Pickett's Charge, 1863
It was carnage incarnate. Often described as the "high water mark" of the Confederate cause during the Civil War, Pickett's Charge has also come to represent the naked brutality of combat. It occurred on July 3, 1863, the third and final day of the Battle of Gettysburg that ravaged the outskirts of a small town in central Pennsylvania. Frustrated by two days of inconclusive struggle, General Robert E. Lee decided to hurl his forces at the center of the Union line, with the objective of breaking through and thus setting the stage for the piecemeal destruction of his enemy.
The impact of this efficient killing machine on the approaching Confederates was devastating. As their comrades fell, their units would reorganize and tighten their ranks. Smoke from the cannonade from both sides soon drifted over the field dramatically reducing visibility. The noise was deafening. As they approached withina a few feet of the Union line, the Confederates charged. Some were able to scale the low stone wall separating them from their enemy, but the devastating fire from the Union troops forced a retreat. The battle was over.
It was carnage incarnate. Often described as the "high water mark" of the Confederate cause during the Civil War, Pickett's Charge has also come to represent the naked brutality of combat. It occurred on July 3, 1863, the third and final day of the Battle of Gettysburg that ravaged the outskirts of a small town in central Pennsylvania. Frustrated by two days of inconclusive struggle, General Robert E. Lee decided to hurl his forces at the center of the Union line, with the objective of breaking through and thus setting the stage for the piecemeal destruction of his enemy.
The impact of this efficient killing machine on the approaching Confederates was devastating. As their comrades fell, their units would reorganize and tighten their ranks. Smoke from the cannonade from both sides soon drifted over the field dramatically reducing visibility. The noise was deafening. As they approached withina a few feet of the Union line, the Confederates charged. Some were able to scale the low stone wall separating them from their enemy, but the devastating fire from the Union troops forced a retreat. The battle was over.