The Fate of a Virginia Company at Pickett's Charge
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- 160 years ago today, July 3, 1863, Pickett's Charge ended after less than an hour with more than 8,000 casualties-6,555 Confederate and about 1,500 Union. The long list of killed, wounded and captured on the Southern side left a void from which the Army of Northern Virginia did not recover. It also impacted uncounted numbers of families and friends back home. I want to tell you about one of those casualties, 2nd Lt. John Vermillion of the 9th Virginia Infantry, and his Company I.
Read Vermillion's profile and other stories in "Gettysburg’s Honored Dead, Haunted Survivors" with an introduction by Harold Holzer: www.militaryim...
"Life on the Civil War Research Trail" is hosted by Ronald S. Coddington, Editor and Publisher of Military Images magazine. Learn more about our mission to showcase, interpret and preserve Civil War portrait photography at militaryimagesmagazine.com.
This episode is brought to you in part by The Excelsior Brigade, dealers in fine Civil War memorabilia. See their latest additions at excelsiorbrigade.com.
Image: Paul Russinoff Collection.
This personalization of civil war history is amongst the best of UA-cam and the internet. 2 of my relatives were in Pennsylvania units that stopped Pickett and his men, changing history and preserving our country. We in these times would do well to listen to the lessons of history.
My great-grandfather John Dodd was in Company A of the 19th Virginia. They were in Garnett's Brigade and ended up right in front of the stone wall. He later said "there warn 't nothing left but me and a mule". The major in his company was the senior officer still standing in the Division at the end of the charge. His Lieutenant, William Wood, wrote his memoirs in the 1890s, called "Memoir of Big I". Worth a look. My great-grandfather surrendered at Appomattox.
I will take a look!
@@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail Thanks! I would love to see any photos that anyone out there might have of Company A, 19th Va Infantry. They mustered in Charlottesville and were known as the Monticello Guard. Most of the survivors were captured at Saylor's Creek a week or so before Appomattox. Somehow John Dodd managed to make it all the way there.
Mine was three also albeit he was in the Blue of the 83d Pa,a Zouaves Unit.Fought at LRT on July 2 and lived to see the end at Appomattox.Incredible bravery on both sides...
May I ask how long did he live after war ?
Very well done. I love when an actual face and name is put on a histirical event
I'm late seeing your video. Thanks so much for sharing this story. My great great Grandfather Nathan T Bartley was a 2nd Lt in the 7th Virginia under James Lawson Kemper and he was wounded and captured at Pickett's charge and was held at the same prison camps and took the oath of legions and was paroled in Dec of 1865 and he came back to Orange county and died an old man. Thanks again.
Official losses for Pickett's Division at Gettysburg were 232 killed, 1157 wounded, 1499 missing, a total of 2888. Armistead lost 1191, Garnett lost 941, Kemper lost 731.
My 2nd great grandfather was in VA 8th Infantry. He was wounded in the side at Gettysburg. A very sad day.
My Great Grandfather was in the Minnesota First, the unit that captured the NVA battle standard (Stars & Bars) that to this day resides at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Sad that many perished at the their of countrymen but monumental because it heralded the beginning of the end...
My Great Grandfather was a Doctor and might have treated yours. He only had 1 year at a Medical School but was praised for his work. He wrote a book that my family cannot find, YET. We will.
Perhaps he should not have joined an unlawful rebellion.
@@michellejean11 They were lied to. Their Senators and Reps were all self elected wealthy Elite. They owned the Governors and News Papers. They told their people that Yankees were coming to take their land for factories etc. Slaves were $300 to $3000+. A small Farm was $100. Only the Biden's of the American South owned Slaves. 99% did not. If you stopped a Father and 2 Son's on the way to fight and told them all you wanted to do was free the Slaves (as stated in the 1776 Decl of Indep). They would has given you directions to the nearest Plantation and went back to plowing WITHOUT Slaves.
Great story of the common soldiers
Excellent video!
Brinkley knew... This is bravery beyond words. He stayed with his command despite the fears and vision of his own demise....
What surprised me was that eight members of the company managed to make it across that wide open space without being wounded, only to be captured. I'm guessing they were all near the stone wall when they were taken prisoner. Thanks for this interesting video.
Agreed, almost impossible for anyone to have survived...
I’m sure a lot of soldiers got captured when after they fired their musket. A vulnerable moment. Ex-GI Vietnam.
My great great grandfather was John ray from blue field Va. it’s said that he left in the spring of 62 with a small Calvary unit and was never heard from again
A great view into a soldier's story at Pickett's Charge
Excellent video but the Sound is Lacking quality. JJ
I have sword, revolver & documents of Lt. Daniel D. WHITLOCK, N.Y. State Volunteers. Where do I find info source ? Thanks. Chris.
Pickett sent 4,800 men up towards Cemetery Ridge. 800 came back. Roughly 83% of Pickett's Division were killed, wounded or captured.
