I did the 135th Gettysburg Reenactment as the 53rd Va...I tell ya it was harrowing. We actually had spectators crying. You couldnt get 10 men to do what those men did back then. Great video
@MatlockJack The movie was shot in large part at the place the 130th re-enactment took place. The field hospital where Longstreet visits Hood was registration for the 135th.
type in and watch -
14th Indiana
you will see what horrible duties we had to deal with during this horrific time in American history
This assault could have worked if the Confederate cavalry didn't rout. The Confederates assaulted and actually pushed through the line for a short time expecting to meet with the cavalry, but it never came, so the Union troops were able to reorganize and take the ground back using their superior firepower and numbers, it was a slaughter. I personally would have massed the assault North and taken Culp's hill. This flank could have been easily surrounded and the hill would be great for artillery.
General Lee was absolutely crazy to force Pickett to make this foolish assualt. I've been reading about him and General Jackson and the more I read about Lee the more I've discovered that he wasn't much better then the Federal Generals. If Jackson had lived Gettysburg would of never of happened.
@2008VauxhallVectra My understanding is that you cannot use a metal detector at all on National Park Service property. I did see someone metal detecting in Antietam but when I looked at the map realised he was on private property. Don't know about the US but here in the UK you can only metal detect legally on private land with the owners permission. Any valuable find must be split 50:50 which happened here with a recent gold horde worth about $4m.
Beautifully done. Thank you. You brought to life just how long the march was and the vastness of the fields. I imagine doing it in 87 humid degrees on the day of the actual event. I had no idea that the ridge was as high as it is or of the climb's steepness in areas. The sheer guts they had to break that line, no matter how briefly, while having just seen so many friends falling around them is staggering.
@VideoHistoryToday There are no full-scale reenactments held on the original battlefield. There are small living histories in spots around the park, but not full reenactment. The videos you see are the ones held annually a few miles away from the actual field.
Excellent work. Well narrated. I used to be a Civil War Re-enactor (Union). Been to Gettysburg a few times. Never been down and out in front of the actual lines before, so I appreciate the work you've done here. Thank you.
@rackasaurus Glad you liked it. Hadn't originally planned to walk all the way across (long way back to the car etc) but as I wandered, I realised it gave me a better understanding of what happened. Although it looks relatively flat, it clearly isn't so I am sure troops of the day used the lay of the land as they moved across it. I would really love to film when Gettyburg is re-enacted. I have a brilliant idea for the National Parks about this but they just don't want to listen.
My understanding is that the topography of this field has changed over the years. That this is mainly due to its use for tank maneuvers in the 30's. There was a rise that offered some protection for the attackers at longer ranges.
I did the Gettysburg battle field tour on horse back ,probably the best way to get an overall veiw of what happened , I just wondered what the confederates would have achieved even if they had reached their objective in force , What next ?
@stormywindmill If they had reached the union line (in fact one brigade did) they would have spilt the Union line in 2 and force Meade to turn his flanks exposing all of his men to Longstreet and Ewell's corps. It would have been a disaster. Meade most likely would have had to retreat and that would give the Confederates that lovely high ground. Lee would then just dig in and wait for Meade to attack him. End of war and CSA victory follows.
@badism Meade had 30,000 troops in reserve, 20,000 of whom had not yet seen combat in the battle. Lee's troops would have been surrounded had they succeeded in breaking through.
@Crymson1 Not if Stuart had succeeded in the rear, that was part of the attack. Then Hood and Mclaws move forward on the right and Ewell's corps pushes forward on the left. With their line broken in the center they must withdraw. It would have been ugly. It is the AOP that would be surrounded. Remember, I was answering a question of "what if they succeeded?"
@badism Stuart did not have the necessary numbers to cause much effect, particularly since his action took place in the vicinity of the Union 6th corps. Hood's and McLaws's troops were in no condition to attack, having marched through the night of July 1st to enter battle on the 2nd and having lost almost 40% of their strength in the process, and in any event the Union V corps and VI corps would have been standing directly in their way.
This was charge across open ground double step fences every couple of yards under cannon fire then before they got to the Unions lines they were torn apart by Musket fire........What must have been going through though poor guys minds how half of them didnt turn and run before they got to the Union Lines is no bodies wonder.....
Typical hateful response from a self-righteous self-hating piece of atheist Yankee trash.
If you can't show any respect for yourself, at least respect those who died. That ground is sacred and carries the blood of more Americans than died in the entire Vietnam War, Northern and Southern.
Wow you claim them racists and yet use insensitive terms for homosexuals to make that claim...pretty much what I expected. Thanks for proving my point.
