General Slocum declined, without orders from Meade, to go to the assistance of the First and Eleventh corps. He was aware of the commanding general's circular fixing upon Pipe Creek for the field of battle, and he probably thought it unwise to bring on a general engagement elsewhere. Not so, however, with Sickles. He, too, had received Meade's circular, and when, at two o'clock P. M., Howard's dispatch calling for assistance was received, he was for a time perplexed. From indications on the day previous, it was feared that the enemy would attempt to flank the Union line by its left by way of Fairfield and Emmittsburg, and he was under orders from the commander-in-chief to hold the latter place at all hazards. Through General Tremaine, one of his aids, he had received but a short time before a suggestion from General Reynolds that he had better come to the front, but no positive order to that effect. And now when Howard's dispatch was received he at once determined to hasten to the rescue; and leaving two brigades and a battery to hold Emmittsburg, he put the balance of his corps in motion for Gettysburg, arriving there after the broken and shattered survivors of the First and Eleventh corps had taken their new position upon Cemetery and Culp's hills. A letter was also sent to General Meade, informing him of what he had done, and asking his approval of it, which approval was subsequently given.*

We turn again to the field of strife to note what was transpiring there. Nearly two hours of desperate fighting had taken place since the two divisions of Reynolds' Corps

It has recently been charged that General Sickles had received, at one o'clock A. M. of this day, an order from General Reynolds to proceed at daylight to Gettysburg, which he deliberately disobeyed. This subject will be considered at length in Appendix C.

APPROACH OF RODES AND EARLY.

273

had reached the field in aid of the first. During this time hundreds were slain and many more wounded, but the patriot troops were holding their own. At length, at one o'clock P. M., the head of the Eleventh Corps reached Gettysburg. Schimmelpfennig's division led the way, followed by that of Schurz, now temporarily commanded by Barlow, - Schurz taking command of the corps while Reynolds commanded the field. These two divisions were directed to prolong the line of the First Corps along Seminary Ridge. The remaining division under Steinwehr, with the reserve artillery under Major Osborne, were ordered to occupy Cemetery Hill, in the rear, or south of Gettysburg, as a reserve.

While these newly arrived troops were taking the positions assigned them, Buford's scouts reported the approach of a large Confederate force from the north, directly upon the right of the Federal line. It will be remembered that Rodes' division from Carlisle and Early's from York had reached Heidlersburg, ten miles north of Gettysburg, the previous evening. These were the troops approaching. Lee's orders to Ewell were to recall these two divisions and have them concentrate about Cashtown. In accordance with this order they left their encampment at Heidlersburg about ten o'clock A. M.,-Early proceeding upon one road and Rodes by the one diverging to the right and leading by Middletown to Cashtown. While en route to that place, the sound of cannonading in the direction of Gettysburg was heard, and at Middletown, seven miles north-west of the first named place, General Ewell, who was traveling with Rodes, hearing that Hill's troops were marching toward Gettysburg, in the exercise of a dis

cretion which is sometimes allowable, turned the head of his column in the same direction. The increasing sound of the guns, as he approached the town, convinced him that the Federals were there in force, and caused him to make immediate preparation for the battle. *

At half past one o'clock P. M., a battery belonging to Rodes' division reached Oak Hill, an eminence about one mile north-east of the seminary, and opened fire. At the same time Rodes' infantry moved forward into position. They were formed across Seminary Ridge, facing south, with Iverson's brigade on the right, supported by Daniels and O'Neil in the center, and Dole on the left. Ramseur was held in reserve. While these preparations were being hurriedly made by the Confederates, similar preparations were being made by the newly arrived divisions of the Eleventh Corps, the last of whom only reached the field at forty-five minutes after one o'clock P. M. Colonel Taylor, of Lee's staff, in the same article previously referred to, further says: "On reaching the scene of conflict, General Rodes made his dispositions to assail the force with which Hill's troops were engaged, but no sooner were his lines formed than he perceived fresh troops of the enemy extending their right flank, and deploying in his immediate front. With this force he was soon actively engaged, and the contest became sharp and earnest."

When it was known that Rodes and Early were approaching the field, General Howard sent another urgent request to General Slocum, who with his magnificent corps was but five miles distant and resting in the fields, to hasten to their assistance; and as these powerful accessions to the

* Colonel W. H. Taylor, of Lee's staff, in Annals of the War, page 307.

SLOCUM ́S REFUSAL OF AID.

275

Confederate force entered into the engagement, messenger after messenger bore with tremendous speed appeals for help, but it came not. At length when Howard saw that the crisis was approaching, he sent his brother, Major Charles Howard, a member of his staff, to urge Slocum to come in person if he would not send his troops. To this last appeal General Slocum replied that he "declined to go to the front or take any responsibility, as he understood that General Meade did not wish to bring on a general engagement."* General Slocum had before this proven himself to be a good soldier, and on the following two days did excellent service, as well as subsequently to the close of the war. He doubtless felt that he had sufficient reasons for his course that day, but history will record his refusal to hasten to the relief of his imperilled comrades as a grave error. His conduct contrasts widely

with that of Sickles. General Sickles had also received Meade's circular indicating Pipe Creek as the ground chosen for battle, and was at Emmittsburg on his way to Middleburgh to take the position assigned him in the intended line, when he received at that place Howard's dispatch stating the situation at the front and urgently calling upon him for assistance. Had he, like Slocum, adhered to the letter of his instructions, which were only given to provide for a possible contingency, he, too, would have paid no attention to the call of his imperilled comrades; but his heroic soul responded to the appeal, and he at once set his columns in motion.

After the arrival of Rodes and the formation of his

*Charles Carleton Coffin, in "The Boys of '61," page 272. See also the "History of the Pennsylvania Reserves," page 453, and Greeley's "American Conflict," volume 2, page 373.

troops, confronting those of the Eleventh Corps, which had reached the field but a short time before, the battle raged with varied results for over an hour, when, at three o'clock P. M., Early came in upon Rodes' left and struck the Union right. Almost simultaneously with this, Pender's division of Hill's Corps, which had been in reserve, came in upon the extreme left of the line, and both flanks being turned, retreat or capture became inevitable. Rodes, observing the effect of Early's attack, ordered his line forward and the Union lines were broken. The right, which was considerably wearied by their hurried march from Emmittsburg, and had borne the fierce onslaughts of Rodes' and Early's divisions, was the first to yield. It fell back steadily and in tolerable order, covered to some extent by Buford's cavalry, until the town was reached, when it was thrown into inextricable confusion as the men became intermingled in the various cross streets, during which several thousand of them were captured. In the meantime the sturdy left wing, which had stood like a wall of adamant against the foe since morning, was also compelled to fall back before Pender's tremendous onslaught. In vain the heroic Doubleday and Robinson and Wadsworth attempted to stay the tide. To remain longer under such a withering fire, with their left overlapped by Pender a quarter of a mile, was certain death or capture. The retreat of this part of the force, however, was conducted in a more orderly manner than the right, the men firing and falling back and at length reaching Cemetery Hill through the suburbs of the town. Some idea of the losses sustained by the patriot forces that day may be inferred from the fact that Wadsworth's di