Tycho

This picture was taken a few yards to the right of the famed "Copse of Trees" that was the objective of Pickett's Charge on July 3rd, 1863. For me, it's hard to see 13,000 men come out from the trees in the distance and march across an open field into devastating fire. There are accounts which state that in many cases, entire RANKS of men would drop dead at the same time, and form perfect rows...I just can't see that...too destructive, I think. Anyways, to show how bad the fire was, of the 13,000 Confederates engaged, only 6,000 came back...Gettysburg is a thought provoking place...

Edit: and for those who are interested, I am standing near where the Confederates broke through Union lines, under Gen. Armistead--about twenty yards behind me is the marker that shows the place where he was mortally wounded. At this point, the 12th, 15th, and 19th Massachusetts regiments fixed bayonets and charged the Confederates who had broken through.

I have to admire the 1st Minnesota Regiment (272 men), who on July 2nd, under the orders of General Hancock, fixed bayonets and charged an entire brigade of Alabamans (850 men or so). Of 272 Minnesotans, only 47 were left standing at the end of the engagement, but they beat back the Confederates, despite the disparity in numbers.

Ok, more pictures later, but with shorter captions and less Civil War trivia which I will forget within two days.