150 NortH Carotina Troops, 1861-65. Right on came the enemy. They were upon the guns—were bayonetting the gunners—were waving their flags above our pieces. But they had penetrated to the fatal point. A storm of grape and canister tore its way from man to man and marked its way with corpses straight down its line. They had exposed themselves to the enfilading fire of the guns on the western slope of Cemetery Hill. That exposure sealed their fate. “The line reeled back, disjointed already, in an instant in fragments. Our men were just behind the guns. They leaped forward in a disordered mass. But there was little need of fighting now. A regiment threw down its arms and with colors at its head, rushed over and surrendered. All along the field detachments did the same. Over the field the escaped fragments of the charging line fell back—the battle there was over. A single brigade, Harrow’s, came out with a loss of 54 officers and 793 men. So the whole corps fought —so too they fonght further down the line.” Colonel Fry, who so gallantly led Archer’s Brigade, says: “IT heard Garnett give a command. Seeing my gesture of enquiry he called out, ‘I am dressing on you!’ A few seconds later he fell dead. A moment later a shot through my thigh prostrated me. The smoke soon became so dense that I could see but little of what was going on before me. A moment later I heard General Pettigrew calling to rally them on the left. All of the five regimental colors of my command reached the line of the enemy’s works and many of my men and officers were killed after passing over it.”” Colonel Shep- herd, who succeeded Frye in command, said in his official re- port that “every flag in Archer’s Brigade except one was cap- tured at or within the works of the enemy.” Seales’ Brigade closely followed Archer’s, dashed up to the: projecting wall and planted their battle flags upon the enemy’s breastworks. Pettigrew’s and the left of Archer’s had surged forward beyond the projecting wall, and had firmly established themselves along the retired portion of the wall. General Bachelder, of the Federal army, who thor- oughly studied the field for days after the battle, than whom no one knew so well the details of that affair, says: “The i iis att See “eR ETRE rowed inane EO Oy meee ume Tue PetrrigREew—PIcKETT CHARGE. 151 left of the column continued to move on towards the second wall, threatening the right and rear of Gibbon’s Division which held the advanced line. General Webb, whose bri- gade was on the right (in the projection), had hurried back to bring up his right reserve regiment from the second line. But before this could be accomplished the first line broke un- der the tremendous pressure which threatened its front and flank, and fell back upon the reserve.” Thus while Garnett was struggling for the possession of the stone wall on the Confederate right, and Kemper was en- gaged with Harrow and Hall still further to the right, seek- ing unsuccessfully to penetrate into the enemy’s line and turn the left of the hill, the advance of Pettigrew’s command beyond the projecting wall, taking Webb’s exposed brigade on the right flank, caused it to give back from the wall and yield that part of the projection to the regiments of Archer and Scales that pressed them in front. Captain McIntyre, acting Adjutant-General of Scales’ Bri- gade, says: ‘My brigade, or a larger part of it, went inside of the enemy’s works.” Captain Guerrant, acting as Brigade Inspector, says that “Scales’ Brigade entered the breastworks and remained in possession until driven out by the enemy’s advancing on their flanks.” Major Engelhard, the gallant Adjutant-General of the two brigades of Pender’s Division commanded by Trim- ble, says: “The point at which the troops with me struck the enemy’s works projected farthest to the front. I recollect well, my horse having been shot, I leaned my elbow upon one of the guns of the enemy to rest, while I watched with painful anxiety the fight upon Pickett’s right, for upon its success depended the tenableness of our position. “Surrounding me were the soldiers of Pender’s, Heth’s and Pickett’s Divisions and it required all the resources at my command to prevent their following en masse the retreat- ing enemy, and some did go so far that when we were com- pelled to withdraw, they were unable to reach our lines, the enemy closing in from the right and left. We remained in quiet and undisputed possession of the enemy’s works, the men flushed with victory, eager to press forward.