"yet use insensitive terms for homosexuals to make that claim"
darthroden,
Don't think that I don't know WHO really started WARS in Middle East and Vietnam War as well! Neo-con is probably the GAYEST group of men that there ever is! Of course, GAYS are going to be promoted as GOOD GUYS! They owned Global Mass Media, which tricked most Americans into the WAR to began with!!
Oh yeah, GAY BLOW America again!! How about just ABORT "Gay Genes" starting with YOU and George W. Bush Jr.!? >=P
"That ground is sacred and carries the blood of more Americans than died in the entire Vietnam War, Northern and Southern."
darthroden,
I'm giving your Southern GAY AS HELL Jew Christian KKK REDNECKS the rightful RESPECT that they have earned in America! Too bad those WHITE TRASH giving the ORDERS for OTHERS to die did not charged up the hill with OTHERS! In fact, they have lived as COWARD and breed their LOW-IQ Trash to waste another generation of Young People for their GAY BS WARS!! >=(
@darthroden -- well, not more than Vietnam, but nearly as many as in Vietnam (58,000 in Nam, only roughly 52,000 killed AND wounded in G'Burg)...but still, very prodigious, sad numbers, and in only 3 days, not in almost 16 years! And all Americans....let's never forget that.
Absolutely. I have been to those spots, and my own Civil War ancestor fought at Devil's Den. Terrible losses of life on both sides. Americans all who suffered in that terrible war.
Have you ever seen the footage of the 50th and 75th Anniversary reunions at Gettysburg? The old veterans of both armies who survived meet there again and actually embraced hugging during the re-enactment of Pickett's Charge.
@darthroden Yes, seen the footage. It's moving, though not impossible to comprehend. It's like seeing the reunion footage of Americans and Japanese soldiers who had fought at Iwo Jima--they were also able to easily embrace each other. I've been back to Vietnam not too long ago, and I met some former VC and former regular NVA and they were very warm and welcoming to me and my family. People who answer their countries' calls to war aren't the bad guys usually. The policymakers are.
@KnightOwl2006 @ KnightOwl. Lee never quite got over his blunder here. He mistakenly thought his Confederate troops were invincible, and with some reason. Up until G'burg, they had kicked the Union troops' ass most everywhere they'd faced them. Strategically, Lee's orders during Pickett's Charge in particular were utter suicide and he became quite depressed in years that followed--as regretful, I guess, as a megalomaniac can be. Lee was a great figure, but he thought his crap didn't stink
I think it's called hubris. He could have had a strategic win by simply interposing his army between Meade's forces & Washington & forcing Meade to attack him. Perhaps he was still thinking that the Army of the Potomac was liable to panic & collapse as at Chancellorsville & 1st Bull Run. He should have recalled that the North fought well at Antietam - the other great battle fought on Northern soil
Lee should have taken a page from his fellow Virginian, George Washington who knew when to retreat and sneak up on the enemy. Open field combat only favors the side with more resources, and that would have been the North.
@KnightOwl2006 aye my friend...im a war historyn...Lee was the best planner of his time...he made the charge because he thought wee could get a stand hold in the hill..good plan...bad outcome. -Luke Britton age 12 (ill die for the south)
@KnightOwl2006 General Lee was having problems with his heart around the latter part of June and early July 1863. It may have played a role in his inability to think clearly. Several generals voiced their opinions about the futility of the attack but he just wouldn't listen.
@c44LuWanda What many people are unaware of is that it was to be a three pronged attack. The confederates controlled the town and had shelled the lines from there but the assault was held back by the union right flank. On the Union left, reinforcements were held back by Longstreet that should have swept the union left and joined Pickets right and rear. In the meantime, Stuarts calvary was attacking the union rear trying to meet up with the infantry and divide the union line capturing the hill.
He was acting with the information he had at hand. In his mind he had weakened both flanks of the union line so that reinforcements must have been drawn from the center.
also remember that the jackson/lee relationship was not really a close one..jackson was a proud man and when he marched down to the penisula he considered himself as an independent army commander specifically the army of the valley..pope blew it at second manasas
as a member of soskan in the uk whom could not get over there last year for the big one this video brings home the enormous task the rebles had! great video by a fellow brit! well done.
lee never should not haveattacked he could of retreated and make the union soildiers to follow them and get entrenched in like fredricksburg cause it would make them in a line and under heavy fire
The only one who can be blamed for the failed attack is Lee. With the Army of the Potomac situated in those positions supported by artillery, it was impossible for 12,000 men to carry the battlefield. You'd think he would have learned an important lesson at Malvern Hill and Antietam where federal artillery rocked his infantry.
