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“Undoubtedly impressed by Blackburn’s moxie, Armistead took a flask from his pocket and offered the soldier a drink. 4”
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
“Knowing what we had to encounter, the order to advance was not obeyed with the same alacrity as” July 2. 14”
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
“There is little doubt that hundreds of men were lost prior to the charge due to cannon fire, heat, and perhaps even a reconsideration of their motivation.”
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
“Morgan considered Sickles’s forward line as “a good one of itself,” although both flanks were unprotected and “there can be no valid excuse for precipitating a battle in front of the general line.”
― Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road
― Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road
“Critics forget that Lee’s army proved twice, first with Wright’s Brigade on July 2 and then with Armistead on July 3, that it was possible to reach that position. But he knew after July 2 that to maintain a foothold on Cemetery Ridge and force the Yankees to run would require more artillery and infantry coordination than existed on the second day. In hindsight, Lee’s army proved incapable of achieving such coordination on any of the three days at Gettysburg.”
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
“Once the wheels were in motion, no one wanted to be the individual accountable for calling it off.”
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
“In hindsight, some have criticized Longstreet for obeying his orders, while others have condemned Sickles for taking great liberties with his.12”
― Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road
― Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road
“The length of Sickles’s line stretched Longstreet’s 14,500 infantrymen across a front of roughly one and a quarter mile. As a result, Longstreet settled for an attacking depth of two brigades. While this depth gave Longstreet’s attack some power, there was no reserve to exploit any potential success.”
― Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road
― Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road
“friendly fire. 32”
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
“Whether or not Sickles violated orders intentionally, misunderstood them, or took too much discretion in executing them, remains an issue that Civil War historians have debated since 1863.”
― Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road
― Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road
“Sickles did not visit Little Round Top on the morning of July 2, and failed to assess its strengths and weaknesses. With his attention focused to the west and along the Emmitsburg Road, Sickles failed to consider opportunities or foresee contingencies that existed on other portions of the field.”
― Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road
― Gettysburg's Peach Orchard: Longstreet, Sickles, and the Bloody Fight for the "Commanding Ground" Along the Emmitsburg Road
“among the regiment’s losses was 2nd Lt. Sumner Paine. The 18-year-old Paine commanded”
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
“(Ironically, Meade was criticized by some as being indecisive for meeting with his subordinates while Lee has been criticized for not meeting with his subordinates.)”
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
“That was the hero’s death: expiring on a dirty floor, burial in a box or blanket, and having his body later disinterred by an entrepreneurial Yankee.”
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
“The din of artillery and musketry was deafening at this time, and I did not hear the words that passed between the two generals. But my eyes were upon Hancock’s striking figure - I thought him the most striking man I ever saw on horseback, and magnificent in the flush and excitement of battle - when he uttered an exclamation and I saw that he was reeling in the saddle. 2”
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History
― Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History




