XII Corps and the Defense of Culp’s Hill

History of the Twelfth Corps Defense of Culps Hill at Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863

From Wikipedia [with edits]

Culp's Hill,[1] which is about 3⁄4 mi (1,200 m) south of the center of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,[2] played a prominent role in the Battle of Gettysburg. It consists of two rounded peaks, separated by a narrow saddle.[3] Its heavily wooded higher peak is 630 ft (190 m) above sea level.[1] The lower peak is about 100 feet (30 m) shorter than its companion. The eastern slope descends to Rock Creek, about 160 feet (50 m) lower in elevation, and the western slope is to a saddle with Stevens Knoll (formerly McKnight's Hill) with a summit 100 ft (30 m) lower than the main Culp's Hill summit. The hill was owned in 1863 by farmer Henry Culp[4] and was publicized as "Culp's Hill" by October 31, 1865.[5]

During the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863, Culp's Hill was a critical part of the Union Army defensive line, the principal feature of the right flank, or "barbed" portion of what is described as the "fish-hook" line. Holding the hill was by itself unimportant because its heavily wooded sides made it unsuitable for artillery placement, but its loss would have been

OPPOSING FORCES

Union

Confederate

BATTLE

Battle of Culp’s Hill, First Day

Culp's Hill was occupied originally on the nightfall of July 1, 1863, by troops of the Union Army, along with neighboring Cemetery Hill, as a rallying point from the retreat following the Confederate victory that day north and west of town. Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell had discretionary orders to seize the heights south of town, and he believed that Culp's Hill was unoccupied and therefore a good target, one that would make the Union position on Cemetery Hill untenable. His third division, under Maj. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson, had just arrived on the battlefield, and Johnson was ordered to take the hill if he had not already done so.[7]

Johnson did not take Culp's Hill. He sent a small party to reconnoiter, and they encountered the 7th Indiana Infantry of the I Corps, part of Brig. Gen. James S. Wadsworth's division, which had been in the rear guarding the corps trains and was now linked up with the Iron Brigade, digging in following their fierce battle on Seminary Ridge. Johnson's party was taken by surprise and almost taken prisoner before fleeing.[8]

Ewell's failure to take Culp's Hill or Cemetery Hill that evening is considered one of the great missed opportunities of the battle.[9] Another reason for his reluctance to proceed was intelligence that Union troops were approaching from the east on the Hanover Road. This was the vanguard of the XII Corps under Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum. If those troops had arrived at the wrong time, Ewell's flank would have been turned.[10]

Second Day

By mid-morning of July 2, 1863, the XII Corps arrived and fortified the hill. Brig. Gen. George S. Greene, who at 62 was the oldest Union general on the field, was a brigade commander in the division of Maj. Gen. John W. Geary. As a civil engineer before the war, he had a natural understanding of the value of defensive works. His division and corps commanders did not believe they would be stationed at Culp's Hill very long and did not share his enthusiasm for constructing breastworks, but they did not oppose his efforts. He set his troops to the task of felling trees and collecting rocks and earth to create very effective defensive positions.[11]

The Union defensive positions on July 2 began in the north with artillery batteries on Stevens's Knoll, followed by Wadsworth's division of the I Corps, Greene's New York brigade in positions running north to south on the upper slope, and the brigade of Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Kane connecting to Greene's line behind breastworks on the lower slope. Behind these front lines were, from left to right, the brigades of Col. Charles Candy, Col. Archibald L. McDougall, Col. Silas Colgrove, and Brig. Gen. Henry H. Lockwood, extending past Spangler's Spring and through McAllister's Woods. (The latter three brigades were from the XII Corps division of Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Ruger, who was filling in for Brig. Gen. Alpheus S. Williams, temporarily in corps command.) [12]

That morning, Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered attacks on both ends of the Union line. Lt. Gen. James Longstreet attacked with his First Corps on the Union left (Little Round Top, Devil's Den, the Wheatfield). Ewell and the Second Corps were assigned the mission of launching a simultaneous demonstration against the Union right, a minor attack that was intended to distract and pin down the Union defenders against Longstreet. Ewell was to exploit any success his demonstration might achieve by following up with a full-scale attack at his discretion.[13]