Maybe if Ewell did not become a pussy after Jackson was killed then Lee would not have found himself in position to have to make that attack that day. That hill would of been took the previous day, and the North would of lost at Gettysburg.
Lee had no choice, he had to make the attack. He could of pulled out but what he learned from Antietam was a wasted invasion of the North because of a check between armies. The Union was nearly unlimited, Lee could of turned by the entire campaign..
Would have became pointless. Obviously if he didnt he probably would of lost less, but I can see why he was pressured into doing so. Lee felt his army was invincible but the loss of General Jackson proved to be to much of a hit on the Army.
@Bhobbs1985 What are you talking about? Jackson was killed at Chancellorsville during the Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania campaign, not at Gettysburg, or were you just not being clear? But it's true that Lee was never the general he had been prior to Stonewall's death. Jackson was a hell of a tactician, as it turned out, and brave as they come. Lee was great--I'm not taking anything away from him, but he was never the same after losing Jackson. Thank goodness, that slave-owning piece of crap.
@rickcee I was not clear. I am saying Jackson being lost months prior at Chanceslorsville was a direct cause of the loss at Gettysburg. Ewell who hesitated when Lee ordered it multiple times cost them the heights on Little Round top. Jackson would have had/took the hill. Day two would of ended in a victory rather than a stalemate or such great loss and Picketts charge would have never even came into play. The federals would have been gone. Lee was fighting like he had Jackson, and it cost them.
@Bhobbs1985 Ah. Well, of course while it's impossible to know for sure that with Jackson at G'burg Confederate troops would have won the race to Little Round Top, but it's a fair assumption I suppose. In any case, the South had been the superior army to this point, and the worm turned at G'burg. I do agree that HAD the Confederates taken Little Round Top, and especially if they'd won the charge up the hill against Chamberlain's Maine troops, Pickett would never have had to charge.
@garneroutlaw Yep. Once they switched from ball shot to canister shot at Cemetery Ridge, those cannons just filled the sky with Confederate blood. It was truly carnage. In many of the retaliatory volleys of cannon fire, entire lines of Confederates were taken out with one canister. Absolutely brutal. Well, as I always say--if you wanna own slaves, you gotta get blown up LOL. Seriously, though, it was a valiant effort by very brave Confederate soldiers who were poorly commanded that evening.
Interesting images ;) I'm very interested in American Civil War, but, as i'm French, the Gettysburg Battlefield is a bit far for me to visit. Thanks for sharing this.
Ha yeah whats an ocean and some odd 200 miles from you, is a battlefield that is about 85-95 miles west of where I live in Pennsylvania. Its a GREAT battlefield to visit, if your ever over here in the usa in Pennsylvania, definitely try to make it to Gettysburg. I too have been very interested in the civil war since a very young age, mostly because my father was a civil war reenactor for quite a few years.
I don't know exactly why this war interest me so much...It's not very known here. For most of French people, Civil War is "Gone with the Wind" or "Noth and South". I really enjoyed the movie "gettysburgto see al these reenactors on the battlefield was really impressive. One of the best war movies i have ever seen. Shame little round Top was..not Little Round Top but this is one of my favorite scenes. The "Pickett Charge" was the most impressive for me. All these poor guys dying, this is sad too
@jerrymail I've walked the field also. Very rewarding. There is an excellent different account of the Charge in my new book - GETTYSBURG... OTHER TIMES
It is a great page-turning read and full of intrigue and revelation.
You can get your copy from my YouTube site (GETTYSBURGbook) or search Amazon or eBay.
The majority of the Confederates captured were wounded. Of the 12,000ish Confederates 50% never came back. At Fredericksburg, the Union lost 8,000 men and not one ever reached the stonewall at Marye's Heights.
Pickett slaughtered his own people forcing them to march towards that blasted fence line. that misjudgment as a General was unforgivable. theres no second chances in War.that happens when you get an Insurance Agent to run an Army.
Pickett was a division commander, there were two other divisions in the attack (Pettigrew and Trimble.) All under the command of Longstreet.
Lee put Longstreet in charge of the attack. Longstreet put in a half-ass job and got a half-ass result. Longstreet never put in the "reserve." Wright-Posey-Mahone-Thomas brigades were to go in.
well finishing what I was saying about Pickett for example other Generals died doing cleaver movements that cost their own lives like Stonewall Jackson,hell even General Custer(which has nothing to do with this) later in history died with his men trying to do something cleaver and arrogant you go down with your men and leave no men behind or draw back for the sake of your brethren.but this guy came back without a scratch prob hidden behind a rock while everything happened.
