At a little before dawn on Saturday, June 27th, 1863, an English observer traveling with the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia found himself without a horse. His companion, a man named Loy, had fallen too ill that morning to ride, so the Englishman took Loy’s mount and set off through the darkness to locate the army’s generals. He rode eight miles and reached General James Longstreet at six o’clock, just as Longstreet was preparing to move. Upon hearing the Englishman’s predicament, Longstreet and his officers proved exceedingly courteous.
The general ordered an ambulance sent for Loy and at once invited the Englishman to join his headquarters mess for the duration of the campaign. It was then that Longstreet informed him of a fact he had not known: they were now within Pennsylvania, enemy territory, with Maryland being but ten miles wide at that spot. Bushwhackers lurked in the forests, the general said, shooting unwary stragglers, making it unsafe for the two Englishmen to travel alone. The Englishman took careful note of Longstreet’s appearance: a sturdily built man of resolute bearing, forty-three years old, formerly a major of infantry in the old United States Army, now commanding the First Corps.
He remained close to General Lee, who placed great weight on his counsel, and among the men he was reputed to be the finest combat officer in the army. When the topic of being on enemy ground arose, Longstreet remarked that while it might be considered just retribution to use the torch, such actions would demoralize the troops and destroy their superb discipline. Private property, he insisted, was to be strictly respected. By seven o’clock the Englishman was returning with an orderly, or courier as they were termed, to the farmhouse where he had left Loy.
Once he saw the ambulance arrangements properly settled, he rode on at a leisurely pace to rejoin Longstreet near Chambersburg, a Pennsylvania town situated twenty-two miles from Hagerstown. He accompanied Major General Lafayette McLaws’s division and noted that as soon as the men crossed into Pennsylvania, they began tearing down fences and broadening the road by some twenty yards on either side, allowing the wagons and the column to advance together. This was the sole act of damage he witnessed from the Confederates. The region was prosperous, well-tilled, and relatively densely populated compared to the southern states, yet with all livestock and horses taken by General Jubal Early’s command, all farmwork had now ceased entirely.
While passing through Greencastle, every house stood shuttered, the residents in their best clothes at their doorways, observing the soldiers with marked hostility. The Englishman witnessed no stragglers entering homes, nor any townspeople bothered or insulted. Sentinels were posted at the doors of many finer homes to stop any officer or soldier from entering on any grounds. He reached Chambersburg at six in the evening.
It was a town of considerable size and standing. Every building was closed, but the citizens were on the streets or at their upper windows, glowering in confused resentment at the Confederate soldiers marching briskly past to the strains of Dixie. The women, many of them attractive and finely clothed, were especially bitter and unpleasant in their comments. He overheard one remark, “Look at Pharaoh’s army going to the Red Sea.
” Others pointed and mocked Hood’s ragged men who were marching by at that moment. This division, famed for its martial prowess, was made up of Texans, Alabamians, and Arkansans, and they were indeed a peculiar-looking group. They bore the least baggage of any unit. Many possessed only an old scrap of carpet or a rug as kit.
Numerous men had lost their shoes to the mud. All were tattered and soiled, yet brimming with high spirits and faith in themselves and in their commander, General John Bell Hood. They responded to the many jeers from the ladies of Chambersburg with good-natured shouts and laughter. One woman had decorated her substantial bosom with a large Yankee flag and stood in her doorway, her face showing the utmost disdain for the barefooted rebels.
Several companies passed her without comment. Eventually a Texan solemnly observed, “Take care, madam, for Hood’s boys are mighty fine at storming breastworks when the Yankee colors is on them. ” Following this comment, the patriotic lady made a hasty retreat. Guards were stationed at all the important houses, and the town was emptied of everyone except soldiers marching through or stationed there.
Some regiments continued straight through the town and made camp on the Carlisle Road. Others turned off to the right and took position on the Gettysburg Turnpike. The Englishman found Generals Lee and Longstreet camped on that latter road three-quarters of a mile from Chambersburg. Longstreet and his staff immediately welcomed him into their mess.
