July 3, 1863
After two days of hard fought battle, General Lee decided to attack the Union middle with a group of 15,000 men. These men would be under the command of General George Pickett. The goal was to attack the middle of the Yankee line, therefore splitting them up and making it easier to win. The day dawned and those Confederates were ready. According to multiple journal entries, of Union soldiers, this is what they saw.
We looked down from Cemetery Ridge to see a large number of Confederates ready to battle. As we watched these men begin to form a line. The stood shoulder to shoulder a mile wide, armed and ready to fight. All at once a yell pierced through the air and the charge began. It was such a sight that we just stood and watched. To see all those men, with no fear of what was to come, just ready to fight for what they believed in, for their South. It was a sight to see.
Of course at the end of the day the Confederates were not able to defeat the Union and General Lee headed back to Virginia on July 4th. In the end over 50,000 men had been lost to death, wounded or disappeared. It was the hardest and harshest battle of the War. My 3X great grandfather, Peter Hicks was wounded in battle on the first day and was kept as a prisoner in a Yankee prison in Maryland until he was released. My 2x great grandfather, James Tilley, was at Gettysburg for the entire battle and was part of Pickett's charge on that final day. I am so very proud of my Confederate Ancestry and always will be.
"That's my 'two-cents worth, what's yours?"
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