
Porter would join in on the

investment of the city with
his gunboats,

designed for using mortars and
arching shot and shell as

Vicksburg sat atop a bluff.

The men in the ranks were not
unused to digging in and

getting dirty, but this
settled down style of military

activity would be well
remembered by the men in blue.

One soldier, Lucius Barber of
the 15th Illinois Infantry,

carefully recalled the
development of his engineering

skills on the Vicksburg lines.

It would be typical of the
vast majority of Grant's men.

He wrote:

BARBER: One day General Grant
rode along the line and told the

boys he had plenty of ammunition
and not to be afraid to use it.

This was the signal for
firing.

Some of the boys expended over
200 rounds that day.

The rebs lay in their
trenches,

whilst like mice, not daring
to show their heads.

Some evenings we would crawl
to the top of the hill near

camp and watch the gunboats
shell the city.

From the instant the shell
left the gun,

we could trace its progress
through the air.

...the terrified inhabitants
sought safety in caves from

these terrible engines of
death.

A practical engineer could so
time the fuse to explode the

shell whenever he wished.

NARRATOR: There were weeks and
weeks of skirmishing,

constant sharpshooting, and
occasional a pitched sortie

against a position just to
test its strength.

Ultimately, it would be the
continued strain on the

population, the reduced
rations of the troops,

and the knowledge that the
Union army was only getting

stronger that made the
garrison begin to wonder how

this siege could possibly end
with anything other

than a surrender.

For the 4,000 or more
residents still within the

city, they certainly would
have been under similar

thoughts but they were
civilians and did not sign up

to be shot at.

With no relief coming and the
people in the city resorting

to eating rats and horses,
Pemberton waited only until

the first days of July to
begin entertaining the thought

of meeting with "U.S. Grant" to
discuss terms for surrender.

The 4th of July was a
momentous day in American

history to both northerners
and southerners,

but on that day in 1863
General John Pemberton made a

decision that would profoundly
shake southern morale and

alter the course of the war in
the west.

Pemberton decided to surrender
Vicksburg and give it to Grant

and to the Army of the
Tennessee.

The Army of Mississippi
surrendered approximately

30,000 men and 172 artillery
pieces of all sorts,

especially dozens of siege
guns.

The news of both Gettysburg
and Vicksburg was spread

throughout the north.

Church bells in the cities
from Chicago to Boston and all

points of the Union rang out.

The eastern and western armies
had both won momentous fields

against the Confederate
armies.

It was a turning point in the
conflict,

or at least it gave the
northern leadership and

population renewed fervor to
prosecute the war.

And in the south the words
Gettysburg and Vicksburg were

uttered in sad hushed
expressions...

LINCOLN: "Four score and seven
years ago our fathers brought

forth on this continent, a new
nation,

conceived in Liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition

that all men are created
equal.

Now we are engaged in a great
civil war,

testing whether that nation,
or any nation so conceived and

so dedicated, can long endure.

We are met on a great
battle-field of that war.

We have come to dedicate a
portion of that field,

as a final resting place for
those who here gave their

lives that that nation might
live.

It is altogether fitting and
proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can
not dedicate - we can not

consecrate - we can not
hallow - this ground.

The brave men, living and
dead,

who struggled here, have
consecrated it,

far above our poor power to
add or detract.

The world will little note,
nor long remember what we say

here, but it can never forget
what they did here.

It is for us the living,
rather,

to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who

fought here have thus far so
nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here
dedicated to the great task

remaining before us - that
from these honored dead we

take increased devotion to
that cause for which they gave

the last full measure of
devotion - that we here

highly resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain -

that this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of

freedom - and that government
of the people,

by the people, for the people,

shall not perish from the
earth."