He was made known to Major Fairfax, Major Latrobe, and Captain Rogers of Longstreet’s personal staff, as well as to Major Moses, the chief commissary, with whom he was to share a tent. Moses, he noted, was the most cheerful, entertaining, and sharp-witted son of Israel he had ever had the pleasure to encounter. The remaining officers on Longstreet’s headquarters staff were Colonel Sorrel, Lieutenant Colonel Manning the ordnance officer, Major Walton, Captain Gorey, and Major Clark—all capital fellows and most generous hosts. Loy was to be quartered with three medical officers from the headquarters staff, named Cullen, Barksdale, and Ingraham, who constituted a merry trio and maintained a far more comfortable establishment than their generals did.
Major Moses informed the Englishman that his instructions were to force open the shops in Chambersburg and take all supplies required by the army in a formal, official way, providing payment in Confederate currency against a signed receipt. The merchants had no doubt removed their most valuable stock as the Confederates approached, and a great deal had also been taken earlier by Early, who had come through almost a week before. Yet Moses was quite delighted at having already found a considerable store of fine felt hats concealed in a cellar, which he appropriated immediately. The Englishman was given the figures of the men who had crossed the Potomac that evening, along with the count of artillery pieces.
There was a substantial ammunition train, but if the army pushed further into enemy territory, Lee could not hope to maintain his lines of communication to the rear. As the staff officers remarked, “In every engagement, we must capture as much ammunition as we expend. ” This requirement did not appear to concern them, as it had been their customary method of operation up to now. Following the seizure of Winchester, Early had pushed quickly into Pennsylvania and had already dispatched back large numbers of horses, mules, wagons, cattle, and other essentials.
He was now at or beyond Carlisle, requisitioning from the countryside and making Pennsylvania sustain the conflict instead of impoverished, exhausted, and depleted Virginia. The corps of Generals A. P. Hill and Longstreet were now close to this location, all very confident and in excellent morale.
Sunday, June 28th, 1863. No officer or soldier below the rank of general was permitted to enter Chambersburg without a special pass from General Lee, which he was most reluctant to issue. The Englishman heard of even high-ranking officers being denied this permission. Moses went into town at eleven o’clock with an official demand for three days’ rations for the entire army in the vicinity, supplies he was authorized to take by force if they were not given willingly.
That morning the Englishman was presented to General Hood. He was a lean, tall man with a wiry frame, a serious countenance, and a light-colored beard, thirty-three years old, considered one of the most capable and rising officers in the army. He was worshiped by his Texan and Alabamian soldiers. He had previously led the Texas Brigade but had since been elevated to command a division.
His men had a reputation for being a wild lot and hard to control, and it was a chief aim of the commanders to curb their natural tendency to plunder by every possible method. The Englishman went into Chambersburg at midday and discovered Loy settled in the Franklin Hotel. Both of them encountered great difficulty gaining entry to the building, the doors being locked and only opened with extreme wariness. Loy had endured a very arduous journey in the ambulance the day before and was thoroughly worn out.
No one at the hotel would pay him the least attention, and all glared at the Englishman most unpleasantly. Half a dozen Pennsylvanians surrounded and assailed him with a combined volley of words to a deafening extent. Nor would they accept his word when he stated he was an English observer and not a fighter. They insisted he must be either a rebel or a Yankee—an expression which taught him for the first time that the term Yankee was employed as an insult in Pennsylvania, just as it was in the South.
The appearance of gold coin, which he exchanged for their paper money, produced a shift in their manner, and they gradually became quite friendly. They appeared profoundly ignorant, confusing Texans with Mexicans. After ensuring Loy was reasonably comfortable, the Englishman walked through the town and observed the forcible confiscation procedures of Moses and his agents. Neither the town’s mayor nor any civic officials could be located, nor were the keys to the main stores produced until Moses started to enforce his authority.
The townsfolk were idling listlessly in the streets and displayed little overt resentment. They had delegated the job of opposing the commissary officers to their women, a responsibility which the latter were thoroughly equipped to undertake. No soldiers were seen in the streets except those officially posted. That evening he visited Loy again and discovered in his quarters an Austrian officer wearing the complete uniform of the Hungarian Hussars.
