General Rodes Attacks

At midday on July 1, 1863, after a lull in the fighting, Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes took position on Oak Hill north of Gettysburg with 8,000 Confederates as other Confederate divisions converged on the town from both sides. The nearest Union troops were on Oak Ridge about one-third of a mile ahead. Southern cannon positioned there opened the attack, and after the cannonade Brig. Gen. Alfred Iverson’s North Carolina Brigade advanced with other Confederates against Oak Ridge. As Iverson’s men neared the ridge, Union infantry commanded by Brig. Gen. Henry Baxter rose from behind a stone wall and struck the North Carolinians with devastating musket fire. More than half of the 1,470 Confederates engaged were killed, wounded, or captured. Rodes regrouped and renewed the attack, committing more Confederate troops to the fight, and by 4:00 p.m., despite heavy losses, the Confederates had pushed the Federals back to the streets of Gettysburg.

Pennsylvania · United States