ARTILLERY FIGHTING AT GETTYSBURG.
365
unwilling to give the word, turned his face away. Pickett saluted and said,“ I am going to move forward, sir,” galloped off to his division and immedi-ately put it in motion. |
Longstreet, leaving his staff, came out alone to where I was. It was thenabout 1:40 p. m. I explained the situation, feeling then more hopeful, hutafraid our artillery ammunition might not hold out for all we would want.Longstreet said, “ Stop Pickett immediately and replenish your ammunition.”I explained that it would take too long, and the enemy would recover fromthe effect our fire was then having, and we had, moreover, very little todeplenish with. Longstreet said, “ I don’t want to make this attack. I wouldstop it now but that General Lee ordered it and expects it to go on. I don’tsee how it can succeed.”
I listened, but did not dare offer a word. The battle was lost if we stopped.Ammunition was far too low to try anything else, for we had been fightingthree days. There was a chance, and it was not my part to interfere. WhileLongstreet was still speaking, Pickett’s division swept out of the wood andshowed the full length of its gray ranks and shining bayonets, as grand asight as ever a man looked on. Joining it on the left, Pettigrew stretchedfarther than I could see. General Dick Garnett, just out of the sick ambu-lance, and buttoned up in an old blue overcoat, riding at the head of hisbrigade passed us and saluted Longstreet. Garnett was a warm personalfriend, and we had not met before for months. We had served on the plainstogether before the war. I rode with him a short distance, and then we"wished each other luck and a good-bye, which was our last.
Then I rode down the line of guns, selecting such as had enough ammunitiont° follow Pickett’s advance, and starting them after him as fast as possible.I got, I think, fifteen or eighteen in all, in a little while, and went with them.Meanwhile, the infantry had no sooner debouched on the plain than all theenemy’s line, which had been nearly silent, broke out again with all itsbatteries. The eighteen guns were back in the cemetery, and a storm ofs hell began bursting over and among our infantry. All of our guns — silentas the infantry passed between them — reopened over their heads when thebnes had got a couple of hundred yards away, but the enemy’s artillery letalone and fired only at the infantry. No one could have looked at thata dvance without feeling proud of it.
But, as our supporting guns advanced, we passed many poor, mangledrietinis left in its trampled wake. ]) A terrific infantry fire was now openedll l K) n Pickett, and a considerable force of the enemy moved out to attackthe right flank of his line. We halted, unlimbered, and opened fire upon it.£ u 'kett’s men never halted, but opened fire at close range, swarmed over the0llc es and among the enemy’s guns — were swallowed up in smoke, and that
t See General Longstreet’s statement on pp.345 — Editors.
th + reme mber one with the most horrible wounda ?t I ever saw. We were halted for a moment byj. eilce ! and as the men threw it down for the gunsPass, I S aw in one of the corners a man sitting