JULY 3, 1863 PICKET'S CHARGE

[whymememe]

The fence at Emmitsburgh Road caused the Confederate charge to be disrupted. It caused the battle to be lost. Lee had not forseen the obstacle.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSraOEtrhWY

[jack404]

it was way more than that , soryy

even picket when later asked stated why they lost " I think the union had something to do with it "

pettygrews account is probably the best

it was a ill fated move that should have been mown down half way to the stone fence , but they broke through 3 lines and then in places the stone fence
the tremble troops had the shortest distance of 3/4 of a mile over open ground under cannon and shot

seen what a 6" fiiring grape shot can do ? at 600 its a elipitical shadow of death where it lands eh ..

they went through open ground upon set positions with no decent prep fire as they where outgunned ..

the men who did it

amazing bravery

50% died that day

and still they kept going

it was a desperate move by Lee , one of his worst ... only to be made brilliant by the gallantry and fortitude of the men in his command officers and enlisted both

[whymememe]

Yeah, it was bad strategy by Lee. I think there was a little insubordination involved also.

[jack404]

go hand in hand with decent troops who can smell a bad plan

he shoulda let the cavalry harrass the rear as they intended and just barge through to do so with infantry as skirmishers on the flank where there was the least cannon coverage

but Lee was boss , they did do a sweep but it was too late and by then the cavalry could not have done anything , the union guns had spoken , and the day a loss for the south , but heck more balls than i have , i'd have sat with my what ever at max range picking them off

i use same /similar rifles here to knock down roos at 300 no problem at all , they marched to 70 paces and opened fire

screw that ...

[whymememe]

I think Lee did explain to his men that it was his fault. It was a suicide mission. At least he admitted it.

[Palmetto]

I have read recently that many of those men didn't go past the road out of self preservation and retreated. So the loss in men was less than suspected all these years.

[terryu1]

It was a series of bad calls. Starting with the cannonade which sailed harmlessly over the heads of Union troops due to bad intel. They assumed the Union forces were assembled more to the rear instead of being almost entirely distributed along the front line. There were many other factors as described but had the cannonade been able to "soften up" the Union line a little and cause disruption before the charge even began who knows what may have happened?? I have walked the route of Picketts charge several times (including at 1:00 AM , OK I like ghost hunting) and it is quite spiritual as you think about all that happened. It is quite an open walk in plain sight of "the angle" and the high water mark.

[terryu1]

Originally Posted by whymememe

I think Lee did explain to his men that it was his fault. It was a suicide mission. At least he admitted it.

He did but he was using this in attempt to get the men to turn around and muster for another attack. Not one of Lee's more steller moments.

[jedwil]

My great grandfather, soldier of the CSA, survived this battle. All I ever heard that he said about it was how thick the lead was flying.

[terryu1]

Originally Posted by jedwil

My great grandfather, soldier of the CSA, survived this battle. All I ever heard that he said about it was how thick the lead was flying.

Yes, in addition to all the musket fire imagine the short range cannons with cannister rounds. like having a huge shotgun which covers about a 20' wide path and powefull enough to go right through the first guys and continue into soldiers behind them. Also threw in nuts and bolts or whatever they could stuff in there. Devastating.

[jack404]

we did a test fire of shot outta a old cannon back in the 70's , for a army history doco

devastating ......

[terryu1]

Originally Posted by jack404

we did a test fire of shot outta a old cannon back in the 70's , for a army history doco

devastating ......

Somehow I knew you had shot an old cannon at one point in time. I think you may be a civil war soldier reincarnated Jack.. Did you do anything to check the pattern of the shot?? (ie: cardboard, wall etc)

[jack404]

it was a 400 yard shot to re-enact the shot cook fired at aborigines in queensland on a sandy beach , the beach was raked well and then shot at so shot pattern was easy to see

the townsville range staff did the shot and i was at 2/4 RAR in them days

the pattern was elliptical where it landed and theres 200 grape sized shot in that calico bag average distance between shot was 2 foot at 400 and we estimated they go through three folks for sure 4 debatable depending on the hits in front , and found a crew mans dairy note that 100 fell from that single shot may not be a exaggeration ,

if he did that in Hawaii he may have made it home

[terryu1]

Originally Posted by jack404

it was a 400 yard shot to re-enact the shot cook fired at aborigines in queensland on a sandy beach , the beach was raked well and then shot at so shot pattern was easy to see

the townsville range staff did the shot and i was at 2/4 RAR in them days

the pattern was elliptical where it landed and theres 200 grape sized shot in that calico bag average distance between shot was 2 foot at 400 and we estimated they go through three folks for sure 4 debatable depending on the hits in front , and found a crew mans dairy note that 100 fell from that single shot may not be a exaggeration ,

if he did that in Hawaii he may have made it home

Sounded that it would have definitely caused a change in attitude and certainly would have left a mark LOL