The Battle of Gettysburg
...ling fields, dismounted his cavalry for a showdown with Major General Henry Heth's infantry division. Deployed to the west of Gettysburg to slow Heth's advance, the 2,700 dismounted troopers, firing rapidly with their weapons, stalled the 7,500 Confederates for one crucial hour. Colonel Thomas Devin's and Colonel William Gamble's cavalry brigades fought ferociously under mounting pressure, and held on long enough for infantry reinforcements to arrive from Major General John Reynolds' I Corps. Reynolds became the ranking Union commander when he arrived on the field, and he never gave retreat a thought. Like Buford, he recognized the importance of holding the high ground south and east of Gettysburg. Within an hour and at Reynolds' urging, the famous Iron Brigade quick-timed onto the field and slammed into Heth's Rebels. Reynolds' decisiveness in committing his troops without delay was the last contribution he would make for his country. Within minutes of arriving on the field, directing sorely needed reinforcements to Buford's hard-pressed cavalry, this excellent general fell, struck behind the ear. Major General Abner Doubleday then became the senior officer on the field. Doubleday's performances before and after Gettysburg can best be described as mediocre. On July 1, however, he fought the battle of his life. The fury of this first day's fighting is often overshadowed by the carnage of July 2 and 3, but Doubleday did not hesitate to commit all the troops he had on hand in a desperate attempt to blunt the Confederate attack. These Federal regiments, charging under the leadership of Major Edward Page and Lt. Colonel Rufus Dawes, finally captured close to 1,000 prisoners in Gettysburg's infamous unfinished railroad cut. History does not usually treat the fourth Union commander of the day, Major General Oliver Howard, kindly. His XI Corps was disgraced at Chancellorsville by Stonewall Jackson's famous flank attack on May 4, 1863, less than nine weeks prior to this fateful Pennsylvania day. Many historians even treat Howard's performance on July 1 harshly. Yet the fact remains that Howard, like Buford, Doubleday, and Reynolds before him, saw that the ground at Gettysburg was the best the AOP could hope for in their death struggle with the ANV. Leaving a division under Brigadier General Adolph von Steinwehr in reserve on Cemetery Hill south of Gettysburg, Howard rushed the rest of his winded men, who had come into Gettysburg on the run, to meet a new threat from Lieutenant General Richard Ewell sweeping down from the North of town. To this end Howard succeeded admirably, holding back the Confederates. Howard's men, partly because of their reputation gained from Chancellorsville, are treated with contempt because they eventually retreated through the streets of Gettysburg. The fact remains, however, that the XI Corps took 2,900 casualties on this crucial day of fighting. The ground they gave up was covered in their blood, and the XI Corps, by delaying the Confederate advance, saved the Union position on Cemetery ridge. Without Cemetery Ridge, a Union victory at Gettysburg would have been impossible. As the sun began to dive toward the western horizon, the fifth general to assume command of the Federal forces arrived: Major General Winfield Hancock. Arguably the best Corps commander in the AOP, his first task was to tactfully assume command from Howard. Howard protested on these grounds, but Meade had specifically placed Hancock in command until the army commander himself could arrive, and with good reason. The newly arrived Hancock quickly ordered the critically important Culps Hill, the extreme right of the Federal line; to be reinforced before the Confederates could mount an attack. Hancock's commanding presence rallied the nearly spent bluecoats, and a defensive line on Cemetery Hill, including Culps Hill was secured. The AOP had fought better than they had ever fought before. This record was short-lived however, for on Day 2 uncommonly desperate fighting would be commonplace. Meade himself arrived at the battle a few minutes after midnight, July 2. This sixth and final commander of Union forces at Gettysburg would rely upon his valiant men, both the officers and the men in the ranks, to hold back the demonic fury about to descend upon them. On a day when leadership and bravery was everywhere along the Federal line, it is perhaps unfair to single out one man's action in saving the Union on July 2. Yet, Brigadier General Gouverneur Warren did save the day for the North. Noticing that Little Round Top held the key that would unlock the security of the Federal line if taken by the Rebels, and noticing that the hill was literally undefended, Warren, on his own initiative, frantically searched for reinforcements. Even Major General George Sykes reacted quickly to Warren's appeal on this all-important day. He ordered a brigade from his V Corps to rush to Little Round Top. The brigade turned out to be that of Colonel Strong Vincent, who took it on his own initi...