Ewell began his demonstration at 4 p.m. upon hearing the sound of Longstreet's guns to the south. For three hours, he chose to limit his demonstration to an artillery barrage from Benner's Hill, about a mile (1,600 m) to the northeast. But despite this demonstration, Ewell did not hold the attention of Army of the Potomac commander, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. Meade was occupied with the fierce fighting on his left flank and was scrambling to send as many reinforcements as possible. He ordered Slocum to send the XII Corps in support. It is unclear whether he ordered the entire corps or instructed Slocum to leave one brigade behind, but the latter is what Slocum did, and Greene's brigade was left with the sole responsibility for defending Culp's Hill.[16]

Greene extended his line to the right to cover part of the lower slope, but his 1,400 men would be dangerously overextended if a Confederate attack came. They were only able to form a single battle line, without reserves. Only three of the five brigades of Union troops that were dispatched from the hill saw combat. The remainder of Geary's division marched down the Baltimore Pike and missed a key right hand turn. By the time they realized where they were, the crisis on the Union left flank and center had subsided.[17]

Around 7 pm (19:00), as dusk began to fall, and the Confederate assaults on the Union left and center were slowing, Ewell chose to begin his main infantry assault. He sent three brigades (4,700 men) from the division of Maj. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson across Rock Creek and up the eastern slope of Culp's Hill. The brigades were, from left to right, those of Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart, Col. Jesse M. Williams (Nicholl's Brigade), and Brig. Gen. John M. Jones.[18] The Stonewall Brigade, under Brig. Gen. James A. Walker, had been dispatched earlier in the day to screen the Confederate left flank to the east of Rock Creek. Although Johnson ordered Walker join the dusk assault, he was unable to do so as the Stonewall Brigade sparred with Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. David M. Gregg for control of Brinkerhoff's Ridge.[19] 

As the fighting started, Greene sent for reinforcements from the I Corps and XI Corps to his left. Wadsworth was able to send three regiments, and Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard on Cemetery Hill was able to send four—altogether 750 men, who served as Greene's reserve and help to restore dwindling supplies of ammunition.[20]

On the Confederate right flank, Jones's brigade of Virginians had the most difficult terrain to cross, the steepest part of Culp's Hill. As they scrambled through the woods and up the rocky slope, they were shocked at the strength of the Union breastworks on the crest. Their charges were beaten off with relative ease by the 60th New York, which suffered very few casualties. Confederate casualties were high, including General Jones, who was wounded and left the field. One of the New York officers wrote "without breastworks our line would have been swept away in an instant by the hailstorm of bullets and the flood of men."[21]

In the center, Nicholls's Louisiana brigade had a similar experience to Jones's. The attackers were essentially invisible in the dark except for brief instances when they fired, but the defensive works were impressive, and the 78th and 102nd New York regiments suffered few casualties in a fight that lasted four hours.[22]

Steuart's regiments on the left occupied the empty breastworks on the lower hill and felt their way in the darkness toward Greene's right flank. The Union defenders waited nervously, watching as the flashes of the Confederate rifles drew near. But as they approached, Greene's men delivered a withering fire. The 3rd North Carolina "reeled and staggered like a drunken man."[23]

Two regiments on Steuart's left, the 23rd and 10th Virginia, outflanked the works of the 137th New York. Like the fabled 20th Maine of Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain on Little Round Top earlier that afternoon, Col. David Ireland of the 137th New York found himself on the extreme end of the Union army, fending off a strong flanking attack. Under heavy pressure, the New Yorkers were forced back to occupy a traversing trench that Greene had engineered facing south. They essentially held their ground and protected the flank, but they lost almost a third of their men in doing so. Because of the darkness and Greene's brigade's heroic defense, Steuart's men did not realize that they had almost unlimited access to the main line of communication for the Union army, the Baltimore Pike, only 600 yards to their front. Ireland and his men prevented a huge disaster from befalling Meade's army, although they never received the publicity that their colleagues from Maine enjoyed.[24]

In the confusion of fighting in the dark, the 1st North Carolina, brought up from the reserves, fired on the Confederate 1st Maryland Battalion by mistake.[25] (In Gettysburg National Military Park, the monument to this battalion refers to the "2nd Maryland" so that it would not be confused with the two Union regiments named 1st Maryland in Lockwood's brigade. The 1st and 2nd Maryland Regiments were also composed of the same men and officers, the "1st" Maryland having been disbanded in 1862 and subsequently reformed a few months later. The designation "2nd" was not official by the time of Gettysburg and was only used by the men as a moniker and not used in official documents.) [26]

During the heat of the fighting, the sound of battle reached II Corps commander Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock on Cemetery Ridge, who immediately sent additional reserve forces. The 71st Pennsylvania filed in to assist the 137th New York on Greene's right.[27]

