text |YuTouJianShe
edited |YuTouJianShe
Preface
The second day of the Battle of Gettysburg , the southern army and the northern army arrived one after another, and the battle was quite orderly. By the morning, the follow-up troops of both sides arrived one after another, and the two sides began to deploy, and the battle broke out until after 16:00.
General Li’s plan that day was to launch a restraining attack in the middle lane, so that the left and right wings cannot send reinforcements , and uses the attacks of the left and right wings to surround Semitali Mountain.
There is a second "virtual strategy" that is often discussed but unresolved. General Li's adjutant General Longstreet said: "The coalition has established a solid defensive position. We have no reason to rush into the enemy. We can bypass the enemy and enter between the main force of the enemy and Washington . The enemy will rush to attack us. Only in this way can we repel the enemy with favorable defensive war on the good terrain we chose."
But General Li believed that "retreat in front of the enemy will make people feel scared, affect the morale of our army, and will have a counter-effect on the most important political effect on this battle." Therefore, he decided to launch an attack.
At the same time, the Northern Army deployed its main force on the Semitri Mountain and arranged a large turret. To the east of Mount Semitri is Mount Kalp, where the right wing of the Northern Army established a strong defensive position.
General Yuer launched a wave-like attack on this solid defensive formation, looking for weaknesses and fighting fiercely, but it has little effect.
However, the most intense battle of the next day took place on the Alliance left wing south of the battlefield.
General Hood's plan is to launch a frontal assault on the southernmost end of the Seakers troops, restrain it, and then climb over the unprepared Dome Mountain, bypass the enemy from the south, and launch an attack from behind.
However, fortunately, The Fifth Legion of the Northern Army happened to arrive at at the same time, and General Mead was on his way to the small dome.
General Longstreet summoned the army's artillery and fired heavy artillery at the main force of Sikles deployed on the open space at close range. This is a good target. Sikles suffered heavy casualties in the 30-minute heavy artillery bombardment, especially at the southernmost end of the Sikles army, which is the so-called Devil's Nest, which suffered heavy losses and collapsed in the defense line.
However, the 5th Legion reinforcements led by Major General Sykes arrived before Sykes was completely destroyed, replacing Sykes' retreat troops, preventing the complete collapse of the alliance's left wing.
However, the troops originally planned to bypass Dome Hill's support coalition were on their way to the Small Dome. The Small Dome was the most intense place in the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg and the biggest crisis of the Northern Army.
As the southernmost position of the Northern Army Front, the West Coles team should be guarded by . However, because the West Coles team violated the order and advanced, they were not prepared and only dozens of Northern Army liaison teams were left.
General Mead, who noticed this, ordered the later arrival of Sykes troops to "establish a defensive formation immediately" , so the soldiers of the 5th Legion first built fortifications on Littlerod Peak.
Littlerod Peak is a small hill with trees that is suitable for defensive terrain. However, Colonel Vincent believed that after breaking through the devil's nest that was currently under attack, the Southern Army would attack from the west, and did not expect to bypass the top of the wheel and attack from the south. In addition, the 2,900 Vincent army faced 4,900 people from the Hood army in the Southern Army.
Vincent's Legion is the far left wing of the Northern Army. In addition, on the far left of the Vincent Department, there is Maine 20th Regiment , and is responsible for protecting the position of the entire coalition left wing.
(The commander of the 20th Maine Legion was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain on
Colonel Chamberlain was before the war, professor of linguistics at Baldwin College, a premiere in Maine, but his great-grandfather participated in the War of Independence and was an ordinary civilian who loved history and had no military experience.
When the Civil War began, Chamberlain was politically a fierce leftist of Lincoln , , who stood out from other conservative professors.
In just a few months, from a mere tens of thousands of troops in peacetime to a Northern Army with more than 400,000 people, was seriously insufficient to . Therefore, as long as anyone with education could become an officer, . Thirty-three-year-old Chamberlain was suddenly appointed as lieutenant colonel.
This policy of appointing amateur officers in large numbers is sometimes a disaster, but Chamberlain is one of the best examples of success. Chamberlain humbly learned from the elders of the college, taught himself hard to practice tactical strategies, treated soldiers enthusiastically, and quickly grew into a capable officer.
When he fought until the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain was his second year as an officer and his third major battle. All his studies and preparations were for this time, and the results were about to take effect. The worst case scenario was faced by Hood, one of the most powerful Southern Army generals, , Colonel Loway, , and Chamberlain's legion had to face the 47th and 15th legions of Alabama alone.
Colonel Chamberlain prepared a defense system that was close to the limit. Realizing that the 47th Regiment was approaching from the front, the 15th Regiment was about to attack from the flank, so he pulled the wing very thin from the side. In order to protect the "L"-shaped flank, the left wing of the wing was bent backwards to form a defensive formation. In order to make it difficult for the 44 snipers of the B squad B and the light infantry to go around from the side and disperse.
Although Vincent's troops suffered considerable damage under the fierce attack of the Hood's army, they still stood firm with the solid terrain. However, a fierce battle followed one after another, and Northern Army officers were killed one after another, and Colonel Vincent was also killed.
In this extreme case, if the leftmost Chamberlain regiment collapses, the Northern Army will collapse from the left one after another. Therefore, Chamberlain repeatedly issued the order to "defend the defensive formation".
Chamberlain's troops withstood the wave-like attack of the Southern Army that surged from three sides, but after 90 minutes of battle, due to the exhaustion of ammunition, some officers advocated "retreat before the next attack arrives."
However, Colonel Chamberlain instead issued the instructions to "all personnel take bayonets" and suddenly launched an assault at the beginning of the next attack.
Chamberlain's troops rotated like a revolving door on the left wing, successfully attacking the South Army soldiers who rushed up the hill from the front and side from the front.
