“I cannot hold the Little River Turnpike without more infantry. If the rebels pass Fort Worth on it, they ought to be stopped by the forces near Alexandria; if they then turn up on the Seminary plateau the light battery is ready to prevent their attacking our line in rear in that vicinity, and the convalescent men ought to hold their own camp. Their raid will thus do little good to them.
“If I try to block the Little River pike, I fear I shall lose my guns to no purpose.”
Let us pause for awhile to observe the movements of the Union and Confederate armies now approaching Gettysburg, the county seat of Adams County, Pennsylvania, and eight or ten miles north of the Maryland line, and about forty miles north of Frederick, from which place the Federal army moved. On the evening of June 30th the Federal cavalry advance reached Gettysburg, passed through the village and encamped on the northerly side. On the following morning a deadly encounter took place between the Union and Confederate forces, which resulted in the success of the troops of the enemy and in the withdrawal of the Union forces to Cemetery Hill, which lies nearly south of Gettysburg, and derives its name from a cemetery which crowns its summit. Here our troops encamped for the night, throwing up breastworks along the whole front, the artillery well posted, and the positions on Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill (to the right) were made exceedingly strong.
On the morning of July 2d, General Meade arrived on the field, and determined to fight a defensive battle. The Federal line was an irregular semi-circle, the centre of which was Cemetery Hill, fronting the village, and thence running on the left southwest along the ridge fronting the Emmitsburg road, to the hill called Round Top; and on the right running nearly south over Culp’s Hill, and along the ridge fronting Rock Creek to the Baltimore Turnpike. The rebels furiously attacked our lines, and the result of the second day’s battle was the gain of some half a mile of ground where the Third Corps had been forced back, and the occupation of the extreme right of the Federal works. The gain of the Confederates on the left was at a heavy cost, the Union lines being in a stronger position than the day before.
The next day, the 3d, preparations were made to dislodge the enemy on our right. Our troops advanced at that point, and drove the entire force of the enemy out, and the Federal line was re-established as on the previous day, the rebels also returning to their former positions. While this engagement was transpiring on the right, it was comparatively quiet along the other parts of the line except the usual desultory picket firing.
At one o’clock a desperate charge on the Union lines at Cemetery Hill was made by the rebels, composed of a division of Longstreet’s corps under Pickett, which led the attack supported by other troops from Longstreet’s and Hill’s corps. Says Longstreet: “The signal gun broke the prevailing stillness, and immediately 150 Confederate cannon burst into a deafening roar, which was answered by a thunder almost as great from the Federal side.” The attack was gallantly made and the struggle fierce, but the picked troops of the rebel army were finally routed, and thus ended one of the greatest battles of modern times, which resulted in a glorious victory to the Union arms and turned the tide of rebel invasion, hurling Lee’s army back into Virginia, discomfited and disheartened.
We will now return to the Department of Washington, which was under the command of Maj.-Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman, with Brig.-Gen. Gustavus A. De Russy commanding defenses south of the Potomac, in which the brigade under Col. Henry L. Abbott formed a part. Battery H was attached to this brigade.
At three o’clock on the morning of July 2d, long roll was sounded. Our battery occupied the breastworks near Fort Ward, and remained in that position until reveille.
July 6th. At ten A. M. a review took place of the entire Twenty-second Corps by Generals Casey and De Russy. Our battery is assigned to the First Brigade, Third Division of the corps.
July 10th. The attached men from the Vermont regiments, who have served with the battery since last March, left us to-day. Their term of service has expired and they are about returning to their regiments to be mustered out. They are good soldiers and we part from them with sorrow.