The man had obtained a year’s leave and had just managed to cross the Potomac, though not without considerable trouble and hardship. When he mentioned his plan to wear his uniform, the Englishman described to him the unsparing habit of the Confederate soldiers, who never let the slightest oddity of dress or manner go by without a flood of jesting, which, though meant in fun, eventually grew rather tiresome. He went back to camp at six o’clock. Major Moses did not return until very late, quite dejected by the poor results of his task.
He had searched all day with relentless energy and had suffered much abuse from the Union ladies, who labeled him a thieving little rebel scoundrel, among other scornful names. Yet this bothered him less than the fact that everything he needed had been either removed or concealed in private dwellings, which General Lee’s orders forbade him from searching. He had only succeeded in securing a supply of molasses, sugar, and whiskey. Poor Moses was completely worn out, but he bore the teasing of his fellow officers with good grace, and they kept asking him to repeat the insults he had received.
He remarked that at first the women rejected his Confederate money with great contempt, but they eventually became very particular about the odd change they received in return. Monday, June 29th, 1863. The army remained at Chambersburg. Lee had published an exceptionally sound order against retaliation, which was mostly well regarded, though some grumbling came from ardent hotheads who desired vengeance for injuries suffered.
When one reflected on how many officers and men in this army had been utterly ruined by the depredations of northern forces, one could scarcely wonder at such sentiment. The Englishman went into Chambersburg again and observed the notably restrained conduct of the troops toward the inhabitants. He overheard soldiers remarking to each other that they disliked being in a town where they were so naturally hated. To anyone who had witnessed, as he had, the ravages inflicted by northern troops on southern towns, this self-control seemed highly admirable and unexpected.
Yet these Pennsylvania Dutch showed not the slightest gratitude and indeed seemed wholly ignorant that their own armies had for two years treated southern towns with twofold greater severity. This region of Pennsylvania was largely inhabited by descendants of Germans who spoke an incomprehensible tongue, the most apathetic people he had ever encountered. They openly declared they cared not which side prevailed so long as they were left in peace, and they condemned Lincoln vehemently. Naturally, in an army of this size, there were bound to be many bad characters, always prepared to loot and steal whenever they could avoid detection.
The stragglers, too, who lingered after the army departed, would undoubtedly commit much mischief. This was impossible to prevent entirely. Yet every possible measure was taken to safeguard private property and civilians, and he could attest from personal witness to its remarkable effect. He had heard tales, however, of soldiers who, encountering well-dressed citizens, had reached out and swapped hats, greatly to the latter’s irritation, which turned to greater annoyance when a trade of boots was also suggested.
Their fine broadcloth coats were never under any threat. General Longstreet was normally a man of very few words, but that evening he and the Englishman conversed at length about Texas, where Longstreet had been stationed for a long period. He recalled many individuals whom the Englishman had met quite clearly and was much entertained by his account of traveling through that country. The Englishman praised to him the manner in which the Confederate sentries performed their duty, remarking that they were every bit as strict as, and far more courteous than, regular troops.
Longstreet answered with a laugh that a sentry having denied you entry to a camp might very well, if courteously approached, direct you to an alternate route by which you could avoid encountering any sentry entirely. The Englishman met General Pendleton and General Pickett that day. Pendleton was the army’s chief of artillery and a graduate of West Point, yet in more tranquil times he held the position of an Episcopal clergyman in Lexington, Virginia. Unlike General Polk, he combined both the military and clerical professions and continued to deliver sermons whenever an opportunity arose, wearing a surplice over his uniform on such occasions.
General Pickett was in command of one of the divisions within Longstreet’s corps. He wore his hair in lengthy curls and was on the whole rather a reckless-looking fellow. He was the same officer who, as Captain Pickett of the United States Army, had been prominent in the dispute between the British and American forces during the San Juan Island affair under General Harney four or five years before. Tuesday, June 30th, 1863.
