Gettysburg Confederate: The Army of Northern Virginia 1 July 1863 (Order of Battle Series 01)

100 Pages·1999·44.66 MB·English

by  James Arnold

r
I ORDER OF BATTLE
GETTYSBURG
JULY l 1863.
C0NFEDERATE:THE ARMY
'
OF NORTHERNV IRGINIA,
1
JAMB ARNOLD
AND ROBERTA WIENER
are US-bmrn keelan-
writera who have contributed
to numerous military
publleatlons. James m t
hls kmatlve years In
Europe and used the
opportun& to study the
dtes of historCc battlefields.
He has 15 published booka
to hls credlt, many of them
focusing on the Wapoleonic
eampalgns and the Amerlcan
Civil War. Roberta Wlener has
oo-authomd eevewl works
of hlstory and eclW history
and sclenca books, lneludlng
a children% eneyclopWla.
She also carrlea out archival
research on mllltary
history topics.
ETTYSBURG
JULY 1 1863
CONFEDERATE: THE ARMY
L
OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA
JAMES ARNOLD AND ROBERTA WIENER
Ftrst published In Gmt Bntain in 1998 by Osprey Publishing. Series style
Elms Court, Chapel W& Botley, Oxford 0x2 9LP Unlted Klngdom
Emall. inb@ospreypublishing mm
The style of presentatlcm adopted In the Mder of Battle series is designed to
B l998 Ravelin hrn~ted provide quickly the maximum ~nformsbonfo r the reader
Ewcluslve publlshlng @h$ Osprey Publ~shingL imited Order of Baale Und D~agrams- All 'actlve' unlts In the OREAT that is thorn
presant and engaw ed the battlefield are drawn In black. Those units not yet
All r~ghtsre served. Apart from any fair deal~ngfw the purpose of pnvate study,
research, crltlclsm or rwlw aa prmiited under the CwgM. Des~gnsa nd aalvad or those present on the battlefield krt unengaged are 'shadowd'.
Patents Act, lQ88, no part of thls publlcatlon may be mpcduced, stwsd in a
retrieval spm,o r transmitted in any farm or by any means, eledrmle, Unit Data Panels -Similarly, those unit&M I~aIr e present and engeged are
pmlded wlth company detalls for Infantry and cavalry bodies and wlth deta~lso f
eleclrlcal, chemical, mechan~caol, ptical, photooo(lying, remrding or otherwise,
the pleces far artiller)t
wllt~outth e prlw wmten permlsslon of the copylght owner, Enquir~ess hould be
addrassed to the Publishers -
Battlefldd Maps Unlts engaged are shown In the res#ectlvs mloum of their
amiee. Unlts shown 88 'shedcwed' am thona deploy& for baffle but not
engaged at the tlrne.
Onprey Serlss Edltw Lee Johnm
Ravelin Series Ediir: hhn Mmra
Research Co-ordinator: Dlane Mwre
Cartogmphy: Chapman Bounlord &Associates, London, Unlted Kfngdom Order of Battle Tlmellnes
Deaign: !4w.dln Llmlted, Bracabomugh, Llncolnshlre, UnW KKgdom
-
Originakn by Valhmn Ltd, Isleworth, Unltad Klngdom Baffl~P age Tlmelires Each wlume concerns the Order of Battle for the
Prlntsd In China through Wortdprtnt Ltd amim ~nmlved.R arely are the fomes avallaMa to a mmmander committed
Into actlon as per hlp DRBAT: To help the reader tollow the sequence of events.
a Timsline Is pmldad at the Mbm of eech 'belt*' page. Thls Timeline g k
the bllowlng infcfmatlow
FORD ETMCS OF ALL U WPUB USHEC BY &PEW MIL~~ARY
AND AwaTlON P W EW RITE TO: The top line bar defines tb actual Ume of the actlong bdng dsecrlbsd in that
bettle section.
Th% Marketing Manwr, Osprey Dimct, W Box 140, Welllngbolwgh, Northank,
NNE 424 Unlted Klngdom The middle line shows the time pwlod covered by the whole day'sa dlon.
Erns111: Inl#@osprsydinct.m.uk
The bottom llne indicates the page numbers of the ather, often interllnkd,
T kM arketing Maner,O spmy Direct USA, PO Box 130, Sterllng Helghta, MI actlonr covered In thla book.
48311 -01 36. USA
Editor's note
Key to Military Series symbols
Wherevsr poaslble prlrmy sources have been used In complllng the Lnformatbn
In thls volume. Total cawalt~sn oted qwnst regirnmts indicate approximate
numbers Itilled, wounded and miasinglmpbured during all three days at
Eettysburg.
Order of Bmte and dslalled skem data was used wlth parmsnn ff'Om
Regrmentel Smngths and Lasses at Oettysbum (Hightstwn, N.J. Longstnat
House, 1094) by John W Bumy and OavM G Martln.