By the time the rest of the XII Corps returned late that night, Confederate troops had occupied some of the Union defensive line on the southeastern slope of the hill, near Spangler's Spring. This caused considerable confusion as the Union troops stumbled in the dark to find enemy soldiers in the positions they had vacated. Gen. Williams did not want to continue this confused fight, so he ordered his men to occupy the open field in front of the woods and wait for daylight. While Steuart's brigade maintained a fragile hold on the lower heights, Johnson's other two brigades were pulled off the hill, also to wait for daylight. Geary's men returned to reinforce Greene. Both sides prepared to attack at dawn.[28]

Third Day

On July 3, 1863, General Lee's plan was to renew his attacks by coordinating the action on Culp's Hill with another attack by Longstreet and A.P. Hill against Cemetery Ridge. Longstreet was not ready for an early attack, and the Union forces on Culp's Hill did not accommodate Lee by waiting. At dawn, five Union batteries opened fire on Steuart's brigade in the positions they had captured and kept them pinned down for 30 minutes before a planned attack by two of Geary's brigades. However, the Confederates beat them to the punch. An attempt by Lee to hold off the start of the fighting was fruitless. Ewell sent back a terse reply by messenger: "Too late to recall."[30] Fighting continued until late in the morning and consisted of three attacks by Johnson's men, each a failure. The attacks were essentially a replay of those the previous evening, although in daylight.[31]

Since the fighting had stopped the previous night, the XI Corps units had been reinforced by additional troops from the I Corps and VI Corps. Ewell had reinforced Johnson with additional brigades from the division of Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes, under Brig. Gens. Junius Daniel and William "Extra Billy" Smith and Col. Edward A. O'Neal. These additional forces were insufficient to deal with the strong Union defensive positions. Greene repeated a tactic he had used the previous evening: he rotated regiments in and out of the breastworks while they reloaded, enabling them to keep up a high rate of fire.[32]

In the final of the three Confederate attacks, around 10 am (10:00), Walker's Stonewall Brigade and Daniel's North Carolina brigade assaulted Greene from the east, while Steuart's brigade advanced over the open field toward the main hill against the brigades of Candy and Kane, which did not have the advantage of strong breastworks to fight behind. Nevertheless, both attacks were beaten back with heavy losses. The attacks against the heights were again fruitless, and superior use of artillery on the open fields to the south made the difference there.[33]

The 1st Maryland Potomac Home Brigade (despite its name, a regiment of inexperienced recruits) was badly shot up struggling for a stone wall crossing the open field parallel to the line of works. Geary replaced them with the 147th Pennsylvania of Candy's brigade, which charged successfully, giving the field the name "Pardee Field" after the Pennsylvanians' Lt. Col. Ario Pardee Jr. [34]

The end of the fighting came near noon, with a futile attack by two Union regiments near Spangler's Spring. General Slocum, observing from the distant Powers Hill, believing that the Confederates were faltering, ordered Ruger to retake the works they had captured. Ruger passed the order to Silas Colgrove's brigade, and it was misinterpreted to mean a direct frontal assault on the Confederate position. The two regiments selected for the assault, the 2nd Massachusetts and the 27th Indiana, consisted of a total of 650 men against the 1,000 Confederates behind the works with about 100 yards (100 meters) of open field in front. When Lt. Col. Charles Mudge of the 2nd Massachusetts heard the order, he insisted that the officer repeat it: "Well, it is murder, but it's the order." The two regiments attacked in sequence with the Massachusetts men in front, and they were both repelled with terrific losses: 43% of the Massachusetts soldiers, 32% of the Hoosiers. General Ruger spoke of the misconstrued order as "one of those unfortunate occurrences that will happen in the excitement of battle".[35]

Despite receiving reinforcements and attempting his assaults again, Johnson was repulsed with terrible losses from one end of his line to the other. Colonel O'Neal wrote that his brigade "charged time and again up to their works but were every time compelled to retire. Many gallant men were lost."[36] The losses at Culp's Hill included approximately 2,000 men in Johnson's division, nearly a third. An additional 800 fell from the reinforcing brigades on July 3. The XII corps lost about 1,000 men over both days, including 300 men in Greene's brigade, or one fifth. Alpheus Williams summed up the futility of this fighting: "The wonder is that the rebels persisted so long in an attempt that the first half hour must have told them was useless."[37]