In order to boost the morale of the soldiers who were exhausted by ammunition, Chamberlain himself drew his sword and stood at the forefront of the army, shouting "Follow me!" to lead the assault.
The Northern Army's sudden bayonet charge caught the Southern Army off guard. The charge was a success and the Southern Army retreated in a panic. He also successfully captured more than 100 soldiers.
In addition, on the flank of the Southern Army in the retreat, the "B" of the Rangers arranged by Chamberlain fired together, and the Southern Army, who was in a state of chaos, was panicked and rushed to escape.
As the left wing stabilized, Vincent's defense became rock-solid, and as the sun set, Hood's troops abandoned their plans to attack Littlerod Peak.
The left wing of the US military, especially the Sikles troops, was severely damaged and was forced to retreat, but barely resisted the attack of the Southern Army. The two sides fell into a stalemate at sunset.
Day 3 of the Battle of Gettysburg
At the end of the second day, General Longstreet once again suggested that General Li "conduct a strategic retreat, orbit the northern coalition forces in the rear, and fight on defensible terrain." General Li refuted, "There is no way to retreat."
The second day of the battle, the Southern Army launched a fierce attack on the two wings of the Northern Army, and as a result, the Northern Army used almost all subsequent troops to strengthen the two wings. Therefore, General Li thought that the center of the Northern Army must be weak.
In addition, General Pilt, who was not involved in the last battle of the Southern Army, arrived the next night. Because there was no battle yet, he was in a state of no injury.
plus Pilt was used as a bait force in the Battle of Chancellesville weeks ago, with almost no fighting, so this time it is strongly hoped to take the lead in the third day of the battle.
So General Li’s plan is to “break through the Northern Army Center.” After launching a restraining attack on both sides, he concentrated most of the Southern Army artillery and carried out a large-scale preliminary bombardment of the Northern Army's fortifications in Half-Talich Hill with 170 cannons, and then 12,000 Southern Army soldiers were sent to the commando. The plan is to perform a frontal attack.
This is the "Pilt Charge in the history of the American War."
The Northern Army on standby is guarded by the elite troops of Major General Winfield Hancock, commander of the famous Northern Army General Second Corps. To General Li's surprise, the most powerful US troops joined the war the next day, with 10,000 US soldiers and 80 artillery deployed on the high ground, spreading an open plain of about 1 kilometer, which is the best terrain for defense.
The violent shelling of the Southern Army did not achieve the expected results. Although the number of artillery they assembled was twice that of the Northern Army, the distance of one kilometer was already quite far away at that time, and it was not easy for the Southern Army, who had a higher altitude, to hit them.
However, these two points are important reasons why the Southern Army shelling did not cause any damage:
1. First of all, because there was no smokeless gunpowder at that time, the long-term shelling was accompanied by a large amount of smoke, and the enemy could not be seen in the shelling, and was surrounded by smoke. Only the sound of shell explosions could be confirmed.
2. The Northern Army artillery positions suspended the counterattack at that time. Major General Hancock clearly saw that the large-scale infantry attack would continue. In order to save ammunition, he banned the counterattack. As the Northern Army stopped artillery attacks, the Southern Army had the illusion that "our large number of artillery attacks destroyed the Northern Army's artillery positions." After the artillery support was completed, the main forces in the south began to advance together. The total number is 12,500 people. They are elite soldiers of the Longstreet Legion, the strongest elite troops of the Southern Army.
Since the troops advanced nearly 1 kilometer, they did not advance slowly until they approached 200 meters of the Northern Army's front line. The Southern Army launched an assault at the last 200 meters.
Assault must be carried out on flat ground without shelter. When the infantry starts to charge, the Northern Army's cannon will start to shell again. The dense infantry troops on flat ground without shelter are the best target, and many Southern Army soldiers are killed because of this.
But the brave elite troops of the Southern Army continued to advance, and with the shells flying across the board, shouting "Forward, advance!" Inspired by the brave General Pilt, he slowly advanced to the place where he could assault with commanding actions.
Major General Hancock believes that the attack of the Southern Army was "concentrated central breakthrough formation" , and adopted the tactic of covering both wings and attacking from the side. In other words, it is not to wait for the attack, but to let the soldiers on the north and south wings advance and attack the side of the attack.
In addition, the cannon array on the small hill in the center was continuously fired. Due to the overheating of the cannons, the soldiers even sprinkled drinking water and urine on the cannons, and fired 1,200 shells at the Southern Army in just a few dozen minutes of battle.
The troops led by Armistad broke into the Northern Army's artillery force and ushered in the biggest crisis. Hancock personally led the reinforcements, and the Northern Army's reinforcements rushed forward and launched close-range gunfights and bayonet battles.
Hancock and Armistad issued instructions within 100 meters, and it is very likely that they saw each other. During the battle, Major General Hancock was shot in the leg. Although he was seriously injured, the troops continued to fight.
Suddenly, Brigadier General Armistad was shot and fell down. The outnumbered Armistad team was defeated. The Northern Army successfully regained the cannon formation and Pilt team retreated. General Li tried to break through the central government and ended in failure.
final result
Nanjun paid a high price for the failure of the third day's attack. The US military suffered about 1,500 casualties, while the Southern Army had more than 8,900 casualties, including prisoners., especially Pilt, took a devastating blow. General Li was forced to retreat.
On July 4, 1863, on the Western Front, General Ulysses Grant won the battle of Vicksburg and successfully transformed the southern part into the east and west parts. On the east-west front, the Northern Army won the victory and completely gained the dominance of the Civil War.
These two great victories greatly boosted Lincoln's re-election, and made the war opposition win in the 1864 presidential election with a slight gap, guiding the United States towards victory in the Civil War.
