REMEMBRANCE DAY means so many things to so many people, it was set up as a day of Remembrance to the Military who gave thier lives to make the World what it is today. Military from ANY COUNTRY, because all have played a part in today’s world.

I can remember – as you may also – many other people that could be remembered this day, family and friends, and of course people from lots of places who have made our own lives better by doing the little things, all the little things that make little difference on their own, BUT when added up they really show a change or support for us.

Take a moment, and wipe the tear from your eye as you contemplate those people, as I am doing just writing this.

Winter is here now, Christmas will soon be here, BUT WHY WAIT UNTIL THEN to show appreciation to others?

HAPPY REMEMBRANCE DAY everybody

HAPPY MEMORIES DAY

Peter – Editor

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields

Sent to me from Jim S. The story of C Company, from The Toronto Star.

The story below gives a rare view of the Canadians fighting in Afghanistan.

Canada has had a very limited force in Afghanistan since 2002, with relatively few casualties until Spring, 2006. Since moving into the south of the country, the attrition of the forces involved has accelerated, and the attacks on their patrols and bases are increasing.

What many in the public do not realize is: the limited military forces of one’s country, once engaged, piecemeal, in an open-ended war of insurgency in a far distant country, have little chance to win.

As young Captain Carey, in the story below, points out: "It will be the Afghans who decide the outcome of the conflict." Which begs the question: If that is the case, then why are Canadians over there in the first place?

The anger of the soldiers, as they watch the debate at home over support for the mission, is understandable. On the other hand, their desire for "payback" will not win a war of insurgency being fought in a country where the Canadians are the foreigners. Seeing everyone who approaches as "the enemy", as Captain Carey relates below, is not a sign that the war is going well – nor is it an attitude which will win over the local population, which is a critical for control and any measure of "victory" – however that is defined.

On the other hand, popular support for the mission is still strong, if somewhat strident. I have no doubt that more stories like the one below will find the media spotlight before this is over.

The Story of C Company

Friends:

Another story, from a British newspaper, of the situation in Afghanistan. The military does not appear to want the British and Canadian publics to know about in Afghanistan. None of this has shown up in Canada, to my knowledge.

When reading the account below, keep in mind: This is nearly 5 full years after the Taliban regime was removed from power in Kabul, yet the story below comments:

The Independent.doc

Friends -

A word of explanation about the post below: Mark and I are members of a e-mail list which is oriented to Canadian Firearms issues, and have interacted over the course of almost a decade in regards to hunting, target shooting and Canada’s firearms laws.

He has written a response, and forwarded a media item, which presents an alternative to my posts regarding the current situation for Canadian military personnel serving rotations in Afghanistan as part of the multi-national force. As an active duty pilot, Mark interacts with personnel on a regular basis who are going to, returning from, or communicating with those currently stationed in Afghanistan.

In any dialogue, listening is as important as speaking, and I welcome his point of view as a contribution to informed discussion. Because my posts go out with most of the recipients’ addresses undisclosed, I’m forwarding this post to everyone who I inflict my opinions on.

As Mark has offered to respond to correspondence, I am forwarding his address, and trust that some of you will take advantage of the opportunity to become acquainted with the day to day activities of the Canadian Forces at this time.

Mark Horstead can be reached at:

Mark

In other correspondence, Mark has forwarded links to various forums on the following unofficial site, not associated with the Department of National Defense. Readers may find the discussions on the forums and other information of interest.

http://army.ca/

For your information.

Jim Szpajcher

Toronto Star / Mark (download Word file)

Jim’s Reviews

www.KickComics.com

(Brian Lord is a washed up weekend warrior in addition to being an internationally read cartoonist and writer. His work can be viewed at www.KickComics.com)

Kick 10-25-06

Kick Swazi Run, Oct. 21st

KICK IRRATIONAL by Brian Lord 10/17/06

Thanks to all of you who helped in donating money for the Swazi Health Clinic! You guys were kind enough to send in $400, and I’ve been told more is on its way! As for the Indianapolis half-marathon itself, I’m not that fast, but it was my personal best time (2:15:23). As for money raised from all areas of the clinic, we’re at almost $23,000!

