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Home , Big Round Top, Joshua Chamberlain, Little Round Top

Little Round Top, July 2,1863 James H. Hillestad recounts the significance of this eminence in the

s is make a demonstration against intimately identified with Culp’s Hill to the north. This was the battle of Gettysburg Lee’s accustomed style -- to set so is up his opponent for the knockout identified with the Confederate punch he planned to throw with repulse at Little Round Top. There his right. It worked at Manassas, are some who question whether and he believed it would work undue emphasis has been accord- again. ed to both. Lee ordered his “Old Warhorse,” The Background Lt. General , A brief review of the confronta- to advance up the Emmitsburg tion on July 2, 1863, is in order. Road, and, moving from south to On July 1, the Confederates had north, roll up the Union left flank. pushed Union forces off Seminary Reporting to Longstreet was Major Ridge, forcing them to regroup General John B. Hood,, and to on about a mile him reported Brigadier General feet above the battlefield, and E.M. Law. All three generals voiced away -- in the process, abandon- TOP its southwest slope was essen- their objections to Lee’s plan. They ing the town of Gettysburg. Little Round Top tially bare of trees, studded with The newly-formed Union lines (2 feet by 4 feet) argued for a flanking offensive boulders and rocks. Big Round around the Round Tops: scouts resembled an upside-down fish- Top rose another 135 feet, but hook, with its barbed end curving had reported that the country was tree-covered. Between the south of the hills was unoccupied from Culp’s Hill through Cemetery two was a shallow, 80-foot-high Hill, and the shank running south and that General Meade’s far left ABOVE “saddle.” along Cemetery Ridge to the eye was wide open. Despite repeat- Generals Hood, Confederate Offensive ed appeals, Lee persisted in his of the hook on the rocky promi- Longstreet, and Lee’s plan on July 2 was for his nence of Little Round Top and its Lee -- divergent tactical plan. He was heard to say First Corps to attack the lower end companion . strategies of the Union forces: “I am going of Cemetery Ridge to the south, Little Round Top rose about 170 to whip them, or they are going to while the Second Corps would whip me.” 24 FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY

his aide-de-camp (who, after the war, was instrumental in building the Brooklyn Bridge). As Warren examined the surface of the crest with a critical eye, he saw that it was narrow from front to rear, al- most inaccessible to artillery pieces and that its rough, rocky surface would make it difficult to bring in and work artillery. Nevertheless, the decision was made, and the order was given. “Let the guns come up!”

ABOVE Defending Little Round Top Lt. Hazlett’s In support marched Battery D, 10-pounder Parrott 5th U.S. Artillery, commanded by rifles are manhan- dled into place 24-year-old West Point artillerist Lt. Charles Hazlett. There are moments in the history of wars that conjure up the past. Such a LEFT one came now for D Battery. The Generals Meade battery was the lineal descendent and Warren blunt of Alexander Hamilton’s famed the Confederate company of artillery, the oldest offensive Meanwhile, behind the a “little hill” at the extreme left of unit in the Army. Union Lines the Union position on Cemetery Eighty-seven years before, on a The Chief Signal Officer of Ridge. As the military historian day as cold as this July afternoon the Army of the Potomac was Harry Pfanz put it, “Warren in BELOW RiGHT was hot, young Captain Hamilton Brigadier General Gouverneur K. carrying out Meade’s request rode The highly visible had led the forebear of this bat- signal station Warren. Warren was dispatched to prominence and a small place tery through the snow to Trenton by General Meade to reconnoiter in history.” in the American Revolution. Warren found the hill, which became known as Little Round WIG-WAG SEMAPHORE Top, occupied by only a signal station. He saw that the height of A signal flag varied in size the hill was “the key to the whole from two feet by two feet position.” So long as Little Round to six by six. Each square Top was in Union hands, Cemetery flag had a white, black, Ridge was likely to be secure. On or red background, with a the other hand, if the Confeder- center square in a contrast- ates commanded it, the Union line ing color. The flag was held was in jeopardy. overhead between signals At Warren’s request, the sig- and was then dipped from nalmen stayed on and continued one to four times -- to the to wave their flags -- to give the right, left, or front of the illusion that there was a formida- signalman -- to indicate ble force on Little Round Top. letters of the alphabet. Accompanying Warren was FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY 25

UNION SHARPSHOOTER

These very ef- Getting the guns to the crest fective marksmen was a feat in itself. The gun teams came to be referred started up the back side of the RIGHT to as . The hill at a trot -- spurs and whips Berdan’s word “” vigorously applied by the drivers. Sharpshooters, traces its origin to As they neared the crest, the Summer-Fall, 1863, a kind of shore- Don Troiani guns were unlimbered and lifted, bird, the snipe. A pushed, and pulled into position. master at remaining Even General Warren was said to unseen due to its have lent a hand. remarkable camou- flage, the snipe flies in a zigzag pattern and has been clocked at 60 miles per hour. LEFT The snipe was a popular game bird with old-time British snipe Colonel Joshua hunters, because of the extreme expertise required to shoot them. Chamberlain and his brother Tom review The military adopted the term “sniper” to describe a highly qualified their limited options marksman clothed in superlative camouflage.