CONTENTS
THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA
I CSA ARMY CORPS
McLaws' Division
Plekett's Dlvldon
Hood's Division
Reserve Artillery
II CSA ARMY CORPS
Early's Dlvlslon
Johnson's Division
Rodes' Dlvision
Reserve Artlllery
II CORPS' BATTLES -
Hasty Assault
Daniel Carries the Field
Early Intervenes
Pursuit
Ill CSA ARMY CORPS
Anderson's Division
Heih's Division
Pender's Division
Reserve Artlllery
Ill CORPS' BATTLES -
Disaster in the Morning
Afternoon Breakthrough - Heth Tries Again
-
Afternoon Breakthrough Pender Goes In
STUART'S CAVALRY DIVISION
WARGAMING GETTYSBURG - DAY 1
BIBLIOGRAPHY 96
m eT HE ARMY OF
m: -
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
E
5
Lee Marches North
P
n June 25, 1863, while en route to Gettysburg,
Robert E. Lee wmte to President Jefferson
Davis to describe the strategic concept
undergirding his invasion of the North: "It seems to me
that we cannot afford to keep our troops awaiting
possible movements of the enemy, but that our true
policy is. ..t o employ our own forces as to give
occupation to his at points of our selection." With this
statement Lee was articulating an offensive grand
strategy. He continued, "our concentration at any point
compels that of the enemy." Lee recognised that his
march north would compel the Federal army to follow.
A confrontation was certain to ensue. Given Lee's
preference for the tactical offensive, it was Iikely to
feature a Confederate attack.
The origins of the campaign grew out of the army's
great victory at Chancellorsville back in May. Although
it was already being hailed as 'Lee's masterpiece', Lee
himself was dissatisfied with its results. By his
assessment, the army had had an opportunity to
destroy Hooker's Army of the Potomac and had failed.
Hooker had managed to extricate his army and
retreat to safety behind the Rappahannock River.
It reminded Lee of his victory at Second Manassas,
another incomplete success due to the ability of the
Federal army to retire into the impregnable
Washington, D.C. defences.
As he pondered what to do after Chancellorsville, Lee
ached for a battlefield from which the Union army could
;
not escape by retiring behind either a natural or
manmade defence. Furthermore, the army had won at General Robert Edward Lee. He arrived on the
Chancellorsville without the presence of half of James battlefield some six hours after Heth's Division
I long street"^ I Corps. What it might accomplish when first deployed against the Union troops west of
fully concentrated excited the army commander. Gettysburg.
In mid-May Lee travelled to Richmond to meet with
Davis, For the past week he had been exchanging had to be done and proposed a second invasion of the
messages with the War Department regarding the North. It might or might not relieve the pressure in the
possibility of sending men west to help defend west, but in the past Lincoln had shown a special
Vicksburg. Lee firmly opposed the idea, saying "it sensitivity to threats to his capital by summoning
becomes a question between Virginia and the troops to its defence. Moreover, there was the chance
l
4 Mississippi." He acknowledged that something drastic that a victory gained north of the Potomac would
-
-
THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA GETTYSBURG July l
XXXX
LEE
I
3-
I I
XXX XXX
Ewell Hill
I I I I
mmm
Early Johnson Rode$ Atld9r~~fl Heth Pender
I I
L
Longstreet
Carter
m a m a
McLaws Pickett Hood Henry
actually lead to Washington's capture and foreign Gettysburg was a classic 'encounter' battle.
intervention on behalf of the Confederacy. Davis and On the first day, neither Lee nor Meade had all
his Cabinet reflected upon all of this and upon the fact their forces availabIe for action. From the evening
that since Lee had taken command of the Army of of July l,a s fresh divisions and brlgades reached
Northern Virginia he had never lost a battle. The Davis the battlefield, the options widened for both
government authorised Lee to march north. commanders, but less so for Lee. On the first day
When Stonewall Jackson died, Lee said, "I do not the absence of Stuart's cavalry, though only
know how to replace him." Rather than try, he decided 23 miles away, prevented the Confederate forces
from exploiting the Federal reverse after they
17 Staff and Field Officers were driven out of Gettysburg.
EscortlCouriers to abandon the army's two corps structure and create
39th Battalion Virginia Cavalry a triangular structure of three infantry corps with three
Major John Harvie Richadson divisions each. He believed that "our army would be
60 troops present for duty equipped invincible if it could be properly organised and
officered ."
Co. A Captain Augustus Pifer's Co. Lee retained the dependable Longstreet as comman-
Co. C Lee's Body Guard Co. B der of I Corps. He chose Richard Ewell to lead II
Corps. Ewell had served only briefly under Lee, but he
PEMNSY LVANlA
Brigadier-General
Wlliarn Nelson
Pendleton, a West
Point graduate, was
aged 13, sickly and
unsuftd for command
and yet remained a
LW favourite.