Thank you.
General Longstreet was not a supporter of Picketts charge and several other of the actions at Gettysburg and Lee should have listened to him.
Who were the two other Brinkleys mentioned? Were Granville and Daniel, Mill's brothers? Of the three, one killed, one captured, and one survived. Amazing there were only 34 men left of Company I BEFORE the charge. If I remember, a full company was around 100 men.
Both sides used the same table of organization for infantry. A regiment had 10 companies of roughly 100 men each for a total of about 1,000 men per regiment. Most of the regiments had 800 to over 1,000 when they were raised. Camp life and campaigning took a deadly toll by disease. A regiment might lose a quarter to a third of its strength before it ever saw its first battle.
The confederates were better at feeding replacements to existing regiments, having started conscription in 1862. The union raised new regiments while veteran units withered away. Thus the confederate regiments at Gettysburg tended to be larger than the federal regiments. A veteran regiment of either army numbered between 250 to 450 men at Gettysburg. Divide that by 10 and you get companies of 25 to 45 men.
Two examples from the union side: The famed Irish Brigade of the union army's second had the three NY regiments reorganized as a battalion of six companies, two from each regiment. The 116th PA was added to bring them up to around 450 men. This was a brigade of four regiments which had an authorized strength of around 4,000 down to less than 500.
The 20th Maine was down to less than 200 men. They were fortunately augmented by about 180 men from the 2nd Maine who had unknowingly signed three year enlistment papers. Thus the left flank of the union line was held by a regiment that was on the large size for Gettysburg, but still less that 400 men..
Getting captured probably saved his life.
The odds are good he'd have stopped a bullet elsewhere.
Or, died of infection resulting from a wound.
Or starvation.
Or typhoid or any other uncontrollable disease like dysentery.
Had the Confederates broke thru the Cemetery Ridge then the Union backups Corps would still be there. And Wash D.C. was the most heavily defended city in the world in mid-1863. Where would have the Confederates got more supplies and ammo to continue on? And Vicksburg battle /siege was also decided that week. Who won that? Anyways, great video!
I agree that the United States would have been far from destroyed militarily, however Lee's invasion was a political calculation. There was a large contingent of northerners at the time who disagreed with the continued prosecution of the war (remember that Lincoln won the 1860 election due to the Democratic vote being split by multiple candidates), and their ranks only grew larger with every northern loss. The objective of the Army of Northern Virginia wasn't so much to destroy the Army of the Potomac, but to generate enough antipathy with Lincoln that he would either sue for peace or lose the 1864 election to a candidate who favored ending the war on terms favorable to the Confederacy. No one at the time could have foreseen at the time that General Grant would take the reigns of military affairs in the Eastern theater and bring Lee to his knees at Petersburg. Even with his army in dire straights defending Richmond, Lee still dispatched Jubal Early on a Northern raid during the summer of 1864 at least in part to accomplish the same task.
The theory was that if you break the back of the enemy his logistics and morale are in disarray. The North was showing signs of stress with, for example, the NY City draft riots.
Lee had no reserve to exploit a breech. Somehow he expected that attack to arrive at the Union center in strength sufficient not just to break the line, but to then turn into the flanks and induce a general retreat. It’s entirely understandable why Longstreet was so opposed - there was no realistic hope of success.
Speaking of reserves, there is some story about during Pickett’s charge, the troops on his flank did not advance, or didn’t advance as far, as they were supposed to - to support Pickett. At any rate, there was some poor coordination or other of the attack (not counting the late start, etc).
If the Confederate artillery had landed on target instead of landing harmlessly behind the Union line all those cannons firing double canister at the Rebs would not have been there so it could have turned out differently. Most people are quick to blame General Lee but the true fault lay in my eyes lies with the Confederate artillery commander...
Watler H Taylor, who was Lee's right hand man, is from Norfolk. He is also buried there.
I have noticed this before: Calvary is not Cavalry. This faux pas is not unique to you.
Otherwise thank you for your efforts to bring new insights and information to our awareness. Your work is significant and interesting.
1st Minnesota infantry Regiment. Now there is an example of a units sacrifice at Gettysburg.
Any Ideas of any other battles that took place that day?
Well, there was that affair going on out in Vicksburg.
At 1:00 ; "the end of the United States " , no the ANV would have marched back to Virginia and lived life as they pleased. Not some centralized government like we have today, telling you every move to make.
BULL. What is the government telling you to do? Go live your damned life.
As Lee said ! If you followed the orders I sent it would work when I sent them ! 430. That morning! Said to Pickett . After his remarks
Interesting retort by Lee to Pickett. I've never heard/read that.
3 Brinkleys. Wonder if they are related?
Sorry, but no way would the Union have died. If Lee HAD broken through, to what end? Even if his troops reached the top of the ridge, that small group of exhausted men would have had Yankees in their front, to their right and to their left. They would have been overwhelmed immediately. Lee’s strategy never did make any sense.