One of the sad stories of the war involved the Culp family, owners of the hill. Two of Henry Culp's nephews were brothers: John Wesley Culp; and William Culp. Wesley joined the Confederate States Army (the 2nd Virginia Infantry) and William the Union Army (the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry). Wesley's regiment fought at Culp's Hill, and he was killed in the fighting on his family property on July 3. Ironically, he allegedly was carrying a message from another soldier, a boyhood friend and Gettysburg native John Skelly, just deceased, to "Ginnie" Wade, the only civilian killed during the battle. His brother William was not present at Gettysburg and survived the war, but William Culp seemed to have regarded his brother as a traitor, and never spoke of him again.[38]

References

1.    "Culps Hill (1172821) Entry Date 02-Aug-1979". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. The modern U.S. Geographic Names System refers to "Culps Hill".

2.    "Culp's Hill and Wesley Culp (1839-1863)". EncyclopediaVirginia.org.

3.    Gottfried, Maps of Gettysburg, p. 226.

4.    Pfanz, Culp's Hill, pp. 111–12.

5.    "The Field of Gettysburgh: Interest Concerning the Great Battle Ground -- Thirteen Generals Revisit the Scene of their Struggle ..." (The New York Times. Oct 31, 1865.

6.    Pfanz, Culp's Hill, p. 25; Pfanz, Battle of Gettysburg, p. 21.

7.    Coddington, pp. 297–99.

8.    Sears, p. 233.

9.    Sears, pp. 233–34.

10. Coddington, pp. 314–16.

11. Murray, pp. 4, 13–16; Pfanz, Culp's Hill, p. 111; Sears, p. 312.

12. Pfanz, Culp's Hill, pp. 112–14.

13. Pfanz, Battle of Gettysburg, p. 21.

14. See William Frassanito, "Gettysburg: A Journey in Time", pp. 128-129.

15. See William Frassanito, "Early Photography at Gettysburg", p. 206.

16. Pfanz, Culp's Hill, pp. 194–96; Sears, pp. 282–83, 312.

17. Sears, p. 312; Trudeau, pp. 398–99; Pfanz, Battle of Gettysburg, p. 21.

18. Pfanz, Culp's Hill, pp. 207, 213–15.

19. "The Stonewall Brigade at Gettysburg - Part Two: Clash on Brinkerhoff's Ridge". The Stonewall Brigade. 2021-03-20.

20. Murray, pp. 25–28.

21. Sears, pp. 327–28.

22. Sears, p. 328.

23. Pfanz, Culp's Hill, p. 217.

24. Pfanz, Culp's Hill, pp. 220–22; Pfanz, Battle of Gettysburg, p. 40; Sears, p. 329.

25. Sears, p. 330.

26. Hawthorne, p. 93.

27. Pfanz, Culp's Hill, pp. 220–21.

28. Pfanz, Culp's Hill, p. 234.

29. Goldsborough, p. 109.

30. Sears, pp. 36–61.

31. Pfanz, Battle of Gettysburg, pp. 42–43.

32. Murray, p. 47; Pfanz, Culp's Hill, pp. 288–89.

33. Pfanz, Culp's Hill, pp. 310–25.

34. Sears, p. 364.

35. Sears, pp. 366–68.

36. Sears, p. 365.

37. Sears, p. 371.

38. Pfanz, Culp's Hill, pp. 328–29, 353.

39. Pfanz, Culp's Hill, p. 352.

Bibliography

·       Coddington, Edwin B. The Gettysburg Campaign; a study in command. New York: Scribner's, 1968.

·       Gottfried, Bradley M. Brigades of Gettysburg. New York: Da Capo Press, 2002.

·       Gottfried, Bradley M. The Maps of Gettysburg: An Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3 – June 13, 1863. New York: Savas Beatie, 2007.

·       Grimsley, Mark, and Brooks D. Simpson. Gettysburg: A Battlefield Guide. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999.

·       Hall, Jeffrey C. The Stand of the U.S. Army at Gettysburg. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.

·       Hawthorne, Frederick W. Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments. Gettysburg, PA: Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides, 1988.

·       Murray, R. L. A Perfect Storm of Lead, George Sears Greene's New York Brigade in Defense of Culp's Hill. Wolcott, NY: Benedum Books, 2000.

·       Petruzzi, J. David, and Steven Stanley. The Complete Gettysburg Guide. New York: Savas Beatie, 2009.