Jackson was mortally wounded because his staff and Jackson scouted the Union position at Chancellorsville late at night. This was no "clever" movement.
Custer did not listen to his Indian scouts who told him there were many thousands of Indians out there. Custer did not listen and thus paid the ultimate price.
Jackson was a fool to die the way he did... That sort of job is done by scouts or staff officers... not the commander. (look at Lee's job in mexico... scouting for the Commanding general) If he ahd stays back and let his scouts do it, things might have gone defrent.
On his good days jackson was brilliant... on his bad days, like 2.mannassas he was avarage at best...
You're saying his performance at the Battle of Second Manassas was average? He held off 50,000 Union soldiers with his one corps. You could make a case for his performance during the Seven Days fighting being mediocre, but he was most likely mentally exhausted because it was just a week or after his supber Valley campaign.
That's because by the end of the second day, Jackson's corps had been completely fought out. And when Longstreet counter-attacked on the third day, Jackson really had nothing left to help him with.
Wise words - and this concept extends to the men too - on any given day a man could be heroic and make a stand against all odds and on others he would run in panic. the lionisation of lee and jackson gives us a distorted picture of history - they were undoubtedly brilliant commanders and also noble and honest men but they did make some costly errors. They were men like you and I, no more and no less. They did what they felt was right at the time.
As of some knowledge i got form my tour of gettysburg
ThePtga 1 month ago
I did the 135th Gettysburg Reenactment as the 53rd Va...I tell ya it was harrowing. We actually had spectators crying. You couldnt get 10 men to do what those men did back then. Great video
Imachowderhead 7 months ago
I am very interested in the history of the American Civil War.
This movie is excellent.
Like to howl when you think how many guys have died there.
Gedoensexperte 7 months ago
The battlefield was used for many years as a training area for tanks. They chewed up the field real good. In Lee's time it was much more undulating.
breezeman199 7 months ago
Excellent job! I'll show this to a class of Hong Kong students visiting Gettysburg tomorrow! Good narration. Keep making movies!
charliejdk 8 months ago
@SuperLpfan1
So where was the 1993 Gettysburg movie shot then? I thought that was the battlefield itself.
MatlockJack 9 months ago
@MatlockJack The movie was shot in large part at the place the 130th re-enactment took place. The field hospital where Longstreet visits Hood was registration for the 135th.
type in and watch -
14th Indiana
you will see what horrible duties we had to deal with during this horrific time in American history
1967mustanggta 8 months ago
This assault could have worked if the Confederate cavalry didn't rout. The Confederates assaulted and actually pushed through the line for a short time expecting to meet with the cavalry, but it never came, so the Union troops were able to reorganize and take the ground back using their superior firepower and numbers, it was a slaughter. I personally would have massed the assault North and taken Culp's hill. This flank could have been easily surrounded and the hill would be great for artillery.
NoOdL3z18 10 months ago
wow u gotta lot of time on ur hands....
heytherhotstuff 10 months ago
General Lee was absolutely crazy to force Pickett to make this foolish assualt. I've been reading about him and General Jackson and the more I read about Lee the more I've discovered that he wasn't much better then the Federal Generals. If Jackson had lived Gettysburg would of never of happened.
valpro99 11 months ago
Amazing thing to see in person!
Legend28x 1 year ago
Nice effort on this one. Nice to see the American Civil War isn't lost on the rest of the world.
jfpOne23 1 year ago
are people allowed to use a metel detector at gettysburg or any other civilwar locations.
2008VauxhallVectra 1 year ago
@2008VauxhallVectra My understanding is that you cannot use a metal detector at all on National Park Service property. I did see someone metal detecting in Antietam but when I looked at the map realised he was on private property. Don't know about the US but here in the UK you can only metal detect legally on private land with the owners permission. Any valuable find must be split 50:50 which happened here with a recent gold horde worth about $4m.
VideoHistoryToday 1 year ago
@VideoHistoryToday
You are correct. It is illegal to use metal detectors in National Parks.
hkybballcoach 10 months ago
Beautifully done. Thank you. You brought to life just how long the march was and the vastness of the fields. I imagine doing it in 87 humid degrees on the day of the actual event. I had no idea that the ridge was as high as it is or of the climb's steepness in areas. The sheer guts they had to break that line, no matter how briefly, while having just seen so many friends falling around them is staggering.
stellalouise1 1 year ago
@SuperLpfan1 What are all those videos titled Gettysburg Re enactment all about then?
