 Gettysburg National Military Park
Virtual Tour - Day One
The Railroad Cut
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The railroad cut through McPherson's Ridge.
Gettysburg NMP |
North of the McPherson Farm and the Chambersburg Pike lay an excavated railroad bed, complete except for the placement of stone, ties and rails. The bed ran west from Gettysburg and cut through Seminary and McPherson's Ridges, and proved to be both a helpful and hazardous obstacle for both sides. After the opening infantry shots were fired on the McPherson Farm, Brig. General Lysander Cutler's brigade moved north of the railroad bed where they were engaged by Brig. General Joseph R. Davis' brigade of Mississippi and North Carolina regiments. Cutler's men were flanked and forced to retreat to Seminary Ridge. One regiment, the 147th New York Infantry, was nearly annihilated when the regimental officers did not receive the order to retreat until it was too late and the Mississippians pounced upon them in overwhelming numbers. Driving back Cutler's men, Davis turned his regiments southward to attack the Union units around the McPherson Farm. One lone regiment, the 6th Wisconsin Infantry, blocked their way.
Col. Dawes
Hist. Soc. of WI |
Commanded by Lt. Colonel Rufus Dawes, the 6th Wisconsin had been detached from the Iron Brigade as a reserve and seeing the retreat of Cutler's troops, Dawes had moved his regiment to the Chambersburg Pike where they rested behind a solid rail fence that lined the road. The opponents immediately opened fire as the southerners crossed over the railroad bed. Colonel Dawes recalled: "The regiment halted at the fence along the Cashtown Turnpike, and I gave the order to fire. In the field, beyond the turnpike, a long line of yelling Confederates could be seen running forward and firing and our troops of Cutler's brigade were running back in disorder. The fire of our carefully aimed muskets, resting on the fence rails, striking their flank, soon checked the rebels in their headlong pursuit. The rebel line swayed and bent, and suddenly stopped firing and the men ran into the railroad cut. I ordered my men to climb the over the turnpike fences and advance."
The 95th New York Infantry arrived and moved adjacent to the 6th Wisconsin as the men clambered over the fences. Colonel Dawes approached Major Edward Pye, commanding the New Yorkers: "I said, 'We must charge.' The gallant major replied, 'Charge it is.' 'Forward, charge!' was the order I gave, and Major Pye gave the same command. We were receiving a fearfully destructive fire from the hidden enemy. Men who had been shot were leaving the ranks in crowds. With the colors at the advance point, the regiment firmly and hurriedly moved forward." The two regiments charged across 400 yards of open field toward the blazing railroad bed, filled with soldiers of Davis' Brigade. The 2nd and 42nd Mississippi regiments and 55th North Carolina were intermingled in the confusion, but turned their rifles toward the Union troops with deadly accuracy. Colonel Dawes could only shout encouragement to his men: "The only commands I gave as we advanced were, 'Align on the colors! Close up on the colors! Close up on the colors!' The regiment was being so broken up that this order alone could hold the body together. The colors fell upon the ground several times but were raised again by the heroes of the color guard. Four hundred and twenty men started in the regiment from the turnpike fence, of whom about two hundred and forty reached the railroad cut."
The deep portion of the railroad cut.
Gettysburg NMP |
As Dawes' dwindling ranks closed in on the southern line, many Confederates turned and ran into the deep portion of the cut through McPherson's Ridge. Others retreated across the field from which they had driven Cutler's men only minutes before, while the majority of the 2nd Mississippi held their ground near their flag. Sergeant William B. Murphy, the flag bearer of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry, stood near the railroad bed: "I did all that was in my power to prevail upon the boys to come on and take the battery, not knowing at the time that we were overpowered by those regiments of the enemy in our front, right, and left. Just about that time a squad of soldiers made a rush for my colors and our men did their duty. They were all killed or wounded, but they still rushed for the colors with one of the most deadly struggles that was ever witnessed during any battle in the war. Over a dozen men fell killed or wounded, and then a large man made a rush for me and the flag. As I tore the flag from the staff he took hold of me and the color. The firing was still going on, and was kept up for several minutes after the flag was taken from me." The large soldier was Corporal Francis A. Waller, who wrestled Murphy and his flag to the ground, and then continued to fight those Confederates who refused to give up. Waller would later receive a promotion to sergeant and the Congressional Medal of Honor for the capture of the 2nd Mississippi's flag.
The surrender of Davis' Confederates in the railroad cut
as sketched by Alfred R. Waud after the battle.
National Archives |
Just west of the melee around the Confederate colors, Colonel Dawes heard his soldiers at the brink of the cut shouting to the southerners, "'Throw down your muskets! Down with your muskets!' Running forward through our line of men, I found myself face to face with hundreds of rebels, whom I looked upon in the railroad cut, which was, where I stood, four feet deep. I shouted, 'Where is the colonel of this regiment?' An officer in gray, with stars on his collar, who stood among the men in the cut said, 'Who are you?' I said, 'I command this regiment. Surrender, or I will fire.' The officer replied not a word, but promptly handed me his sword and his men, who still held them, threw down their muskets. The coolness, self-possession, and discipline which held back our men from pouring in a general volley saved a hundred lives of the enemy, and as my mind goes back to the fearful excitement of the moment, I marvel at it."
Joined in the charge by the 14th Brooklyn, the Union regiments rounded up their captives and marched back to Seminary Ridge over a field strewn with the dead and wounded of both sides. The bloody contest at the railroad cut, "was a critical one, involving the defeat, perhaps the utter rout of our forces," as General Doubleday reported. The crucial charge prevented the loss of the McPherson Farm positions which would play an important role in the Union defense that afternoon. The shattered remnants of General Davis' brigade were taken out of the battle for the remainder of the day, but would fight again on July 3. The loss was especially heavy in the 2nd Mississippi- one soldier wrote that only 60 men could be mustered that evening. The 6th Wisconsin Infantry remained in the battle through the afternoon until forced to retire with the remainder of the corps through Gettysburg.
"Those damned black hats!"
Soldiers of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry wore the regulation headgear of the United States Army, a stiff, broad-brimmed hat made of black felt that was originally meant to be worn on formal occassions. General John Gibbon, the first commander of the brigade to which the 6th belonged, preferred the appearance of the regulation hat accompanied by the skirted dress coat, and ordered his Wisconsin and Indiana regiments to wear it in place of the cloth forage cap. Their appearance soon earned Gibbon's command the title of "The Black Hat Brigade" and the westerners appreciated how it was their headgear that set them apart from other Union regiments in the Army of the Potomac. Even after General Gibbon left the brigade and the more comfortable blouse was worn in lieu of the dress coat, the regulation dress hat remained and was worn with great pride as the brigade symbol. It was soon after the Battle of South Mountain during the Antietam Campaign when the more lasting nickname "Iron Brigade" was first coined by General Joe Hooker. Yet, Gettysburg would be the battle that would truly test their mettle. The Iron Brigade mustered 1,883 members on July 1, of which 1,212 soldiers were casualties before nightfall.
The young soldier shown here is Private Charles A. Keeler of St. Joseph, Michigan, who served in Company B, 6th Wisconsin Infantry. He wears the Union dress coat and dress hat, fully adorned with brass numerals and black ostrich feather. Private Keeler fought at Gettysburg and was terribly wounded in both legs during the battle. (Image courtesy of Alan Nolan, The Iron Brigade, A Military History, State Historical Society of WI, 1975.)
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Gettysburg National Military Park
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