An Unequal Contest

Confederate artillery on Benner's Hill anchored the left flank of the Confederate battle line as Major Joseph Latimer's 14 guns opened fire on Union positions on Cemetery Hill, one mile to the front. Union Colonel Charles Wainwright called it "the most accurate fire I have yet seen from their artillery." Forty-one Union guns answered with heavy fire from Cemetery Hill, Culp's Hill, and Stevens' Knoll, and for two hours the unequal contest decimated the Confederate position as caissons exploded, guns were disabled, and gunners were killed or wounded. Latimer's men returned fire as best they could but were forced to withdraw. Latimer, 19, was mortally wounded near the end of the day and died on August 1, and one of his officers wrote that he "was most gallant, showing the greatest coolness and bravery under the most trying circumstances."

Pennsylvania · United States