VideoHistoryToday 1 year ago
@VideoHistoryToday There are no full-scale reenactments held on the original battlefield. There are small living histories in spots around the park, but not full reenactment. The videos you see are the ones held annually a few miles away from the actual field.
cblodg1 1 year ago
@VideoHistoryToday Maybe they re enact domewhere else.
godzillafan452 4 months ago
Excellent work. Well narrated. I used to be a Civil War Re-enactor (Union). Been to Gettysburg a few times. Never been down and out in front of the actual lines before, so I appreciate the work you've done here. Thank you.
rackasaurus 1 year ago
@rackasaurus Glad you liked it. Hadn't originally planned to walk all the way across (long way back to the car etc) but as I wandered, I realised it gave me a better understanding of what happened. Although it looks relatively flat, it clearly isn't so I am sure troops of the day used the lay of the land as they moved across it. I would really love to film when Gettyburg is re-enacted. I have a brilliant idea for the National Parks about this but they just don't want to listen.
VideoHistoryToday 1 year ago
Lee should have listened to Longstreet.
badism 1 year ago
My understanding is that the topography of this field has changed over the years. That this is mainly due to its use for tank maneuvers in the 30's. There was a rise that offered some protection for the attackers at longer ranges.
Skytroop 1 year ago
My understanding is that the topography of thsi field has changed over the years. That this is mainly due to its use for tank maneuvers in the 30's.
Skytroop 1 year ago
I did the Gettysburg battle field tour on horse back ,probably the best way to get an overall veiw of what happened , I just wondered what the confederates would have achieved even if they had reached their objective in force , What next ?
stormywindmill 1 year ago
@stormywindmill If they had reached the union line (in fact one brigade did) they would have spilt the Union line in 2 and force Meade to turn his flanks exposing all of his men to Longstreet and Ewell's corps. It would have been a disaster. Meade most likely would have had to retreat and that would give the Confederates that lovely high ground. Lee would then just dig in and wait for Meade to attack him. End of war and CSA victory follows.
badism 1 year ago
@badism Meade had 30,000 troops in reserve, 20,000 of whom had not yet seen combat in the battle. Lee's troops would have been surrounded had they succeeded in breaking through.
Crymson1 1 year ago
@Crymson1 Not if Stuart had succeeded in the rear, that was part of the attack. Then Hood and Mclaws move forward on the right and Ewell's corps pushes forward on the left. With their line broken in the center they must withdraw. It would have been ugly. It is the AOP that would be surrounded. Remember, I was answering a question of "what if they succeeded?"
badism 1 year ago
@badism Stuart did not have the necessary numbers to cause much effect, particularly since his action took place in the vicinity of the Union 6th corps. Hood's and McLaws's troops were in no condition to attack, having marched through the night of July 1st to enter battle on the 2nd and having lost almost 40% of their strength in the process, and in any event the Union V corps and VI corps would have been standing directly in their way.
Crymson1 1 year ago
lee was against slavery and to keep up his image owned thme but payed them wages.
zacher456 1 year ago
This was charge across open ground double step fences every couple of yards under cannon fire then before they got to the Unions lines they were torn apart by Musket fire........What must have been going through though poor guys minds how half of them didnt turn and run before they got to the Union Lines is no bodies wonder.....
Hauntedman1 1 year ago
great video, yeah wish i could visit gettysburg again but without my school and take my time around teh battlefield
silentserv3r 1 year ago
That title should be General George Pickett's FOLLY!!
Or, should that be Gen. Robert E. Lee's FOLLY!?
Charge up that Cemetery Hill and Ridge and meet your GOD.... haha.... Typical DUMB Protestant KKK Christian White Trash!! >=P
At least, SLAVERY in America can be ABOLISHED after that.... hehe!! >=)
IronJackalTw 2 years ago
@IronJackalTw
Typical hateful response from a self-righteous self-hating piece of atheist Yankee trash.
If you can't show any respect for yourself, at least respect those who died. That ground is sacred and carries the blood of more Americans than died in the entire Vietnam War, Northern and Southern.
darthroden 1 year ago
"Typical hateful response from a self-righteous self-hating piece of atheist Yankee trash."
darthroden,
Go suck Dick Cheney, George W. Bush Jr., and Ted Haggard's Filthy GAY & SMALL Jew Christian KKK Trash DICKS, bunch of White Trash FAGGOTS!! >=P
IronJackalTw 1 year ago
@IronJackalTw
Wow you claim them racists and yet use insensitive terms for homosexuals to make that claim...pretty much what I expected. Thanks for proving my point.
God Bless You.
darthroden 1 year ago
"yet use insensitive terms for homosexuals to make that claim"
darthroden,
Don't think that I don't know WHO really started WARS in Middle East and Vietnam War as well! Neo-con is probably the GAYEST group of men that there ever is! Of course, GAYS are going to be promoted as GOOD GUYS! They owned Global Mass Media, which tricked most Americans into the WAR to began with!!