THANKS TO Shep in St. Louis, MO; Cary in Chestermere, AB; Sam in Brentwood, TN; Lynn in Boston, MA; Doug and Pam in San Diego, CA; Karen in Calgary, AB, Canada; John in Franklin, TN; Sara in Kokomo, IN; Vicki in Dallas, TX, and Milne in Aix-en-Provence France! That’s $400 so far raised from this run for the Swazi Health Clinic. Thanks, and keep ‘em coming! (fyi, there was a PO Box glitch that has been fixed. It was temporarily (and incorrectly, in my opinion) closed. If you have sent a check that came back, please let me know. Thanks!)

I am unable to find Cary and Karen on my membership list, BUT I hope that it was because of finding out about the run from this webpage that made it happen. I pass on Brian’s THANKS TO YOU ALL.

Jim

From a friend,
Jim Szpajcher

From today’s Schwartzreport.

Always an encouraging word, at www.hamptonroadspub.com/blog Something new every day. Stop in from time to time.

www.hamptonroadspub.com/blog

BRANDON KEIMI – Wired

[Thanks to Judy Tart.]

When Jennifer Eddy first saw an ulcer on the left foot of her patient, an elderly diabetic man, it was pink and quarter-sized. Fourteen months later, drug-resistant bacteria had made it an unrecognizable black mess.

Doctors tried everything they knew — and failed. After five hospitalizations, four surgeries and regimens of antibiotics, the man had lost two toes. Doctors wanted to remove his entire foot.

"He preferred death to amputation, and everybody agreed he was going to die if he didn’t get an amputation," said Eddy, a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

With standard techniques exhausted, Eddy turned to a treatment used by ancient Sumerian physicians, touted in the Talmud and praised by Hippocrates: honey. Eddy dressed the wounds in honey-soaked gauze. In just two weeks, her patient’s ulcers started to heal. Pink flesh replaced black. A year later, he could walk again.

"I’ve used honey in a dozen cases since then," said Eddy. "I’ve yet to have one that didn’t improve."

Eddy is one of many doctors to recently rediscover honey as medicine. Abandoned with the advent of antibiotics in the 1940s and subsequently disregarded as folk quackery, a growing set of clinical literature and dozens of glowing anecdotes now recommend it.

Most tantalizingly, honey seems capable of combating the growing scourge of drug-resistant wound infections, especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, the infamous flesh-eating strain. These have become alarmingly more common in recent years, with MRSA alone responsible for half of all skin infections treated in U.S. emergency rooms. So-called superbugs cause thousands of deaths and disfigurements every year, and public health officials are alarmed.

Though the practice is uncommon in the United States, honey is successfully used elsewhere on wounds and burns that are unresponsive to other treatments. Some of the most promising results come from Germany’s Bonn University Children’s Hospital, where doctors have used honey to treat wounds in 50 children whose normal healing processes were weakened by chemotherapy.

The children, said pediatric oncologist Arne Simon, fared consistently better than those with the usual applications of iodine, antibiotics and silver-coated dressings. The only adverse effects were pain in 2 percent of the children and one incidence of eczema. These risks, he said, compare favorably to iodine’s possible thyroid effects and the unknowns of silver — and honey is also cheaper.

"We’re dealing with chronic wounds, and every intervention which heals a chronic wound is cost effective, because most of those patients have medical histories of months or years," he said.

While Eddy bought honey at a supermarket, Simon used Medihoney, one of several varieties made from species of Leptospermum flowers found in New Zealand and Australia.

Honey, formed when bees swallow, digest and regurgitate nectar, contains approximately 600 compounds, depending on the type of flower and bee. Leptospermum honeys are renowned for their efficacy and dominate the commercial market, though scientists aren’t totally sure why they work.

"All honey is antibacterial, because the bees add an enzyme that makes hydrogen peroxide," said Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. "But we still haven’t managed to identify the active components. All we know is (the honey) works on an extremely broad spectrum."

Attempts in the lab to induce a bacterial resistance to honey have failed, Molan and Simon said. Honey’s complex attack, they said, might make adaptation impossible.

