“On the morning of July 3d the 69th Regiment occupied the same line at the fence in front of the clump of trees on the ridge that it held the day before, while the 71st was deployed and connected with its right. One wing of the 71st was stationed at the fence, while the other was behind a stone wall to the right and rear. The 72d was held in reserve, forming a second line to the left of Brown’s Battery, and in the rear of Colonel Hall’s Third Brigade.
“After the contest at Culp’s Hill there was a momentary pause in the operations of both armies. This unusual calm was only broken by an occasional gun, or the discharge of a sharpshooter’s rifle. About one o’clock, when the men were wondering what the next movement would be in this great battle, a single Whitworth gun was fired from the extreme left of Seminary Ridge, a distance of three miles. The bolt just reached the right of our Brigade. Then at intervals along the entire line solitary shots were fired, as if intended for signal guns of preparation. These were quickly followed by others, and in a few moments there burst forth from the whole Confederate line a most terrific fire of artillery. One hundred and twenty guns concentrated their fire on that portion of Meade’s position held by the Second Division, Second Corps. Shell, round shot, Whitworth bolts, and spherical case were flying over and exploding about us at the same time. Almost every second ten of these missiles were in the air; each, as it went speeding on its message of death, indicating its form by a peculiar sound. The shrieking of shells, or the heavy thud of round shot, were easily distinguished from the rotary whizzing of the Whitworth bolt.
“When these agents of destruction commenced their horrid work, no portion of the line, from the front to a point far in the rear of the Taneytown Road, afforded any protection against their fury. Men who had been struck while serving the guns and were limping towards the hospital, were frequently wounded again before they had gone a hundred yards.
“In spite of the ghastly forms of mangled men and horses, and in spite of the dismantled guns, exploding limbers, and other scenes of horror, produced by Lee’s attack, the guns of Meade roared back their defiance; while the infantry, powerless for the moment, rested on their arms awaiting the bayonet charge they knew was sure to follow.
“Webb reports: ‘By a quarter to three o’clock the enemy had silenced the Rhode Island Battery, all the guns but one of Cushing’s Battery, and had plainly shown, by his concentration of fire on this and the Third Brigade, that an important assault was to be expected. I had sent, at two P. M., the Adjutant-General of the Brigade for two batteries to replace Cushing’s and Brown’s. Just before the assault, Captain Wheeler’s First New York Artillery had got into position on the left in the place occupied by the Rhode Island Battery, which had retired with the loss of all its officers but one.’
“When the New York Battery arrived and went into action, Lieutenant Cushing had but one of his guns left, and it was served by men of the 71st Regiment. The Lieutenant had been struck by a fragment of shell, but stood by his piece as calmly as if on parade, and as the Confederate infantry commenced to emerge from the woods opposite, Cushing quietly said, ‘Webb, I will give them one shot more; good-bye.’ The gun was loaded by the California men, and run down to the fence near the 69th, and at the moment of the last discharge, just as the enemy reached the line, the brave Cushing fell mortally wounded.
“At three o’clock the enemy’s line of battle left the woods in our front, moved in perfect order across the Emmettsburg Road, formed in the hollow of our immediate front several lines of battle under a fire of spherical case-shot from Wheeler’s Battery and Cushing’s gun, and advanced for the assault.
“The Union batteries increased their fire as rapidly as possible, but this did not for a moment delay the determined advance. The rude gaps torn by the shells and case-shot were closed as quickly as they were made. As new batteries opened, the additional fire created no confusion in the ranks of the enemy; its only apparent effect was to mark the pathway over the mile of advance with the dead and dying. None who saw this magnificent charge of Pickett’s column, composed of thousands of brave men, could refrain from admiring its grandeur. As they approached the rail fence their formation was irregular, and near the front and centre were crowded together the regimental colors of the entire division; the scene strangely illustrated the divine words, ‘Terrible as an army with banners.’
“Now our men close up their ranks and await the struggle. The Seventy-second, by direction of Webb, is double-quicked from its position on the left and fills the gap on the ridge where Cushing’s Battery had been in action. Just at this moment Pickett’s men reach the line occupied by the Sixty-ninth and the left companies of the Seventy-first. General Armistead, commanding the leading brigade, composed principally of Virginians, in advance of his men, swinging his hat on his sword, cries out, ‘Boys, give them the cold steel!’ Just then the white trefoil on the caps of our men is recognized, and Armistead’s men exclaim, ‘The Army of the Potomac! Do they call these militia?’
“The final effort for success now commences. The advance companies of the Seventy-first are literally crowded out of their places by the enemy, and, with one company of the Sixty-ninth, they form with the remainder of Colonel Smith’s command at the stone fence. At the same instant Colonel Hall’s Third Brigade and the regiments of the First under Devereaux and other officers, as if by instinct, rush to Webb’s assistance, while Colonel Stannard moves two regiments of the Vermont Brigade to strike the attacking column in the flank.