Oh yeah, GAY BLOW America again!! How about just ABORT "Gay Genes" starting with YOU and George W. Bush Jr.!? >=P
IronJackalTw 1 year ago
@IronJackalTw
Wow I never noticed it before but....you are soooo cute when you are mad, sweethart (smooches).
People like you make my day. Meow. ROLF LMFAO!
darthroden 1 year ago
"That ground is sacred and carries the blood of more Americans than died in the entire Vietnam War, Northern and Southern."
darthroden,
I'm giving your Southern GAY AS HELL Jew Christian KKK REDNECKS the rightful RESPECT that they have earned in America! Too bad those WHITE TRASH giving the ORDERS for OTHERS to die did not charged up the hill with OTHERS! In fact, they have lived as COWARD and breed their LOW-IQ Trash to waste another generation of Young People for their GAY BS WARS!! >=(
IronJackalTw 1 year ago
@darthroden -- well, not more than Vietnam, but nearly as many as in Vietnam (58,000 in Nam, only roughly 52,000 killed AND wounded in G'Burg)...but still, very prodigious, sad numbers, and in only 3 days, not in almost 16 years! And all Americans....let's never forget that.
rickcee 1 year ago
@rickcee
Absolutely. I have been to those spots, and my own Civil War ancestor fought at Devil's Den. Terrible losses of life on both sides. Americans all who suffered in that terrible war.
Have you ever seen the footage of the 50th and 75th Anniversary reunions at Gettysburg? The old veterans of both armies who survived meet there again and actually embraced hugging during the re-enactment of Pickett's Charge.
darthroden 1 year ago
@darthroden Yes, seen the footage. It's moving, though not impossible to comprehend. It's like seeing the reunion footage of Americans and Japanese soldiers who had fought at Iwo Jima--they were also able to easily embrace each other. I've been back to Vietnam not too long ago, and I met some former VC and former regular NVA and they were very warm and welcoming to me and my family. People who answer their countries' calls to war aren't the bad guys usually. The policymakers are.
rickcee 1 year ago
Lee was a brilliant general but he must have lost his mind when he ordered that suicidal charge.
KnightOwl2006 2 years ago 8
he didnt lose his mind he had an extremely intelligent plan that the ohio regiment fucked up for the south
CardShark989 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
KnightOwl2006,
"Lee was a brilliant general but he must have lost his mind when he ordered that suicidal charge."
GOD talks to General Robert E. Lee the same way that GOD talks to George W. Bush Jr.!! >=P
IronJackalTw 2 years ago
@KnightOwl2006 @ KnightOwl. Lee never quite got over his blunder here. He mistakenly thought his Confederate troops were invincible, and with some reason. Up until G'burg, they had kicked the Union troops' ass most everywhere they'd faced them. Strategically, Lee's orders during Pickett's Charge in particular were utter suicide and he became quite depressed in years that followed--as regretful, I guess, as a megalomaniac can be. Lee was a great figure, but he thought his crap didn't stink
rickcee 1 year ago
@KnightOwl2006 well you can say that today - we today know the final outcome he did not.
Rex1987 1 year ago
@Rex1987 Longstreet knew very well what the outcome would be; a slaughter.
KnightOwl2006 1 year ago
@Rex1987 Longstreet knew before hand.
badism 1 year ago
@KnightOwl2006
I think it's called hubris. He could have had a strategic win by simply interposing his army between Meade's forces & Washington & forcing Meade to attack him. Perhaps he was still thinking that the Army of the Potomac was liable to panic & collapse as at Chancellorsville & 1st Bull Run. He should have recalled that the North fought well at Antietam - the other great battle fought on Northern soil
Baskerville22 1 year ago
@Baskerville22 Well stated.
Lee should have taken a page from his fellow Virginian, George Washington who knew when to retreat and sneak up on the enemy. Open field combat only favors the side with more resources, and that would have been the North.
KnightOwl2006 1 year ago
@KnightOwl2006 aye my friend...im a war historyn...Lee was the best planner of his time...he made the charge because he thought wee could get a stand hold in the hill..good plan...bad outcome. -Luke Britton age 12 (ill die for the south)
Gooddog2898 1 year ago
@KnightOwl2006 General Lee was having problems with his heart around the latter part of June and early July 1863. It may have played a role in his inability to think clearly. Several generals voiced their opinions about the futility of the attack but he just wouldn't listen.
c44LuWanda 1 year ago
@c44LuWanda What many people are unaware of is that it was to be a three pronged attack. The confederates controlled the town and had shelled the lines from there but the assault was held back by the union right flank. On the Union left, reinforcements were held back by Longstreet that should have swept the union left and joined Pickets right and rear. In the meantime, Stuarts calvary was attacking the union rear trying to meet up with the infantry and divide the union line capturing the hill.
lendir1 1 year ago
@KnightOwl2006 Not really.