Two dozen German hospitals are experimenting with medical honeys, which are also used in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. In the United States, however, honey as an antibiotic is nearly unknown. American doctors remain skeptical because studies on honey come from abroad and some are imperfectly designed, Molan said.

In a review published this year, Molan collected positive results from more than 20 studies involving 2,000 people. Supported by extensive animal research, he said, the evidence should sway the medical community — especially when faced by drug-resistant bacteria.

"In some, antibiotics won’t work at all," he said. "People are dying from these infections."

Commercial medical honeys are available online in the United States, and one company has applied for Food and Drug Administration approval. In the meantime, more complete clinical research is imminent. The German hospitals are documenting their cases in a database built by Simon’s team in Bonn, while Eddy is conducting the first double-blind study.

"The more we keep giving antibiotics, the more we breed these superbugs. Wounds end up being repositories for them," Eddy said. "By eradicating them, honey could do a great job for society and to improve public health."

Malvern Hill, Cold Harbor and Petersburg – October 18, 2006

Folks -

Having recently returned from a trip to Dixie, I thought to share some images with those who may have an interest in scenery and, perhaps, a bit of history.

The Civil War between the Union and the Confederacy, 1861 – 1865, was the largest, costliest war fought on the planet between the Napoleonic wars and the cataclysm of the Great War in Europe.

For nearly four years, the armies moved and fought in an area concentrated between Washington, just on the northern border of Virginia, and Richmond, in east-central Virginia – a distance of just over 100 miles.

Here are images of three battlefields I visited around Richmond.