·       Pfanz, Harry W. The Battle of Gettysburg. National Park Service Civil War series. Fort Washington, PA: U.S. National Park Service and Eastern National, 1994.

·       Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993.

·       Sears, Stephen W. Gettysburg. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. 

·       Trudeau, Noah Andre. Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.

·       Wert, Jeffry D. Gettysburg: Day Three. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.

Addendum to the official report by General Meade on the 12th Corps defense of Culps Hill, February 25, 1864

_____

THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.

Headquarters Army of the Potomac,
                                    February 25, 1864.

General: I transmit herewith the report of Brig. Gen. T. H. Ruger, commanding First Division, Twelfth Army Corps, and those of his brigade and regimental commanders, of the operations of his division at the battle of Gettysburg. These reports were only recently received by me, owing to General Ruger being detached with a large portion of his command not long after the battle, and soon after his return the corps was ordered to Tennessee. I beg these reports may be placed on file as part of my official report of that battle.

I embrace this opportunity to make certain corrections and alterations in my report, to which my attention has been called by Major-General Slocum.* These alterations are as follows:

1. In relating the occurrences of July 2, I state:

In the meantime, perceiving the great exertions on the part of the enemy, the Sixth Corps (Major-General Sedgwick), and part of the First Corps (to the command of which I had assigned Major-General Newton), particularly Lockwood’s Maryland brigade, together with detachments from the Second Corps, were all brought up, &c.

This should read:

In the meantime, perceiving the great exertions on the part of the enemy, the Sixth Corps (Major-General Sedgwick), and part of the First Corps (to the command of which corps I had assigned Major-General Newton), together with detachments from the Second Corps, were all brought up. Subsequently the First Division and Lockwood’s brigade, of the Twelfth Corps, under the immediate command of Brig. Gen. A. S. Williams, then temporarily commanding the corps, arrived at the scene of action, the services of Lockwood’s brigade being particularly mentioned.

2. In relating the occurrences of July 3:

During the heavy assaults upon our extreme left, portions of the Twelfth Corps were sent as re-enforcements. During their absence, the line of the extreme right was held by a much-reduced force, and was taken advantage of by the enemy, who, during the absence of Geary’s division, Twelfth Corps, advanced and occupied a part of the line.

On the morning of the 3d, General Geary, having returned during the night, was attacked at early dawn by the enemy, but succeeded in driving him back and occupying his former position. A spirited contest was maintained all the morning along this part of the line. General Geary, re-enforced by Wheaton’s brigade, Sixth Corps, maintained his position, inflicting severe losses on the enemy.

This should read:

During the heavy assaults upon our extreme left, the First Division and Lockwood’s brigade, of the Twelfth Corps, were sent as re-enforcements, as already reported. Two brigades of Geary’s division (Second, of this corps) were also detached for the same purpose, but did not arrive at the scene of action, owing to having mistaken the road. The detachment of so large a portion of the Twelfth Corps, with ___________________________________________________________________

* See Slocum’s report of December 30,1863, p. 763, and Meade’s reply of February 25,1864, p. 769.

_____________________________________________________________________

its temporary commander, Brig. Gen. A. S. Williams, left the defense of the line previously held to the remaining brigade of the Second Division, commanded by Brigadier-General Greene, who held the left of the Twelfth Corps, now become the extreme right of the army. The enemy, perceiving the withdrawal of our troops, advanced and attacked General Greene with great vigor, who, making a gallant defense, and being soon re-enforced by portions of the First and Eleventh Corps, contiguous to him, succeeded in repulsing all the efforts of the enemy to dislodge him.

After night, on the return of the detachments sent to the left, it was found the enemy was occupying portions of the line of breastworks thrown up by the Twelfth Corps. Brigadier-General Williams, in command, immediately made arrangements, by the disposition of his artillery and instructions to both divisions, commanded, respectively, by Brigadier-Generals Geary and Ruger, to attack the enemy at daylight, and regain the position formerly occupied by the corps. In the meantime, the enemy brought up strong re-enforcements, and at early daylight a spirited contest commenced, which continued until after 10 a. m., the result of which was the repulse of the enemy in all his attempts to advance and his final abandonment of the position he had taken the evening before. During this contest, Shaler’s brigade, Sixth Corps, was sent to re-enforce the Twelfth Corps. With this exception, the lines remained undisturbed, &c.

I should he glad, as an act of justice, if this communication could be published.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

                                                                                GEO. G. MEADE,

                                                                                         Major-General, Commanding

Maj. Gen. H. W. Halleck,

                  General-in-Chief, Washington, D. C.

