First Man Over the Works

After the Breakthrough, many Union soldiers claimed that they or their regiment first captured the Confederate works on the morning of April 2, but darkness, the chaos of the attack, and the wide Federal battle front make absolute certainty impossible. Captain Charles G. Gould of the 5th Vermont nevertheless made the strongest case that he preceded the rest of the Sixth Corps over the earthworks near this spot. His regiment led the Vermont Brigade at the tip of a wedge-shaped formation advancing along the right side of the ravine, but through a misunderstanding of orders Gould and about 50 of his men veered left across the ravine and approached the Confederate line here. Gould scrambled through the obstructions and over the parapet ahead of his small party, then within moments suffered a bayonet thrust through his mouth, killed his attacker, was struck on the skull with a sword by another Confederate, and was then held by a third Southerner while a comrade drove a bayonet through his back, the blade stopping near a vertebrae. As more Union troops gained the works, including Corporal Henry H. Recor, Gould was pulled out of danger and into the ditch in front of the fortifications, then despite being wounded three times staggered to the rear until he found help reaching a Sixth Corps hospital. Gould survived, wrote his brother on April 4 that he had “wounds enough to make a great deal of noise but they are all very light,” received a promotion from the army, and in 1890 was awarded the Medal of Honor for what he endured on April 2, 1865.

Virginia · United States