Goodbye Boys! Goodbye! : A Walking Guide to the High Water Mark, Gettysburg, July 2-3, 1863

by McDonald, Joanna M.

• ISBN13: 9781572491045
• ISBN10: 1572491043
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: White Mane Pub

Summary

For over 130 years the High Water Mark has stood as a reminder of the dramatic events of July 3, 1863. Though the famous Confederate attack has long been known as "Pickett's Charge, " the men who participated in the actions of July 2 and 3 on Cemetery Ridge also deserve recognition. This book sets forth the words and deeds of those individuals.

The regimental historian of the 19th Massachusetts wrote of the hand-to-hand combat of July 3: ."..Hatless, coatless, drowned in sweat, black with powder, and blin with dust, with fiendish yells and strange oaths they blindly piled the work of slaughter." And, in a letter home, one Virginia captain sadly stated: "We gained nothing but glory, and lost our bravest men." Herein lies their story.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	viii
Houses near and on Cemetery Ridge	viii
Summary of Wednesday, July 1, 1863	xii
Lee and His Generals Take the Initiative	xiii
Meade Deploys the Union Army	xiv
Intersection of Pleasonton and Hancock Avenues	1	(19)
The Battle for Cemetery Ridge, July 2	2	(5)
Summary of July 2	7	(1)
The Final Assault: ``...if Lee attacked him tomorrow, he (Lee) would try the centre.''	8	(2)
The Battle Resumes, Friday Morning	10	(1)
The Artillery Duel: July 3, 1:00-3:00 p.m. ``...frightened out of our wits...''	11	(9)
Vermont Monuments	20	(6)
The Advance: ``I shall lead my division forward.''	20	(3)
Collision: ``...determined to slay the very last man...''	23	(3)
Cemetery Ridge, near Monument of 1st Independent New York Light Artillery Battery, Cowan's Battery	26	(3)
``...Perfectly redicklous [sic]...''	26	(3)
``The Angle''	29	(4)
``...give 'em the cold steel, boys.''	29	(4)
Copse of Trees	33	(3)
``...they blindly plied the work of slaughter...''	33	(3)
Cannon of 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, Battery A	36	(5)
``...shrieks of the wounded and groans of the dying filled the air...''	36	(5)
Bryan's Farm	41	(5)
``...they fell like wheat before the garner...''	41	(5)
Aftermath	46	(2)
``...it is a heartbreaking sight...''	46	(2)
Summary of Friday, July 3	48	(6)
``...We gained nothing but glory...''	48	(2)
Appendix I
Casualties on Cemetery Ridge, July 2-3 Confederate	50	(2)
Union	52	(2)
Appendix II	54	(1)
``Captured'' Confederate Flags	54	(1)
Notes	55	(4)
Bibliography	59	(7)
Index	66