He was acting with the information he had at hand. In his mind he had weakened both flanks of the union line so that reinforcements must have been drawn from the center.
Shellshock1918 10 months ago
also remember that the jackson/lee relationship was not really a close one..jackson was a proud man and when he marched down to the penisula he considered himself as an independent army commander specifically the army of the valley..pope blew it at second manasas
pdogone1 2 years ago
By the way, at the end of the video you are a little too far south from where the focus of Longstreet's attack was centered.
RebelYank 3 years ago 2
as a member of soskan in the uk whom could not get over there last year for the big one this video brings home the enormous task the rebles had! great video by a fellow brit! well done.
16lydgate 3 years ago
Comment removed
16lydgate 3 years ago
lee never should not haveattacked he could of retreated and make the union soildiers to follow them and get entrenched in like fredricksburg cause it would make them in a line and under heavy fire
dalejrgal8 3 years ago
The only one who can be blamed for the failed attack is Lee. With the Army of the Potomac situated in those positions supported by artillery, it was impossible for 12,000 men to carry the battlefield. You'd think he would have learned an important lesson at Malvern Hill and Antietam where federal artillery rocked his infantry.
garneroutlaw 3 years ago
Maybe if Ewell did not become a pussy after Jackson was killed then Lee would not have found himself in position to have to make that attack that day. That hill would of been took the previous day, and the North would of lost at Gettysburg.
Lee had no choice, he had to make the attack. He could of pulled out but what he learned from Antietam was a wasted invasion of the North because of a check between armies. The Union was nearly unlimited, Lee could of turned by the entire campaign..
Bhobbs1985 3 years ago
Would have became pointless. Obviously if he didnt he probably would of lost less, but I can see why he was pressured into doing so. Lee felt his army was invincible but the loss of General Jackson proved to be to much of a hit on the Army.
Bhobbs1985 3 years ago
@Bhobbs1985 What are you talking about? Jackson was killed at Chancellorsville during the Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania campaign, not at Gettysburg, or were you just not being clear? But it's true that Lee was never the general he had been prior to Stonewall's death. Jackson was a hell of a tactician, as it turned out, and brave as they come. Lee was great--I'm not taking anything away from him, but he was never the same after losing Jackson. Thank goodness, that slave-owning piece of crap.
rickcee 1 year ago
@rickcee I was not clear. I am saying Jackson being lost months prior at Chanceslorsville was a direct cause of the loss at Gettysburg. Ewell who hesitated when Lee ordered it multiple times cost them the heights on Little Round top. Jackson would have had/took the hill. Day two would of ended in a victory rather than a stalemate or such great loss and Picketts charge would have never even came into play. The federals would have been gone. Lee was fighting like he had Jackson, and it cost them.
Bhobbs1985 1 year ago
@Bhobbs1985 Ah. Well, of course while it's impossible to know for sure that with Jackson at G'burg Confederate troops would have won the race to Little Round Top, but it's a fair assumption I suppose. In any case, the South had been the superior army to this point, and the worm turned at G'burg. I do agree that HAD the Confederates taken Little Round Top, and especially if they'd won the charge up the hill against Chamberlain's Maine troops, Pickett would never have had to charge.
rickcee 1 year ago
@garneroutlaw Yep. Once they switched from ball shot to canister shot at Cemetery Ridge, those cannons just filled the sky with Confederate blood. It was truly carnage. In many of the retaliatory volleys of cannon fire, entire lines of Confederates were taken out with one canister. Absolutely brutal. Well, as I always say--if you wanna own slaves, you gotta get blown up LOL. Seriously, though, it was a valiant effort by very brave Confederate soldiers who were poorly commanded that evening.
rickcee 1 year ago
Interesting images ;) I'm very interested in American Civil War, but, as i'm French, the Gettysburg Battlefield is a bit far for me to visit. Thanks for sharing this.
jerrymail 3 years ago 8
Ha yeah whats an ocean and some odd 200 miles from you, is a battlefield that is about 85-95 miles west of where I live in Pennsylvania. Its a GREAT battlefield to visit, if your ever over here in the usa in Pennsylvania, definitely try to make it to Gettysburg. I too have been very interested in the civil war since a very young age, mostly because my father was a civil war reenactor for quite a few years.
noacole 3 years ago
I don't know exactly why this war interest me so much...It's not very known here. For most of French people, Civil War is "Gone with the Wind" or "Noth and South". I really enjoyed the movie "gettysburgto see al these reenactors on the battlefield was really impressive. One of the best war movies i have ever seen. Shame little round Top was..not Little Round Top but this is one of my favorite scenes. The "Pickett Charge" was the most impressive for me. All these poor guys dying, this is sad too
jerrymail 3 years ago
@jerrymail I've walked the field also. Very rewarding. There is an excellent different account of the Charge in my new book - GETTYSBURG... OTHER TIMES
It is a great page-turning read and full of intrigue and revelation.