1. Just east of Richmond, ten miles or so, is a low rise which runs north of the James River. Part of the rise is a feature call Malvern Hill. Park literature has this to say about the battle, to summarize: "The battle of Malvern Hill was the last in the weeklong series of engagements in 1862 known as the Seven Days battles. Malvern Hill is the story of Confederate infantry against massed Federal artillery – Southern valor against Union firepower. Late in the afternoon on July 1, 1862, blasts from Union cannon blanketed this field with smoke. Residents of Staunton, Virginia, more than 100 miles distant, heard the roar of those guns."
"Looking back to the north, you now share the view of the Union artillerists. Remember that their guns stretched all the way across the hill in front of you. Today only eight guns represent where at least thirty stood during the battle. On several occasions, when Southern infantry approached, the cannoneers willingly gave way to their own infantry supports, which rushed forward through the line of cannon and dispersed the Confederates. This often involved close-quarters fighting, and a great many of the Union army’s 3,000 casualties occurred in these actions." "Porter positions artillery seemingly hub-to-hub across this half-mile crest. In front, fields slope down to woods and swamp – a tough place to form a charge. As Confederates launch disjointed assaults, Federal cannon, like giant shotguns, saturate the open ground with canister and grapeshot." "Over five thousand dead and wounded men were on the ground," a Union officer reported next dawn, "but enough were alive and moving to give the field a singular crawling effect." The photo is from back of the Union line. Five artillery pieces are on the south side of the road, while three others are in line to the north. The field of battle was much less wooded on the left in 1862, while there were some woods in the distance on the right.
2. Less than ten miles north east of Richmond, lies a gently rolling landscape, with a mix of field and woods cover. There, in 1864, the two armies fought to a standstill at Cold Harbor, as Grant’s forces pushed hard to capture Richmond. The Union forces, seeking to move around, if not through the Confederates, had started the spring campaign of 1964 with savage fighting in the tangled woods of the Wilderness. On the 5th and 6th of May, 119,000 Union troops fought 62,000 Confederates, with casualties totalling 18,000 for the Blue and 10,800 for the Grey.
The Civil War Battlefield Guide, published by the Conservation Trust, says: "One Northern private wrote that "it was a blind and bloody hunt to the death in the bewildering thickets, rather than a battle." To the claustrophobic nature of the combat was added the terror of numerous flash fires that raged through the dry underbrush, incinerating soldiers too wounded to escape. Grant tried to break out by sliding forward to his left along the Confederate flank. Lee matched the movement, leading to the battle for Spotsylvania Court House, May 8 – 21, 1864. Over a two week period, the Union forces, in a series of engagements, took about 18,000 casualties, while the Confederates suffered 8,000 – 9,000. Grant moved again, to the South and East, and the two sides met at the North Anna River, May 23 – 26th, 1864. Grant was looking for access to Richmond, and on both side, smaller forces engaged, resulting in 2,623 casualties for the Union and 2,517 for the Confederates. Grant then moved forward and to the left again, to within a day’s march of Richmond, meeting at Cold Harbor, May 31 – June 3, 1864. The final attack launched by the Union, at 4:30 am, covered a front 4 miles wide on June 3rd, against Lee’s entrenched Confederates. The night before, Union men had written their names on scraps of paper fastened to their clothing, hoping to be identified after the battle. In a disastrous few minutes, 7,000 Northern men fell, killed and wounded. After the war, Grant wrote: "I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made." Major General Martin T. McMahon, U.S.V wrote, about the failed Union attack: "The time of actual advance was not over eight minutes. In that little period, more men fell bleeding as they advanced than in any other like period of time throughout the war." Total losses for the battle: Union – 13,000 men, Confederates – 5,000. Total losses for the 6 weeks campaign: Union: more than 51,000 killed and wounded. Confederates: 27,000 killed and wounded. The stage was set for the next campaign, as the mobile war of Spring changed into a stagnant siege of Summer, in the defenses Richmond and Petersburg. The photo is of Cold Harbor, from the north, looking from the Union positions, across what would have been open ground, toward the Confederate trenches.
3. On the 15th of June, 1864, Union forces attacked towards Petersburg, a city just to the south of Richmond, where several railways met. The city’s defensive ring to the east and south was lightly defended by boys and old men who answered the call of church-bells when the Union forces first attacked, but they put up a stiff fight and held off the Northern soldiers long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The Union forces commenced digging fortifications of their own, and prepared for a siege. One regiment, the 48th Regiment, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry, Burnside’s 9th Corps, was made up of coal miners who, working steadily, dug a 510 ft. shaft toward and under the Confederate positions from their own lines. At 4:40, on the morning of July 30, 1864, 4 tons of black powder was detonated under the Confederate positions, creating a crater 170 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. Two hundred and seventy-eight Confederates died in the blast, and 15,000 Union troops were pushed into the gap in the defenses.
One Confederate officer, Captain James E. Phillips, 12th Virginia Infantry, wrote: "I counted 21 Union flags flying from the Crater and these works. The sight gave me no hope of ever getting away alive." The Union attack was a failure. Although a new Division of Black troops had been trained for the attack, but late on July 29th, fearing public outcry should the Black troops suffer heavy casualties, General George G. Meade ordered General Burnside to pick another, all-white division to lead the attack. The unprepared white troops – and the attack faltered. The Black division joined the battle at 8 am, when the fighting had degenerated into a brutal, confused brawl. More than 600 of the Black troops were killed or missing by the end of the day. Total casualties: Union – 4,000, Confederate – 1,300.
Major Charles P. Adams, U.S. Army, wrote: "It was agreed that the thing was a perfect success, except that it did not succeed." General Grant reported to Halleck: "It was the saddest affair I have witnessed in the war. Such opportunity for carrying fortifications I have never seen, and do not expect again to have. The war dragged on for another 9 months, before Lee’s surrender was forced at Appomattox Court House, in April, 1865. Time has softened the scars of the battlefield, but the Crater still endures, sitting at the final stop of a one way road which threads for several miles through the groves and fields of the southeastern perimeter of the Petersburg Defenses. This battle was effectively depicted as a scene in the Movie Cold Mountain. The photo is looking towards the Confederate lines, from the eastern lip of the depression. For your information. Jim Szpajcher

While travelling in Virginia in October, I took a side trip west of Charlottesville, to check out the scenery and autumn foliage. Here are some images.