This morning, before the column marched from Chambersburg, General Longstreet presented the Englishman to the commander-in-chief. General Lee was, with very few exceptions, the most distinguished-looking man of his years the Englishman had ever encountered. He was fifty-six years old, tall, broad-shouldered, very well proportioned, of excellent posture, a complete soldier in bearing, and his manners were exceedingly polite and marked by dignity. He was in every aspect a perfect gentleman.
The Englishman supposed no man had so few enemies or was so widely respected. Across the entire South all concurred in judging him to be as close to perfection as a man could attain. He had none of the minor vices such as tobacco, liquor, chewing, or profanity, and his most severe critic had never charged him with any of the graver ones. He typically wore a much-used long gray jacket, a tall black felt hat, and blue trousers stuffed into his Wellington boots.
The Englishman never saw him carry any weapons, and the sole indication of his military rank was the three stars upon his collar. He rode a fine horse which was exceptionally well cared for. He himself was very meticulous in his attire and person, and on the most demanding marches he always appeared tidy and clean—the Englishman noted this during the three days of combat at Gettysburg, and in the withdrawal afterward, when everyone else looked and was exceedingly grimy. In the old army, Lee had been consistently regarded as one of its finest officers, and when these troubles began he held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Second Cavalry.
He had been a wealthy man, but his handsome property was among the first to be captured by the enemy. The Englishman understood he had not slept inside a house since assuming command of the Virginia army, and he consistently refused all offers of hospitality for fear the person making the offer might later face difficulties for having given shelter to the rebel general. The relationship between him and Longstreet was quite affecting. They were nearly always in each other’s company.
Longstreet’s corps occasionally grumbled about this, remarking that they rarely got an opportunity for independent duty, which fell instead to the lot of Early. It was impossible to gratify Longstreet more than by speaking well of Lee. The Englishman considered these two generals to be as lacking in personal ambition and as completely selfless as any man alive, both deeply desiring a successful conclusion to the war so that they might withdraw into private life. Stonewall Jackson, until his death the third in command of this army, had been just such another plain-hearted servant of his country.
It was generally known that General Lee was a devout man, though not so outwardly expressive in that regard as Jackson, and unlike his late comrade he belonged to the Church of England. His only faults, as far as the Englishman could tell, stemmed from his excessive kindness of heart. Some Texan soldiers were ordered into Chambersburg that morning to destroy several barrels of fine whiskey which could not be transported. This was a rather severe test of their discipline, and they did consider it rather unjust that the sole occasion they were permitted into the enemy’s town was for the purpose of destroying their cherished whiskey.
Nevertheless, they performed their duty like reliable soldiers. The army marched six miles along the road towards Gettysburg and made camp at a settlement called, the Englishman believed, Greenwood. He rode Loy’s old horse while Loy traveled in the ambulance with the Austrian and the doctor. During the march, General Longstreet informed him that he had just received news that Hooker had been replaced and that Meade had been appointed in his stead.
Longstreet was acquainted with both men from the former army, and he stated that Meade was a man of honor in good standing, though possibly not as aggressive as Hooker. The Englishman conversed at length with several officers regarding the imminent battle, which clearly could now only be postponed a short while, and which would occur on this road instead of toward Harrisburg, as they had previously assumed. Early, who had requisitioned supplies from York as well as Carlisle, had been instructed to regroup. Everyone, as expected, expressed certainty.
The Englishman observed that it would be advantageous for them on this occasion to have cavalry capable of pursuing shattered infantry should they manage to defeat them. To his astonishment, they all described their own cavalry as inadequate for such a role. Stuart’s troopers, though adept at conducting raids, capturing wagons and supplies, and severing communications, appeared to have no conception of charging infantry under any conditions. Unlike the cavalry serving with Bragg’s army, they carried sabers but seemed to have little notion of employing them, preferring to rely on their carbines and revolvers.
They often rode with their swords tucked between their left leg and the saddle, which presented a rather odd sight, though their horses were mostly good and they were competent riders. The infantry and artillery of this army did not appear to hold the cavalry in very high regard and frequently mocked them. The Englishman was compelled to leave his horse at Greenwood, as it was now lame in three legs and also had a severely sore back. Wednesday, July 1st, 1863.