You can get your copy from my YouTube site (GETTYSBURGbook) or search Amazon or eBay.
GETTYSBURGbook 1 year ago
@GETTYSBURGbook Just ordered the book. Thanks.
DigbyCat 1 year ago
Notice the quiet. I can only imagine the noise on July 3rd,1863.
hollywoodwerewolf 3 years ago
When the Confederate fired 150 cannons it was heard in Pittsburg.
rebel2276 3 years ago 3
Very nice tutorial and thanks!
cleftronix 4 years ago
It was a long walk back if you were wounded, plus you had to climb back over the fences. Imagine doing that on one leg, or maybe on your hands.
Rhenoism 4 years ago
The majority of the Confederates captured were wounded. Of the 12,000ish Confederates 50% never came back. At Fredericksburg, the Union lost 8,000 men and not one ever reached the stonewall at Marye's Heights.
rebel2276 3 years ago
Pickett slaughtered his own people forcing them to march towards that blasted fence line. that misjudgment as a General was unforgivable. theres no second chances in War.that happens when you get an Insurance Agent to run an Army.
Chokula99 3 years ago
Pickett was a division commander, there were two other divisions in the attack (Pettigrew and Trimble.) All under the command of Longstreet.
Lee put Longstreet in charge of the attack. Longstreet put in a half-ass job and got a half-ass result. Longstreet never put in the "reserve." Wright-Posey-Mahone-Thomas brigades were to go in.
rebel2276 3 years ago
well finishing what I was saying about Pickett for example other Generals died doing cleaver movements that cost their own lives like Stonewall Jackson,hell even General Custer(which has nothing to do with this) later in history died with his men trying to do something cleaver and arrogant you go down with your men and leave no men behind or draw back for the sake of your brethren.but this guy came back without a scratch prob hidden behind a rock while everything happened.
Chokula99 3 years ago
Jackson was mortally wounded because his staff and Jackson scouted the Union position at Chancellorsville late at night. This was no "clever" movement.
Custer did not listen to his Indian scouts who told him there were many thousands of Indians out there. Custer did not listen and thus paid the ultimate price.
rebel2276 3 years ago
Jackson was a fool to die the way he did... That sort of job is done by scouts or staff officers... not the commander. (look at Lee's job in mexico... scouting for the Commanding general) If he ahd stays back and let his scouts do it, things might have gone defrent.
On his good days jackson was brilliant... on his bad days, like 2.mannassas he was avarage at best...
thomasbaagaard 3 years ago
You're saying his performance at the Battle of Second Manassas was average? He held off 50,000 Union soldiers with his one corps. You could make a case for his performance during the Seven Days fighting being mediocre, but he was most likely mentally exhausted because it was just a week or after his supber Valley campaign.
RebelYank 3 years ago
I didn't mention the Seven days exactly because because he (and his men) was exhausted. understandanly.
On the second day of 2nd manassas he didn't support longstreet as you could have expected of him.
On the first day,, he did a good job...
But figting a defensive fight 2:1 was something many commanders did thoughout the war with succes...
I think a commanders bad days says more about him, than his good days. Jackson was still a good commander on a bad day and brilliant on his good days.
thomasbaagaard 3 years ago
Comment removed
RebelYank 3 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
That's because by the end of the second day, Jackson's corps had been completely fought out. And when Longstreet counter-attacked on the third day, Jackson really had nothing left to help him with.
RebelYank 3 years ago
Wise words - and this concept extends to the men too - on any given day a man could be heroic and make a stand against all odds and on others he would run in panic. the lionisation of lee and jackson gives us a distorted picture of history - they were undoubtedly brilliant commanders and also noble and honest men but they did make some costly errors. They were men like you and I, no more and no less. They did what they felt was right at the time.
bunterx 2 years ago
You mean Glendale during the Seven Days- not 2nd Manassas. Both Longstreet and Jackson performed well there.
MetallicaRunner1 2 years ago
wow that is cool
Companyman55 4 years ago