1. View overlooking the valley, east of the Blue Ridge, looking south. The photo was taken from one of the scenic turn-offs on Interstate 64, near the top of the Blue Ridge at Rockfish Gap, on the east side of the mountain.
2. Looking north toward #6, from the east end of Roberts Mountain Road.
3. View from the west of the Blue Ridge, looking north. The photo was taken while stopped on the side of the highway, as heavy traffic raced by me. The colors and light explain why, of course. The valley in the distance on the left is the Shenandoah Valley.
4. Down at the end of a little-used lane with the apt name of Segue, in the shade of Roberts Mountain, a runnel works its way down the slope, amid the leaves which carpet the forest floor.

On my recent trip to Virginia, I was able to spend several hours with a friend, Frank DeMarco, who also has an interest in the Civil War, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I’m including a few images from that day.

There are some who are receiving this who are not familiar with the Battle of Gettysburg, and its place in the Civil War. Some may have heard or read of the Gettysburg address, by Abraham Lincoln, without having any context for the famous words.

Gettysburg.

How to start?

The Civil War Battlefield Guide has this to say:

The battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, was the great battle of the Civil War and one of the crucial events in America’s history. More than 170,000 men fought in it, and over 50,000 became casualties. Four and a half months later, on November 19,1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg address on that battlefield at his dedication of its cemetery for the Union dead…

…Lee’s try for a decisive victory in Pennsylvania had failed. On the night of July 4 the Army of Northern Virginia slogged in a drenching rain from Gettysburg toward the Potomac, south toward Hagerstown. It has lost 28,000 men. Lee’s men found the river too swollen to cross, and they were unable to return to Virginia until the night of July 13.

There were two more years of war ahead, but Meade’s Army of the Potomac – despite having lost 23,000 men – had won a decisive victory at Gettysburg. After this defeat, Lee was never able again to launch a major offensive. His road from Gettysburg was long and hard, and ultimately led to Appomattox Court House and surrender.

The movie Gettysburg (based on the novel "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara) tells a pretty good portion of the tale, concentrating on the fighting at Little Round Top on July 2nd, and the climax on July 3rd, of what became known as Pickett’s charge, but there were numerous other actions which took place with fierce intensity. Most of the fighting took place along a line three miles long, ranged north to south, with a curve at the north end to the right and down, like a fish hook held upside down. The defending Union positions had a troops density of 17,000 men per mile of front, while the attacking Confederates, stretched across a longer line, had only 10,000 men per mile of front.

On the afternoon of the 2nd, with major Confederate attacks on the southern flank, including the pivotal fight for Little Round Top, thousands died and thousands more were wounded in combat for places such as Devil’s Den, the Peach Orchard and Plumb Run. The Wheat Field changed hands six times. Little Round Top was secured for the Union, only through the efforts of Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who ordered his 20th Maine – the last Union regiment ion the left of the line – into a bayonet charge as his men ran out of ammunition when the 15th Alabama Regiment repeatedly tried to take the crest and turn the flank. Graham’s Brigade lost 746 men of its 1,516 men in minutes; at the Peach Orchard. Humphreys lost 2,000 of 5,000 men trying to pull back from the Emmetsburg Road, when his brigade was pushed into a failed effort to hold the lines.

At the same time, fierce fighting was spreading up the line, and on the Northeastern Flank. The 1st Minnesota, in a desperate bayonet charge against a much larger attacking Confederate Brigade, took 215 casualties in a few minutes, out of 262 men – 82 percent. In the fights around Culp’s Hill to the North East, two Ohio regiments were also devastated: the 25th Ohio reported 183 men killed, wounded or missing out of 220 engaged, while the 75th Ohio reported 186 casualties out of 269.

On the 3rd, Lee, faced with limited resources, ordered a last assault against the center of the Union line, stretched out along Cemetery Ridge. It was a controversial decision. General Longstreet, a close friend of Lee, objected strenuously to the tactic of sending masses of men over open ground, exposed to artillery and small arms fire for such a long distance. Lee overruled Longstreet. At 3 pm, after a 2 hour artillery barrage, 12,000 Confederates moved in lines, out of the woods and into the open, marching toward the Union positions, a mile distant. These were the divisions of Pickett, Pettigrew and Trimble.