The army did not break camp until noon, as almost the entirety of General Hill’s corps had to march past their location on its way toward Gettysburg. A division of Early’s corps also had to link up a little beyond Greenwood, and Longstreet’s corps was required to form the rear. During the morning the Englishman became acquainted with Colonel Walton, who formerly led the famous Washington Artillery but now served as chief of artillery for Longstreet’s corps. He was a large man, a licensed auctioneer in New Orleans, and the Englishman gathered he longed to return to his gavel.
Shortly after setting off, they entered a pass in the South Mountain, an extension, the Englishman believed, of the Blue Ridge chain, which was intersected by the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry. The scenery through the pass was quite impressive. The first troops they rode beside were from Johnson’s division of Early’s corps. Among them the Englishman saw for the first time the famed Stonewall Brigade, previously commanded by Jackson.
In their appearance the men differed little from other Confederate soldiers, except that the brigade may have included more older men and fewer youths. All, save for one regiment he thought, were Virginians. Having been almost continually on separate duty, few of them knew General Longstreet personally, only by repute. Many of them asked the Englishman if the general riding ahead was Longstreet, and when he replied that he was, numerous men would run forward a hundred yards just to get a proper look at him.
The Englishman considered this a significant compliment from any soldier on an extended march. By two o’clock in the afternoon, the sound of firing became clearly audible ahead, and though it grew louder as they advanced, it did not seem exceptionally heavy. A scout traveling with them insisted that a considerable force of Yankees was in or near Gettysburg, claiming he had been among them just three days prior. After passing Johnson’s division, they came upon a Florida brigade, now in Hill’s corps, but having served under Longstreet before, the men knew him well.
Some of them, after the general had passed, shouted to their comrades, “Look out for work now, boys, for here’s the old bulldog again. ”
By three o’clock they began to encounter wounded men coming to the rear, and their numbers soon multiplied rapidly. Some hobbled alone, others were carried on stretchers by the ambulance corps, and still others rode in the ambulance wagons. Many of the latter were nearly naked and exhibited terrible wounds.
This sight, so shocking to anyone unaccustomed to it, produced no visible effect whatsoever upon the troops advancing toward the front, who certainly went into action with the utmost composure. They displayed no eagerness or agitation, only complete indifference—the result of nearly two years of constant fighting. They now began to pass Yankee prisoners being brought to the rear in sizable groups. A great number of them were injured, yet they appeared already to be on quite friendly terms with their guards, with whom they had begun exchanging canteens, tobacco, and so on.
Among them was a colonel from Pennsylvania, a pitiful sight due to a wound across his face. In response to a question, the Englishman heard one of them say with a chuckle, “We’re pretty near whipped already. ” They then passed a Confederate soldier carrying a Union flag, belonging he believed to a Pennsylvania regiment, which he informed them he had just taken. At four o’clock they caught sight of Gettysburg and joined Generals Lee and Hill, who were positioned at the top of one of the ridges which characterized the terrain surrounding the town.
They observed the enemy retreating up one of the opposing ridges, hotly chased by the Confederates with loud shouts. The ground onto which the enemy had been forced was clearly formidable. His right seemed to be anchored on a cemetery atop a high ridge to the right of Gettysburg from their perspective. General Hill now approached and told the Englishman he had felt quite ill all day, and indeed he appeared very frail.
He stated that two of his divisions had been engaged and had driven the enemy four miles back to their current position, taking a great many prisoners, several cannon, and some colors. He added, however, that the Yankees had fought with a tenacity not typical of them. He indicated a railway cut where they had made a stout defense, also a field in the center of which he had watched a man plant the regimental flag, around which the regiment had battled for some time very stubbornly, and when at last it was forced to withdraw, the color bearer retreated last of all, turning around periodically to shake his fist at the advancing rebels. General Hill said he felt genuinely sorry when he saw this brave Yankee meet his fate.
General Early had arrived at half past three on the enemy’s right with a portion of his corps and had completed their rout. General Reynolds, reported to be one of the best Union generals, was said to have been killed. While they were speaking, a message came from General Early requesting that Hill press the enemy in front while he did the same on their right. The pressure was therefore applied in a limited manner, but the enemy was too strongly positioned and it was too late in the day for a full assault.
