CHAPTER II

INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA-CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG-LEE'S RETREAT ACROSS THE POTOMAC, AND LOSSES IN BOTH ARMIES

A

T Harper's Ferry, June 16th, I was assigned to command a brigade under General W. H. French, a regular officer. General Joseph Hooker, in command of the Army of the Potomac, June 25th, ordered French to be ready to march at a moment's notice. French took position on Maryland Heights, where, June 27th, Hooker visited him and gave him orders to prepare to evacuate both the Heights and Harper's Ferry. French had under him there about 10,000 effective men. Halleck, on being notified of Hooker's purpose to evacuate these places and to unite French's command with the Army of the Potomac for the impending battle, countermanded Hooker's order; thereupon the latter, by telegram from Sandy Hook, requested to be relieved from the command of that army. His request being persisted in, he was, on June 28th, relieved, and Major-General George G. Meade was, by the President, assigned to succeed him. Meade, also feeling in need of reinforcements, on the same day asked permission to order French, with his forces, to join him. Halleck, though placing French under Meade's command, did not consent to this. French, however, with all his troops (save my brigade), under orders from Washington, abandoned Harper's Ferry and Maryland Heights, and became a corps of observation to operate in the vicinity of Frederick, Maryland, in the rear of the Army of the Potomac.

And though no enemy was threatening, nor likely to do so soon, I was ordered to dismantle the fortified heights, load the guns and stores on Chesapeake and Ohio canal boats, and escort them to Washington, repairing the canal and locks on the way. This work was done thoroughly, and we arrived with a fleet of twenty-six boats in Washington shortly after midnight, July 4, 1863. It was my first visit to that city.

Under orders from Halleck, I started on the 6th, by rail, to reoccupy Harper's Ferry, but was stopped by Meade at Frederick, and there again reported to French. French had been assigned to command the Third Army Corps (to succeed General Daniel E. Sickles, wounded at Gettysburg), and his late command became the Third Division of that corps, under Elliott; my brigade, consisting of the 110th and 122d Ohio, 6th Maryland, and 138th Pennsylvania Infantry regiments, became the Second Brigade of this division. This brigade (with, later, three regiments added) was not broken up during the war, and was generally known as " Keifer's Brigade."

It is not my purpose to attempt to write the full story of the battle of Gettysburg, the greatest, measured by the results, of the many great battles of the war. Gettysburg marks the high tide of the Rebellion. From it dates the certain downfall of the Confederacy, though nearly two years of war followed, and more blood was spilled after Lee sullenly commenced his retreat from the heights of Gettysburg than before.

About this stage of the war, President Lincoln took an active interest in the movement of the armies, although he generally refrained from absolutely directing them in the field. It was not unusual for army commanders to appeal to him for opinions as to military movements, and he was free in making suggestions, volunteering to take the responsibility it they were adopted and his plans miscarried. Hooker, in an elaborate dispatch (June 5th) relating to the anticipated movements of Lee's army from the Rappahannock to the northward, said:

"I am of opinion that it is my duty to pitch into his rear, although in so doing the head of his column may reach Warrenton before I can return."

The President, answering, said:

"I have but one idea which I think worth suggesting to you, and that is, in case you find Lee coming to the north of the Rappahannock, I would by no means cross to the south of it. If he should leave a rear force at Fredericksburg, tempting you to fall upon it, it would fight in intrenchments and have you at disadvantage, and so, man for man, worst you at that point, while his main force would in some way be getting the advantage of you northward. In one word, I would not take any risk of being entangled upon the river, like an ox jumped half over the fence and liable to be torn by dogs front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or kick the other."1

The President, answering another dispatch from Hooker, June 10th, said:

"I think Lee's army, and not Richmond, is your objective point. If he comes towards the upper Potomac, follow him on his flank and on his inside track, shortening your lines while he lengthens his. Fight him, too, when opportunity offers. If he stays where he is, fret him and fret him.""

When deeply concerned about the fate of Winchester (June 14th), this dispatch was sent:

"So far as we can make out here, the enemy have Milroy surrounded at Winchester and Tyler at Martinsburg. If they could hold out a few days, could you help them? If the head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg, and the tail of it on the plank road between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim somewhere. Could you not break him?" "A. LINCOLN." "

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Hooker did not cross the river and attack the rear of Lee's army, nor did he "fret " Lee's army, nor "break" it, however" slim "" the animal" must have been, and hence Milroy was sacrificed, and the rich towns, cities, and districts of Maryland and Pennsylvania were overrun by a hungry and 1 War Records, vol. xxvii., Part I., pp. 30-1. 'Ibid., pp. 35, 39.