The Storm of Battle

At 1:00 pm on July 3, approximately 150 Confederate cannon opened fire on Cemetery Ridge and Cemetery Hill, one mile to the front, and Federal artillery responded. This thunderous bombardment, a prelude to the Confederate assault known as Pickett's Charge, lasted two hours and was heard miles away. At 3:00 pm, Confederate General Robert E. Lee watched his battle line, nearly 12,000 Confederate infantrymen, step out across these open fields toward Union troops on Cemetery Ridge. Federal artillery and musketry pelted the advancing Southerners with lead and iron, killing and mangling hundreds, but they pressed forward into the storm of battle. A few hundred Confederates reached Cemetery Ridge, clashing in hand-to-hand combat. Within an hour it was over. Nearly half of the 12,000 had fallen, and Pickett's Charge had failed. From near this spot, Confederate General James Longstreet gave Confederate General George Pickett permission to begin the assault. An hour later, Lee and Longstreet rode out to meet the shattered command returning to Seminary Ridge.

Freedom Township, Pennsylvania · United States