13. The third day at Gettysburg
Lee’s frontal assault on the Union positions known to history as “Pickett’s Charge” remains one of the most famous actions of the American Civil War. To some historians, it marked the “high-water mark” of the Confederacy. Others consider it ill-advised, doomed to failure from the start. Whichever, it was a clear and bloody repulse, decimating three Confederate divisions, and leaving the Confederate Army in a dangerous position. The damage done was such that when General Lee instructed General Pickett to “Look to your division”, the latter is alleged to have replied, “General Lee, I have no division“. The survivors of the assault limped back across the field they had crossed under heavy fire, covered with dead and wounded men.
As they did so they encountered camp slaves and servants advancing onto the field, exposed to Union artillery fire, seeking their charges. The need for the Confederates to withdraw and escape to Virginia created a sense of urgency. Wagons were brought from the rear to nearer the front, driven by slaves, and wounded men and supplies were loaded. Lee’s army, as it withdrew toward the Potomac and presumed safety, became a winding serpent of men, artillery caissons, ambulances, supply wagons, horses and mules. It stretched along several roads, often miles long as it struggled along. Camp slaves proved essential to the safe withdrawal, aided by a less than enthusiastic Union pursuit of their defeated enemy.