Acoustic Fiddle by Ashokan Farwell The Battle of Gettysburg:

A Turning Point in the Civil War

Acoustic Fiddle by Ashokan Farwell July 1, 1863
I am standing at the corner of Knoxlyn Video
Rd. and Chambersburg Pike, just three
miles northwest of Gettysburg. It is here
on July 1, 1863 at 7:30 AM where the
first shots were fired at the Battle of
Gettysburg
The shot was fired by Captain Marcellus
Jones of the 8th Illinois Cavalry

lead by Major General Buford,

on Major General Heth’s division of

Lieutenant General AP Hill’s Corps.

It is here where General Robert E. Lee’s

Army of Northern Virginia met
Major General George Meade’s Army of
the Potomac.

Following the first shots, at 10:00 AM,

Major General Reynolds of the Union
and two brigades arrived on the scene to
back up Buford’s Cavalry,

, while Major General Ewell’s division of

the Confederacy arrived and joined Hill’s
Corps.

Soon after Reynolds would fall after

being shot in the head by a rebel sniper.

General Lee arrived with the rest of the

army at 2:00 PM and ordered the attacks
to continue.
Hours after the arrival of General Lee,
Major General Hancock of the Union
would also arrive and assume command
of the fallen Reynolds Corps

and order a fortification stretching from

Culp’s Hill, through Cemetery Ridge, to
Little Round Top, however; Little Round
Top was only occupied by a few single
men with muskets.

After seeing the Union troops form a

fortification, Lieutenant General
Longstreet of the Confederacy, urges Lee
to assume a defensive position and halt
attacking to fight another day

Lee does not listen and presses the attack

only to get know where

Drums July 2, 1863

The Second day of battle would result in Video
much the same way for the south as the
first day did, but this time instead of
being held back at Culp’s Hill and
McPherson Ridge, they would be held
and pushed back from here, Little Round
Top, by Colonel Chambers and the 20th
Maine.
On July 2, 1863 Lee orders General
Longstreet to attack the left of the union
line

while General Ewell attacked the other

end of the line at Culp’s Hill. Both
efforts would get the confederacy
nowhere.

By this time Meade had became aware

that he had no troops covering Little
Round Top,

so he ordered Syke’s Brigade to occupy

the hill,

including the 20th Maine

commanded by Colonel Joshua

Chamberlin.
The main battle occurred at Little Round
Top at 4:00 PM

with the Texas Brigade led by General

Hood

Hood who ordered Brigadier General

Law to push forward from Devils Den
and up Little Round Top.

Brigadier General Law attacked with the

15th Alabama

under the command of Colonel Oates.

Oates pushed his men up the hill only to

be held by the opposing Union forces just
arriving consisting of Colonel
Chamberlin and the

20th Maine. Oates pressed again and

again, being held off every time by
Chamberlin and the 20th Maine.
At 7:00 PM in a desperate defensive
Chamberlin gave the order, “bayonets!”
The 20th Maine charged down Little
Round Top, taking the hill from the
confederacy, and claim the day.

Drums July 3, 1863

The third and final day of battle caused Video
Lee to make a decision that would haunt
him for the rest of the war. I am standing
here at Seminary Ridge where Lee
ordered Pickett’s Charge, a one mile
march from Seminary Ridge to the Union
forces at Cemetery Ridge. Behind me
you can see the incredible distance the
Confederates had to cover while being
fired upon in the open field. This march
ended in disaster for the South.

On the Early hours of June 3, 1863 Lee

begins attacks on Culp’s Hill still gaining
no ground.

In a desperate attempt to win the battle

Lee devises a plan to have Major General
Pickett march his brigade one mile from

Seminary Ridge to Cemetery Ridge

. Prior to the march the confederate
artillery would shoot 140 cannons at
Cemetery Ridge at 1:00 PM to weaken
the Unions attack. This signaled the
confederates to prepare for the attack.
. In response the Union would fire their
cannons back, totaling over 250 cannons
being fired, the greatest concentration of
artillery for one purpose in North
America. This lasted for two hours.

Once artillery fire began to diminish

Pickett prepared his men and began the
one mile march to Cemetery Ridge.
Moments after the march began the
Union artillery began firing again tearing
great gaps in the confederate line.
As the confederates approached the union
line, union infantry opened up fire, killing
and wounding several confederates. The
battle progressed into hand to hand
combat with bayonets, lasting for an hour.
The outnumbered and beaten
confederates fell back leaving 7,500 men
lying on the field of battle. Lee rode out
to meet the surviving men, to take blame
for what had happened.

“All of this has been my fault. It is I who lost

this fight.” – General Robert E. Lee
The Battle of Gettysburg marked a Video
turning point in the Civil War, which led
to the Union defeating the Confederacy
and causing them to surrender at
Appomattox. The battle of Gettysburg
had over 50,000 casualties, and is still the
bloodiest battle to date fought on U.S
soil.

Civil War, by Guns N Roses Directed and Produced By:

Scott Eskew
Civil War, by Guns N Roses

Civil War, by Guns N Roses Filmed By: Jim Eskew

Civil War, by Guns N Roses

Civil War, by Guns N Roses Narrated By: Scott Eskew