One book, "Pickett’s Charge", edited by Richard Rollins, is a compilation of eyewitness accounts of this attack. From Pickett’s division, Lieutenant John Lewis, 9th Virginia Infantry, later recorded (P. 179-180):

All was quiet; we had cleared the woods, and advanced about 200 yards. Suddenly about fifty pieces of artillery opened on our lines. The crash of shell and solid shot, as they came howling and whistling through our lines, seemed to make no impression on the men. There was not a waver; but all seemed as steady as if on parade. "Forward" was the command, and "steady, boys" came from the officers as we advanced. Crash after crash came the shot and shell. Great gaps were being made in the lines only to be closed up; and its line was shortening, but as steady as ever; the gallant Armistead still in lead, his hat working down to the hilt of his sword, the point having gone through it. He seemed as cool as if on drill, with not a sound of cannon near. We were nearing the Emmetsburg road. There were two fences at that road, but they were no impediment. The men go over them, and reform and forward again. At this point the crash of musketry was added to the roar of artillery. Men were falling in heaps. Up to this time no shot had been fired by this division.

Within 800 yards of the Federal works, Garnett’s brigade gave their usual yell and strike the double-quick, At 100 yards, they deliver their fire and dash at the works with the bayonet.

Kemper’s brigade takes up the yell, fire, and dashes at them with the bayonet. Armistead, who is a little to the left and rear, catches the enthusiasm, joins the yell, and, on the run, Armistead fell back to the rear to give his brigade the chance to fire. They fire and rush at the works and to the assistance of Garnett and Kemper. There are shouts, fire, smoke, clashing of arms. Death is holding high carnival. Pickett has carried the line. Garnett and Kemper are both down. Armistead dashes through the line, and, mounting the wall of stone, commanding "follow me", advances fifty paces within the Federal lines and is shot down. The few that followed him and had not been killed fall back over the wall, and the fight goes on. Death lurks in every foot of space. Men fall in heaps, still fighting, bleeding, dying. The remnant of the division, with scarce any officers, look back over the field for the assistance that should have been there; but there are no troops in sight; they had vanished from the field, and Pickett’s division, or what is left of it; is fighting the whole Federal center alone.

We see ourselves being surrounded. The fire is already from both flanks and front but still they fight on and die. This cannot last. The end must come; and soon there is no help at hand. All the officers are down, with few exceptions, either killed or wounded. Soon a few of the remnant of the division started to the rear, followed by shot, shell, and musket-balls.

Out of 4,800 men in line that morning there was not more than 600 left to tell the tale of our annihilation. Fully sixty percent were dead or wounded and the balance in the hands of the enemy. This ended the battle of Gettysburg.

I had passed over that field of fire and death. I had followed Armistead until I saw him fall. I had walked back over the wall, and being the only officer at that point I assumed command. The men fought with desperation, cool and courageous, until surrounded on all sides. I finally gave the order to all to look out for themselves, and my duties ceased as an officer from that time. Believing it my duty to be at the wall as long as there was any hope, I remained there until the question was whether I would die or be captured. I chose the latter, and found myself a prisoner of war.

The Philadelphia Brigade, led by Brigadier General Alexander Webb, was comprised of the 69th, 71st, 72nd and 106th Pennsylvania Regiments, and were the regiments which were reached by Armistead and his men.

Webb wrote, in a letter to his wife, dated July 6, 1863 (P. 317-318):

I ordered my few guns to fire and we opened great gaps in them and steadily they advanced in four solid lines right up to my works and fences, and shot my men with their muskets touching their breasts; seeing two companies driven out, all my artillery in their hands, I ordered up my reserve right and led it up myself. General Armistead, an old army officer, led his men, came over my fences and passed me with four of his men. He fell mortally wounded. I got but one shot, grazing my thigh. I stood but thirty-nine paces from them. Their officers pointed me out, but God preserved me. As soon as I got my regiment up to the wall, the enemy was whipped for good and all.

