The Fate of a Virginia Company at Pickett's Charge 

I will take a look!

@@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail Thanks! I would love to see any photos that anyone out there might have of Company A, 19th Va Infantry. They mustered in Charlottesville and were known as the Monticello Guard. Most of the survivors were captured at Saylor's Creek a week or so before Appomattox. Somehow John Dodd managed to make it all the way there.

Mine was three also albeit he was in the Blue of the 83d Pa,a Zouaves Unit.Fought at LRT on July 2 and lived to see the end at Appomattox.Incredible bravery on both sides...

May I ask how long did he live after war ?

My Great Grandfather was in the Minnesota First, the unit that captured the NVA battle standard (Stars & Bars) that to this day resides at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Sad that many perished at the their of countrymen but monumental because it heralded the beginning of the end...

My Great Grandfather was a Doctor and might have treated yours. He only had 1 year at a Medical School but was praised for his work. He wrote a book that my family cannot find, YET. We will.

Perhaps he should not have joined an unlawful rebellion.

@@michellejean11 They were lied to. Their Senators and Reps were all self elected wealthy Elite. They owned the Governors and News Papers. They told their people that Yankees were coming to take their land for factories etc. Slaves were $300 to $3000+. A small Farm was $100. Only the Biden's of the American South owned Slaves. 99% did not. If you stopped a Father and 2 Son's on the way to fight and told them all you wanted to do was free the Slaves (as stated in the 1776 Decl of Indep). They would has given you directions to the nearest Plantation and went back to plowing WITHOUT Slaves.

Agreed, almost impossible for anyone to have survived...

I’m sure a lot of soldiers got captured when after they fired their musket. A vulnerable moment. Ex-GI Vietnam.

I agree that the United States would have been far from destroyed militarily, however Lee's invasion was a political calculation. There was a large contingent of northerners at the time who disagreed with the continued prosecution of the war (remember that Lincoln won the 1860 election due to the Democratic vote being split by multiple candidates), and their ranks only grew larger with every northern loss. The objective of the Army of Northern Virginia wasn't so much to destroy the Army of the Potomac, but to generate enough antipathy with Lincoln that he would either sue for peace or lose the 1864 election to a candidate who favored ending the war on terms favorable to the Confederacy. No one at the time could have foreseen at the time that General Grant would take the reigns of military affairs in the Eastern theater and bring Lee to his knees at Petersburg. Even with his army in dire straights defending Richmond, Lee still dispatched Jubal Early on a Northern raid during the summer of 1864 at least in part to accomplish the same task.

The theory was that if you break the back of the enemy his logistics and morale are in disarray. The North was showing signs of stress with, for example, the NY City draft riots.

Lee had no reserve to exploit a breech. Somehow he expected that attack to arrive at the Union center in strength sufficient not just to break the line, but to then turn into the flanks and induce a general retreat. It’s entirely understandable why Longstreet was so opposed - there was no realistic hope of success.

Speaking of reserves, there is some story about during Pickett’s charge, the troops on his flank did not advance, or didn’t advance as far, as they were supposed to - to support Pickett. At any rate, there was some poor coordination or other of the attack (not counting the late start, etc).

If the Confederate artillery had landed on target instead of landing harmlessly behind the Union line all those cannons firing double canister at the Rebs would not have been there so it could have turned out differently. Most people are quick to blame General Lee but the true fault lay in my eyes lies with the Confederate artillery commander...

Both sides used the same table of organization for infantry. A regiment had 10 companies of roughly 100 men each for a total of about 1,000 men per regiment. Most of the regiments had 800 to over 1,000 when they were raised. Camp life and campaigning took a deadly toll by disease. A regiment might lose a quarter to a third of its strength before it ever saw its first battle. The confederates were better at feeding replacements to existing regiments, having started conscription in 1862. The union raised new regiments while veteran units withered away. Thus the confederate regiments at Gettysburg tended to be larger than the federal regiments. A veteran regiment of either army numbered between 250 to 450 men at Gettysburg. Divide that by 10 and you get companies of 25 to 45 men. Two examples from the union side: The famed Irish Brigade of the union army's second had the three NY regiments reorganized as a battalion of six companies, two from each regiment. The 116th PA was added to bring them up to around 450 men. This was a brigade of four regiments which had an authorized strength of around 4,000 down to less than 500. The 20th Maine was down to less than 200 men. They were fortunately augmented by about 180 men from the 2nd Maine who had unknowingly signed three year enlistment papers. Thus the left flank of the union line was held by a regiment that was on the large size for Gettysburg, but still less that 400 men..

Well, there was that affair going on out in Vicksburg.

Interesting retort by Lee to Pickett. I've never heard/read that.

BULL. What is the government telling you to do? Go live your damned life.

Debated yet today

No. Gettysburg did not determine the outcome of the war. Gettysburg is significant because it represents the “high water mark” for the Army of Northern Virginia, the point at which the tide turned inexorably against the South. From that moment on Lee was on the defensive, growing ever weaker. A Confederate victory at Gettysburg would not have ended the war.

The South lost the war after the first shot was fired. It was simply the application of overwhelming force and Grant and Lincoln understood that. The state of New York alone had more industrial production than the entire confederacy.

@@randallmunson2098 A lot of truth here, the only hope the South had was to drag out thwewar until the citizens of the North got tired of the war.

I enjoy his up close presentation. It is not blackboard dry, distant, and droning.

Lee had a solid military career, prior to the Civil War.

@@feedyourmind6713 show me . Scott was from northern Virginia and propped Lee's career up. Lee never did anything to really warrant promotion.

@user-ho4nw5sf3w Graduated second in class at West Point, stills holds record of most Cadet points earned. As an Army Engineer, Lee spent the next 18+ years on numerous engineering jobs for the Army and government. All, as far as engineering jobs go, accomplished with professionalism and praise from superiors. The Mexican War put his engineering abilities into a combat situation, and on at lest three occasions his commanding officers gave his decisions high praise and credit for American victories. After the war he was assigned improvement of Baltimore defenses. Again, accomplished with high praise. Assigned Superintendent position at West Point 'til 1855, again with high praise from superiors. The guy was an engineer, why do you expect some Medal of Honor combat Audie Murphy? If you wish I'll continue with his damned amazing Generalship of an army that could barely feed and arm itself. And before you say that was because the Union had shiity Genls, I'll remind you it still took Grant nearly two years to defeat him. A solid military career, due the accolades it receives.

@@feedyourmind6713 yadda yadda yadda. He still lost the damn war

@user-ho4nw5sf3w Many a fine commander lost thru no fault of their own. Read a history book. And my comment was directed at someone with just a bit more brain power than "yadda yadda yadda".

The Day 1 attack on the left was bungled. The Day 2 attack on the right got a late start (by battle standards of the day) and got lost before finally making the uphill attack. From all accounts, Lee determined thusly that the Union Center MUST be the weak point. Well. It WAS a futile slaughter as you and many who have commented here have stated. Being the armchair strategist, I would have feinted Right while sending Pickett's freshly arrived Division onto the Left in a slide and attack a la Jackson. No reason Cemetery Ridge could not have been rolled back on Day 3.