[Indorsements.]

                                                                          February 29, 1864.

Respectfully referred to the Secretary of War, with the recommendation that this be published with General Meade’s former report.

H. W. HALLECK,

 General-in-Chief.

 Adjutant-General’s Office, March 2, 1864.

Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War.

                                                                       W. A. NICHOLS,

                                                              Assistant Adjutant-General.

War Department, March 2, 1864.

Approved.

By order of the Secretary of War:

                                                 JAS. A. HARDIE,

                                         Assistant Adjutant-General.

Headquarters Army of the Potomac,

                                                                                   March 10, 1864.

Major-General Meade,

               Commanding Army of the Potomac:

General: I have the honor to make the following statement in regard to orders carried by me on the 1st day of July, 1863:

Early on the afternoon of the 1st of July, 1863, I was sent from headquarters, at Taneytown, with sealed orders to General Slocum, commanding Twelfth Corps, who was then on the road to Gettysburg, via Littlestown and Two Taverns. These orders I delivered to Lieutenant-Colonel [Hiram C,] Rodgers, assistant adjutant-general of the Twelfth Corps, at Two Taverns, between 3 and 4 p. m. of that day, and was requested by him to say that the corps was on the move, and advancing as rapidly as possible.

I also had a communication addressed to Generals Slocum and Sykes. This I delivered to General Slocum, who was somewhat in advance of his corps, near Gettysburg. After reading it, he returned it to me, to take to General Sykes at Hanover.

My recollection of this communication now is, that it Was a circular notifying corps commanders of the fall of General Reynolds, and that General Hancock had been sent to take his place, and urging them to push forward with all possible dispatch.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

                                                                A. G. MASON,

                                                    Captain, and Aide-de-Camp.

  Headquarters Rendezvous for Drafted Men,

                                                      Philadelphia, Pa., March 14, 1864.

Brig. Gen. S. Williams,

             Assistant Adjutant-General, Army of the Potomac: 

General: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your circular of the 10th instant, in regard to the council of war held at General Meade’s headquarters on the evening of the 2d July last, and in reply to state:

1. I was a member of that council, having been placed by General Hancock in command of the Second Corps when he was detached to take command of the Third Corps, after its defeat, on the afternoon of the 2d.

2. The result of the day’s fight was then, I believe, for the first time fully known. It, together with our military situation, were fully discussed and commented upon by the members. It thus appeared that the Third Corps had been badly defeated, and rendered for the time comparatively useless; that the enemy, taking advantage of the absence of a portion of the Twelfth Corps sent over to the assistance of our left center after the defeat of the Third Corps, had obtained a footing in a portion of our line on the right, and that to the right of Cemetery Hill he had driven a portion of the Eleventh Corps out of the line, taken possession of some of our batteries there, and had been himself driven out by the timely arrival of Carroll’s brigade, sent by me, according to General Hancock’s direction, over to the right, “to the sound of the firing.” Otherwise our line remained intact.

3. One of the corps commanders, Newton, urged some objections against the military position of our line, and when the council came to decide upon a number of points which were written out by General Butterfield, chief of staff, and submitted to its vote, one of the questions was to this effect: “ Should the army remain in its present position, or retire to a better one?” Being the youngest member of the council, I was required to vote first, and on this particular point I voted—having General Newton’s objection in my mind, and having confidence in his judgment as a military engineer—that we should as far as possible correct our position, but on no account to change it so much that any one could construe it into a retreat. My recollection is that General Newton voted substantially the same way, and that every other member voted simply to remain and offer battle. So that the decision of the council to remain in position was unanimous.

4. I never heard General Meade say one word in favor of a retreat, nor do I believe that he did so, being confident I should have heard it, the council meeting in a room not to exceed 10 feet square.

I recollect there was great good feeling amongst the corps commanders at their agreeing so unanimously, and General Meade’s announcement, in a decided manner, “Such, then, is the decision.”

There were a number of other questions of minor importance put and decided which I do not deem it necessary to refer to.

It may not be out of place here to state that during a portion of the sitting of the council, which continued up to nearly 12 o’clock, fighting was going on on the right of our line, where the portion of the Twelfth Corps, returning to its position from the left center, was attempting to dislodge the enemy from the footing he had gained in our line. 

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

                                                     JOHN GIBBON,

                           Brigadier-General of Volunteers, Commanding.