When they came over the fences, the army of the Potomac was nearer being whipped than it was at any time of the battle. When my men fell back I almost wished to get killed. I was almost disgraced but Hall (Colonel) on my left saw it all and brought up two regiments to help me…

Gettysburg: The Confederate High Tide, from the Time-Life set on The Civil War records the moment when the Confederate troops reached the low stone wall in front of the Pennsylvania Brigade: (P. 142 – 143):

Other Federals were now pushing into the fight. On his way to Stannard’s line, General Hancock was stopped by Colonel Arthur Devereux of the 19th Massachusetts. That regiment, along with the 42nd New York, had been posted southeast of the clump of trees. "See, general," said Devereux, "they have broken through; the colors are coming over the wall; let me go in there!" Snapped Hancock: "Go in there pretty God-damned quick!"

Following Colonel Devereux, the 19th Massachusetts and the 42nd New York crashed into the Confederates within the Angle. A Massachusetts soldier remembered the collision: "The two lines come together with a shock which stops them both and causes a slight rebound. Foot to foot, body to body and man to man they struggled, pushed and strived and killed. The mass of wounded and heaps of dead entangled the feet of the contestants, and, underneath the trampling mass, wounded men who could no longer stand, struggled, fought, shouted and killed – hatless, coatless, drowned in sweat, black with powder, red with blood, with fiendish yells and strange oaths they blindly plied the work of slaughter."

Within minutes, every Confederate who had crossed the wall was killed or captured. Then at last, one by one, by twos and by threes, and finally by the hundreds, men in gray began ebbing back down the slope of Cemetery Ridge. Federal officers tried fruitlessly to get their shaken troops to pursue the withdrawing enemy; attempting to lead his 19th Maine beyond the wall, General Gibbon was shot through the shoulder and had to be led from the field.

Of the 12,000 Confederate soldiers who stepped out toward the Union lines that afternoon, 7,500 would become casualties in an hour and a half.

Gettysburg: The High Tide of the Confederacy, offers the following:(P.144):

Of Pickett’s Division, the officer corps had been annihilated: Every one of the 15 Regimental commanders had fallen in the battle, as had 16 of the 17 field officers under them. Two Brigadier Generals and six Colonels were among the dead.

For the rest of his life, Pickett would grieve for his men lost that day and would blame Lee for the disaster. Thus, five years after the War, when Pickett and Confederate guerrilla leader John Mosby paid a courtesy call on Lee in Richmond, the atmosphere was less than cordial. On departing, Pickett launched into a bitter diatribe. "That old man," he said, "had my division slaughtered at Gettysburg."

For an instant of memory, men in gray marched beneath fluttering flags up a long, grassy slope. Then Mosby broke the silence. "Well," he said, "it made you immortal."

The day that I visited Gettysburg dawned gray and humid, with lowering skies. Before noon, a front pushed through from the Northwest, bringing heavy showers, then clearing skies and strong cool winds. Thus, I had the opportunity to see the field of battle in two moods that day. Frank DeMarco, being a strong supporter of the Union, remarked later that the day was perfect: It had started out Gray, and ended up Blue.

1. Culp’s Hill, from Cemetery Ridge.There is a road on the slopes along the Union line, and visitors can wander among the regimental monuments among the trees.
2. Looking south along the low stone wall. The crowded regimental monuments attest to the dense packing of the troops on the line. The 72nd Pennsylvania monument is striking, and attests to the intensity of the fighting at this spot, which is where Armistead’s men crossed over the wall.
3. Throughout the weekday, tour groups are guided over the battlefield. Here a group of U.S. Air Force personnel walk the path that Pickett’s men came on July 3, 1863. Behind are visible two school groups. This photo is taken north of where General Armistead fell after crossing the stone wall. One can easily see how fences interfere with the forward movement of a massed charge, while providing no meaningful cover.
4. A group of Virginia school children, after having given their version of a Rebel yell, run toward the stone wall. The teachers and park guide follow at a more sedate pace. In the background is Seminary Ridge, and the Confederate artillery positions, among the trees. Multiplying the motion of the running group by 400 times, and throwing in artillery and small arms fire, would give a sense of what the Union soldiers of the 71st Pennsylvania Infantry saw from this position along the low stone wall.

For your consideration. Jim Szpajcher