The Confederate Flanks Picketts Charge, the Second Vermont Brigade and the 8th Ohio Infantry As the men from Picketts Division advanced on the right of the Confederate line and Pettigrews and Trimballs Brigades moved forward on the left, men from the Federal right and left took advantage of the swelling casualties and the shrinking number of Confederate moving towards them. After marching from Washington eighteen miles a day for seven days, Brigadier General George J. Stannards Vermont Brigade still had enough fight in them to play a key role in the repulse of Picketts Charge. As General Stannard said in his official report, After subjecting us for one and one-half hours to the severest cannonade of the whole battle, from one hundred guns or more, the enemy charged with a heavy column of Infantry, at least one Division, in close column by Regiments. The charge was aimed directly upon my command, but owing apparently to the firm front shown them, the enemy diverged midway, and came upon the line on my right. But they did not thus escape the warm reception prepared for them by the Vermonters. During this charge the enemy suffered from the fire of the 13th and 14th, the range being short...As soon as the change of the point of attack became evident, I ordered a flank attack upon the enemys column...at right angles to the main line of our army, bringing them in line of battle upon the flank of the charging Division of the enemy, and opened a destructive fire at short range, which the enemy sustained but a very few moments before the larger portion of them surrendered... On the Confederate left of the charge, the 8th Ohio played a similar role. Union Colonel Samuel S. Carroll reported, We were exposed to a great deal of cross-firing during the heavy cannonading of the 3rd, and kept up occasional skirmishing with the enemy up to the evening of that date, besides being annoyed by sharpshooters from the town, who had a flank fire upon us. The 8th Ohio retained their position in front of the extreme right of the Corps until after the severe fighting of the 3rd, when they were relieved, after being in front over twenty-four hours, and receiving the first of the attack of the 3rd, and maintaining their position until the line of the enemy was up with them, when they changed front, and opened fire on their flank, charging them and inflicting great damage. Too much credit cannot be given to both the Officers and men of that Regiment, as well as their gallant leader, Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Sawyer, and Captain Kenny, acting major. According to their monument which still guards the lines they defended, of the 209 men of the 8th Ohio who went into battle that day, 18 were killed, 83 wounded, and 1 went missing. As noted, just days prior to the Battle of Gettysburg, the men of Stannards Vermont Brigade endured a forced march towards the small Pennsylvania crossroads under a relentless hot summer sun beaming down on the dust covered, parched soldiers. Moving quickly north to meet whatever Robert E. Lees Army intended, Commanding Officers forbade soldiers to leave their ranks for any reason except when ordered to halt. With the Confederates in Pennsylvania, time was of the essence. Lieutenant Stephen F. Brown of the 13th Vermont, defied his superiors orders and filled canteens for his men, saying, Damn your orders as he looked to the welfare of his troops. Placed under arrest, the young Lieutenant was removed from command and stripped of his Officers sword. However, as the fighting raged and the casualties swelled, Lieutenant Colonel William Munson went to his commander, asking that Lieutenant Brown be returned to duty. Unable to retrieve his sword, the resourceful Stephen Brown grabbed a camp hatchet and stunned many a soldier by wielding it in battle. At one point, the Lieutenant captured a shocked Confederate Officer as the Vermonters helped to repulse Picketts Charge. His men, wishing to honor the fidelity of their Lieutenant, cast this statue of him atop their monument on Cemetery Ridge. It depicts the faithful Lieutenant along with, just to the left of his feet, the hatchet he used while fighting along side his men on July 3, 1863.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 10:00:01 +0000