The town of Gettysburg was now held by Early and was filled with Union dead and wounded. The Englishman climbed a tree in the most advantageous spot he could locate and gained a reasonably good sense of the enemy’s position, although the crests of the ridges being covered with pinewoods, it was very hard to discern any troops concealed within them. The firing stopped around nightfall, at which time he rode back with General Longstreet and his staff to their headquarters at Cashtown, a small village eight miles from Gettysburg. At that hour troops were streaming along the road and being directed toward the positions they were to hold tomorrow.
In today’s action nearly six thousand prisoners had been captured along with ten guns. Roughly twenty thousand men must have been on the field on the Confederate side. The enemy had two army corps engaged, and all the prisoners belonged, the Englishman thought, to the First and Eleventh Corps. This day’s action was referred to as a brisk little scuffle, and everyone expected a major battle tomorrow.
He noted that the artillery drivers responsible for the horses excavated small pits resembling graves, heaping the soil at the higher end, and took shelter in these pits when under fire. During supper that night, General Longstreet described the enemy’s position as exceedingly strong and remarked that they would undoubtedly fortify themselves extensively overnight. The Englishman had strong cause to believe the engagement had occurred earlier than planned and that neither Lee nor Longstreet had intended it to begin on that day. He further suspected their designs had been disrupted by the events of the first.
The staff officers spoke of the coming battle as inevitable, and the prevailing sentiment throughout the army was one of deep disdain for an opponent they had so frequently defeated and under such varied hardships. Thursday, July 2nd, 1863. Everyone rose at three in the morning and breakfasted a little before daybreak. Loy insisted on riding despite his poor health.
A captain and the Englishman found themselves short of horses, but the Englishman was provided one by Major Clark of the staff, while the portly Austrian was mounted by Major Walton. The Austrian, despite the early hour, had shaved his cheeks and trimmed his mustache as finely as if on parade in Vienna. Colonel Sorrel, the Austrian, and the Englishman reached the same commanding vantage point they had occupied yesterday at five o’clock, and the Englishman climbed a tree alongside Captain Scheibert of the Prussian army. Directly below them were Generals Lee, Hill, Longstreet, and Hood, seated in conference, the two latter aiding their deliberations by the truly American practice of whittling sticks.
General Heth was also there. He had been wounded in the head yesterday, and though not permitted to command his brigade, he insisted on coming to the field. At seven o’clock the Englishman rode over a section of the ground with General Longstreet and watched him deploying McLaws’s division for the day’s action. The enemy held a series of elevated ridges, the crests of which were wooded, but the intervening valleys between their ridges and the Confederate ones were largely open and partly cultivated.
The cemetery was on the enemy’s right, and their left appeared to anchor on a tall, rocky hill. The enemy’s forces, now believed to include almost the entirety of the Potomac army, were concentrated into a space seemingly no more than two miles in length. The Confederates enclosed them in a kind of semicircle, and the full extent of their position must have been at least five or six miles. Early was on their left, his headquarters in a church with a high steeple at Gettysburg, Hill in the center, and Longstreet on the right.
The Confederate ridges were likewise wooded with pine on their summits and generally on their rear slopes. The artillery of both sides faced each other at the margins of these tree lines, the infantry being entirely concealed. The enemy was clearly dug in, but the southern troops had not constructed any works at all. A complete silence prevailed until four or five in the afternoon, and no one could have guessed that such masses of men and such powerful artillery were about to begin their destructive work at that hour.
Only two of Longstreet’s divisions were present that day, McLaws’s and Hood’s, Pickett’s still being to the rear. As the entire morning was clearly to be spent positioning the troops for the assault, the Englishman rode to the far right with Colonel Manning and Major Walton, where they ate large amounts of cherries and secured some corn for their horses. They also bathed in a small creek, though not without some apprehension on the Englishman’s part, for they were nearly beyond the lines and vulnerable to the enemy’s cavalry.