+ 1 Horse Artillery Battalion
knew that I1 Corps' soldiers liked and respected him. + l Independent Command
He considered Ewell 811 honest, brave soldier, who BRIGADE
has always don@h is duty well." He worried that EweIl
was accustomed to duse supervision and would now
have to exercise independent judgement. In confrast to
his tepid praise for Ewell was his attitude toward his
&mice to command Ill Corps, A.P. Hill.
In October 1862, Lee had described A.P. Hill as his
hest divisional commander and a man who "fights his
+OtDps well and takes gwd care of them." Hill marched
b Gettysburg possessing Lee's full confidence.
The amy had lost more than eighteen percent of Ik
sfmngth at Chancallorsville. It had been particularly
&cl hit by casualties among its mid-level command,
'Wo nly would two of the army's three infantry wrpS &her briefly or not at all in their present capacities-The
itarr under recently elevated officers, five of nine army's brigadiers were its acknowledged backbone.
dvisions were led by men who previously had served But six brigades were under new command and six
more were mmmarrded by colonels whom Lee judged
unready far promotion.
These deficiencies would become apparent at the
bame. But M the wen f the campaign Lee put his faith
in his vaunted rank and fife. He said, 'They will go
anywhere and do anything if properly led."
Lee also redistributed his artillery. He abolished the
general reserve and assigned five artillery battalions tcr
each of the three corps. Brigadier-General William
Pendleton retained his post as Chief (of Artillery, but it
now became a nominal assignment.
Skraes Cavalry gained three brigades of Virginia
cavalry in order to reinform his existing three.
Overall, the accretion of force, supplemented by
volunteers and conscripts, brought the Army of Virginia
atmost up to the strength it had enjoyed before the
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville campaigns.
In early June Lee began shiffing his any secretly
westward for a msrch up the Shenandoah and
Cumbedand Valleys. By holding the passes in the Blue
Ridge and South Mountains, he could screen his
advance and pmtth is supply line.
By June 17 the army was strung out over a 100-mile
distance. By June 24 R had closed up north of the
Potomac. After that it enjoyed easy, uneventful
marches until the encounter at Gettysburg.
K
THE h.JMY OF
"2 NORTHERN VIRGINIA
1
I CSA Army Corps
IC orps came into existence when Lee reorganised assaults, For Longstreet, promoted to lieutenant-
the army In 1862 after the Seven Days' Battles. general in October 1862, Fredericksburg was a tactical
While Jackson's EI Corps manoeuvred brilliantly to model showing how the Corps would compete with the
'
set up the opponent during the Second Manassas nurnericaZly superior Federal army.
I Campaign, it was 1 Corps that provided the powerful Half of the Corps was on detached service around
knockout punch. Suffolk, Virginia during the Chanmllorsville Campaign.
l
l
Lieutenant-General 16 Staff and Field Oiflcers
James Longstreet,
an undistinguished McLaws' and Anderson's Divisions remained with
student at West Point Lee's army.
and a former U.S. In the reorganisation fallowing Jackson's death, the
Army paymaster, at Corps shed Anderson's Division but. unlike the other
age 43 proved a skilled two infantry corps, otherwise remained intact. The
and fearless battlefield Corps' divisionaI command structure also enjoyed a
commander for the constancy unlike its sister corps. The same divisional
Confederates. leaders - McLaws, Hood, and Pickett - commanded
the same basic forces at Fredericksburg and at
I Gettysburg.
I
At the Batile of Sharpsburg, I Cops fought a bloody Officers and men trusted Longstreet. They understood
defensive battle, On this field, Lee greeted its corn- that while he was personally fearless on the battlefield,
mander, James P. Longstreet, wiZh a rare departure he believed victory came from thorough planning
from his usual reserve, embracing him with the words rather than reckless heroism. Longstreet, in turn, was
"Here's my old war-horse at last." By occupying good undoubtedly the most seasoned and reliable of Lee's
defensive ground at Fredericksburg, the Corps remaining lieutenants. While he supported Lee's bold
conserved Confederate lives and helped repel Union strategic offensives, he wanted to manoeuvre to
obtain a favourable defensive position that would
I CORPS compel a Union attack. In this predilection lay the
(not arrlved at Gettyshurg by the end of Sighting seeds for misunderstanding and disaster.
on July q) June 30 found Hood and McLaws at Greenwood,
Lieufenant-General James Longstreet about 14 miles from Gettysburg, and Pickett guarding
the rear at Chambersburg another 11 miles distant,
McLaws9D lvIslon
Major-General Lafayetfe MeLaws
PIckett3sD ivision
Major-General Gmrge Edward Pickett
Hood% Division
Major-General John Bell Hood
1 Corps Reserve Artillery
Colonel James Budge Waiton