So even if the South would have won Gettysburg after the Union victory at Vicksburg and them seizing control of the Mississippi would the South really have won
Debated yet today
No. Gettysburg did not determine the outcome of the war. Gettysburg is significant because it represents the “high water mark” for the Army of Northern Virginia, the point at which the tide turned inexorably against the South. From that moment on Lee was on the defensive, growing ever weaker. A Confederate victory at Gettysburg would not have ended the war.
If the Confederate artillery was better - the charge might have succeeded. The South never had enough ammunition. I am fortunate that my second great grandfather John Walton of the Third Tennessee Infantry was captured a few days earlier at Bakers Creek during the Vicksburg campaign. He was paroled and thus, survived to father my great grandmother.
Good stuff.
Unsure if this guy was a good soldier or they had no other options (36 men in the company…slim ranks).
Good story tho. Enjoyed it
Lee lost his cool that day
Pickett was a jerque
My 2nd
Is this click bait? Your comment wildly exaggerates the significance of Gettysburg. Had the Confederates broken the line, Meade had fall back positions prepar4ed. Lee was in hostile territory with limited logistics win or lose he would have had to retire shortly. This campaign was to take the pressure off of Northern Virginia. Nothing that happened at Gettysburg was near as significant as the Union victories in the West, except maybe as a propaganda event. The Union Army in the East lost battle after battle and just bounced back, there is absolutely nothing that indicates a loss here would be any different. The North could stand the losses in material and men and the South could not, it is that simple.
The South lost the war after the first shot was fired. It was simply the application of overwhelming force and Grant and Lincoln understood that. The state of New York alone had more industrial production than the entire confederacy.
@@randallmunson2098 A lot of truth here, the only hope the South had was to drag out thwewar until the citizens of the North got tired of the war.
Be careful never to say anything bad about saint R.E. Lee. Even though he was not the super general he is held up to be. I get lots of flack when I say. Lee was made a general because of social status. He was Martha Washington's grandson, Lighthouse Harry Lee, Washington's right hand man. He was connected to one of the largest plantation complexes, 3 plantations and a couple hundreds slaves in Virginia. This was his right to rank, as it was for most of the south's commanders. If you owned slaves you were an officer, if you managed slaves as an overseer, you were a Sargent. And if you were unemployed because slaves work cheaper, well , you got to go first into the meat grinder. Because of this command structure, the south lost before it started.
Lee had a solid military career, prior to the Civil War.
@@feedyourmind6713 show me . Scott was from northern Virginia and propped Lee's career up. Lee never did anything to really warrant promotion.
@user-ho4nw5sf3w Graduated second in class at West Point, stills holds record of most Cadet points earned. As an Army Engineer, Lee spent the next 18+ years on numerous engineering jobs for the Army and government. All, as far as engineering jobs go, accomplished with professionalism and praise from superiors. The Mexican War put his engineering abilities into a combat situation, and on at lest three occasions his commanding officers gave his decisions high praise and credit for American victories. After the war he was assigned improvement of Baltimore defenses. Again, accomplished with high praise. Assigned Superintendent position at West Point 'til 1855, again with high praise from superiors. The guy was an engineer, why do you expect some Medal of Honor combat Audie Murphy? If you wish I'll continue with his damned amazing Generalship of an army that could barely feed and arm itself. And before you say that was because the Union had shiity Genls, I'll remind you it still took Grant nearly two years to defeat him. A solid military career, due the accolades it receives.
@@feedyourmind6713 yadda yadda yadda. He still lost the damn war
@user-ho4nw5sf3w Many a fine commander lost thru no fault of their own. Read a history book. And my comment was directed at someone with just a bit more brain power than "yadda yadda yadda".
Too much face-exiting out- this guy just wants to put his face on camera just like owner of Mint Mobil & Dave Thomas if Wendys always did. Now it’s”hey, I’m the owner of Mint Mobil…see my face, see my face, see me see me!’
I enjoy his up close presentation. It is not blackboard dry, distant, and droning.
The full frontal assault was the worst possible strategy that day. Lee slaughtered his army that day.
The Day 1 attack on the left was bungled. The Day 2 attack on the right got a late start (by battle standards of the day) and got lost before finally making the uphill attack. From all accounts, Lee determined thusly that the Union Center MUST be the weak point. Well. It WAS a futile slaughter as you and many who have commented here have stated.
Being the armchair strategist, I would have feinted Right while sending Pickett's freshly arrived Division onto the Left in a slide and attack a la Jackson. No reason Cemetery Ridge could not have been rolled back on Day 3.
Lee lost his mind. With all due respect
I am actually surprised the KIA numbers weren't higher. It seems most casualties were wounds. Is this due to the weapons? I would assume higher velocity bullets and Machine Guns, better artillery was the reason for such higher numbers in WW1 and WW2