Brigade, First Division, 5th Army Here, he was joined by a dozen Corps, responded. On his own men from the Second U.S. Sharp- initiative, he moved his four shooter Regiment. regiments onto the crest of Little The Battle is Joined Round Top. In the fight for Little Round Top, The 20th Chamberlain and the 20th Maine Colonel Patrick O’Rorke’s 140th Vincent ordered Colonel Joshua went head-to-head with Colonel New York infantry climbed the Chamberlain to position the 20th William Oates and the 15th Ala- hill with Hazlett’s Battery, pushing Maine on the extreme left, and bama Regiment. and hauling the guns (10-pounder RIGHT The colors of the said to him: “You understand. Parrott rifles, each weighing 1,800 20th Maine Hold this ground at all costs!” The pounds). When they reached remaining three regiments of the the crest of the hill, the 140th brigade would be in line to the plunged down its western face, right of the 20th. driving the Confederates back BELOW Chamberlain deployed Captain down the slope. Colonel William Walter G. Morrill and Company Warren sent for more troops Oates leads the B as skirmishers to the front, to to man the hill. Colonel Strong 15th in the screen the 20th front and left. Vincent, commanding the Third attack

Vincent’s brigade had no reserve. Chamberlain had to guard the brigade left with the 20th Maine alone. He ordered the regiment to extend its front, and the 20th’s nine companies stretched to a single rank. The regiment had but 28 officers and 358 men present for duty on Little Round Top. The Alabamians came on with yells and a crash of musketry again and again. The opposing lines seesawed up and down the slope, as the Alabamians drove the Maine men from their posi- tion five times -- and were forced back again five times. In less than 26 FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY DID YOU KNOW? BERDAN SHARPSHOOTERS Interestingly, a line drawn between the capitals of Maine The Union sharpshooters were and Alabama would pass the brainchild of Colonel Hiram directly over their respective Berdan. This was an elite group regiments on Little Round Top. of hand-picked marksmen comprising two regiments, the sharpshooters resulted in diverting 1st and 2nd U.S. Sharpshoot- two Alabama regiments (the 15th ers. The men were from eight and 47th) away from the main states, and each was capable thrust of the Confederate attack. of putting 10 consecutive shots This was critical to the Union vic- into a target not more than tory. Oates went on to say “but five inches from the center of for this service on your part, we a bullseye -- from a distance of would have swept away the Union 200 yards. In their distinctive line and captured Little Round green uniforms, they not only Top.” instilled fear in their opponents, The men of the 20th drove the they easily melted into the foli- Confederates across the saddle age of the battlefield. Two men and a short way up the slop of in each company wore metal Big Round Top. When Cham- spikes that could help them berlain counted noses, he found climb into trees. Armed with only about 200 of his men fit for the Sharps .52 calibre breech- action. loading rifle, the sharpshooters were able to deliver ten shots The Aftermath per minute, with devastating So, to the accolades accorded to struck. At his command, the men results, at long range. Joshua Chamberlain, we should fixed bayonets. The left wing of add tribute to General Warren. an hour and a half, 40,000 shots the 20th Maine, bayonets fixed Under his initiative, Little Round were fired on that slope. Saplings and leveled, charged down the Top was defended, and held. Also halfway up the hill were gnawed hill, and wheeled right, sweeping deserving their place in history are in two by bullets. It seemed that the Confederates before it. When Colonels Vincent and O’Rorke and the muzzles of the opposing guns the left wing came abreast of the almost touched. right, the whole line pivoted on When the Alabamians fell back the 20th’s right companies. toward the base of the hill to The 20th Maine benefited reform their lines, the Maine men immeasurably from the U.S. worked to bring their wounded Sharpshooters in the woods below within their position. They also Big Round Top. They opened a threw together small breastworks ferocious fire into the flank and of wood and stone, none of rear of the advancing Alabamians. which were more than 18 inches Colonel Oates gave the command high. to change direction to the right to Chamberlain could not fall back, deal with this threat. and the regiment’s ammunition In a postwar letter to Colonel was almost gone. He determined H.R. Stoughton of the 2nd U.S. that, to survive, he would have Sharpshooters, Colonel Oates to strike before the regiment was wrote that the effectiveness of the Lt Hazlett, who contributed much to saving the day, at the cost of ABOVE their own lives. Topographic And what of the significance elevations guide the construction of the of Little Round Top? Some have diorama said that if the Confederates had seized the hill and populated it with their artillery, they would have enfiladed Meade’s position LEFT and made it too unhealthy for him The 5th Texas joins the assault on the to remain there. Union positions This however is countered by the shape and narrowness of the hill’s crest, which faced west. The guns would have to be placed one behind the other to engage the Union lines to the north on Cemetery Ridge -- thus drastically limiting their effectiveness. And if the Confederates had succeed in capturing the hill, FOOTNOTES TO HISTORY 27

Jim Hillestad is a frequent contributor to The Standard and is proprietor of The Toy Soldier Museum. His museum, The Battle of Little Round Top was they would have been reduced ABOVE containing more than 35,000 an epic struggle within an epic in numbers to 2,700 exhausted Little Round Top figures and a large collection today, looking west struggle, and a classic illustration men, short on ammunition. In of militaria, is located in of the Duke of Wellington’s com- contrast, 11,600 fresh Union rein- RIGHT the Pocono Mountains of ment that “the whole art of war forcements were available within General Warren’s northeastern Pennsylvania. consists in getting at what is on a mile. statue on Little For directions and hours, call When it was all over, out of the Round Top stands the other side of the hill.” on the summit, at him at 570 629-7227 or total number of 4,864 troops en- the spot where he visit his website: gaged, one in four was a casualty. made his crucial www.the-toy-soldier.com observation