"24th Virginia Infantry's Action at Gettysburg."

 

This is a small excerpt of an article written by Colonel Joseph Mayo, for the Richmond Times Dispatch Dec.13,1914 He was a survior of that dreaded day at Gettysburg.

 

The 24th's Action

 

"At 2:00 A.M. on July 2, the 24th Virginia and Pickett's division proceeded eastward on the Chambersburg Pike toward Gettysburg. Under a broiling sun the Virginians rapidly crossed South Mountain and by 2:00 P.M. had trudged twenty-three miles through suffocating dust. The exhausted men encamped early in the afternoon near Willoughby Run. They Were three miles west of Gettysburg, which for the previous two days had been the scene of a desperate Struggle. As July 2 closed, the Virginians sensed that tomorrow would bring their entry into the combat.

 

By 3:30 A. M. on July 3, the Virginians had broken camp and were headed down the Cashtown Road for Gettysburg. Kemper's brigade led the rest of Picett's division and arrived just west of Gettysburg around 8:00 A. M. Under the watchful eye of Lee the brigade headed south and began discarding all nonessentials.

 

Along the march, the men had witnessed Confederate burying parties interring the dead of the previous days battle. After a twenty-minute rest stop at Pitzerss Run, the troops turned eastward.

 

Around 11:00 A. M., Kemper's brigade formed line of battle behind the crest of a ridge just west and south of the Spangler House. Major James Dearing's artillery battalion was stationed on the crest of Seminary Ridge. Four hundred yards behind Dearing's men, Kemper alligned his brigade from left to right as follows: 3rd, 7th, 1st, 11th and 24th Virginia. The Virginians remained in the open field behind the ridge for the next three hours. Under a blazing sun, the men could do little except watch and wait.

 

By noon, Col. Terry had instructed his captains on the general plan of battle. The company commanders barely had time to return to their Commands and instruct the men on the location of the enemy position and the difficulty of their task; for at 1:00 P. M., the Confederate artillery commenced shelling the enemy position on Cemetery Ridge. The Union artillery quickly replied in kind, and for the next two hours the ground shook from the incessant artillery fire.

 

Remaining in the open field behind the Confederate artillery, the 24th Virginia "suffered considerably from the iron hail of the enemy's batteries. The only protection that the man had were small piles of rocks. Needless to say, these

rocks were of little value against artillery. Major Hambrick suffered a painful

head wound from the splinters of an apple tree struck by a Union shell. In addition to the artillery fire, the sun took its toll on the troops. Several men actually fainted from the heat. The entire brigade suffered more than a fifteen percent casualty rate before the actual charge began.

 

At 1:40 P. M ., Col . E. Porter Alexander, commander of Longstreet 's artillery, advised Gen. Pickett to advance. The dapper general had formed his division in

two lines; Kemper's and Garnett's brigades first, followed by Armistead's regiments. Once Longstreet had consented to the charge, Pickett rode among his men and exclaimed:

 

"Up, men, and to your posts! Don't forget that you are from old Virginia!"

 

With everything ready, Pickett dispatched Capt. Robert A. Bright to instruct

Gen. Kemper that he was "to dress on Garnett and take the red barn for . . .

[his] objective point." At approximately 3:00 P. M., the Confederate artillery

ceased firing and Col. Terry ordered the 24th Virginia to prepare to advance.

There was no cheering, only a resolute determination to take the enemy position.

 

The regiment quickly moved "by the left flank to the depth of a regiment" and

then headed eastward. The Henry Guards acted as skirmishers 200 yards in advance of the main assault line. As Dearing's men cheered, soldiers from the Virginia highlands passed through the Confederate artillery "deliberately [and] in good order." Continuing eastward, Kemper's brigade crossed the double fence at Spangler's lane and then reformed the line. The brigade had never looked better.

 

Upon traversing the plain below, the Virginians moved alternately by "the front

and by the left flank." This move was concealed from the enemy by a ravine, or swale, which allowed the men to move in a northeasterly direction without drawing enemy fire. From the bottom of the swale, the 24th Virginia and the rest of Pickett's division began their charge. Once the mountaineers had cleared the ravine and neared the Emmitsburg road, they received a devastating fire from Benjamin Rittenhouse's battery located on Little Round Top. Colonel Freeman McGilvery's battery also opened on the exposed right flank of the 24th Virginia. This unsupported flank made an inviting target, which the Union artilleryists hit with increasing frequency. However, the withering flank artillery fire was just the beginning.

 

And lastly, the sight of the impetuous Kemper,as rising in his stirrups and pointing

to the left with his sword, he shouted:

 

"There are the guns boys.Go for them!" It was an injudicious order, but they

obeyed it with a will, and mingling with Garnett's people, pushed rapidly up the heights.Within a few steps of the stone fence, while in the act of shaking hands

with General Garnett, and congratulating him on being able to be with his men

(he had been seriously hurt a day or two before).

 

I heard someone calling to me, and turning my head, saw it was Captain Fry.

He was mounted and blood was streaming from his horse's neck.Colonel Terry

had sent him to stop the movement to the left. The enemy in force (Stannard's Vermonters) had penetrated to our rear.

 

He told me that Kemper had been struck down, it was feared mortally, and

Garnett and Armistead had both been killed. With the help of Col. Carrington

of the Eighteenth, and Major Bently, of the Twenty-fourth, I hastily gathered together a small band and faced them to meet the new danger.

 

At 2:00 A.M. on July 2, the 24th Virginia and Pickett's division proceeded

eastward on the Chambersburg Pike toward Gettysburg. Under a broiling sun

the Virginians rapidly crossed South Mountain and by 2:00 P.M. had trudged twenty-three miles through suffocating dust. The exhausted men encamped early

in the afternoon near Willoughby Run.

 

They were three miles west of Gettysburg, which for the previous two days had been the scene of a desperate Struggle. As July 2 closed, the Virginians sensed

that tomorrow would bring their entry into the combat.

 

By 3:30 A. M. on July 3, the Virginians had broken camp and were headed

down the Cashtown Road for Gettysburg. Kemper's brigade led the rest of

Pickett's division and arrived just west of Gettysburg around 8:00 A. M.

 

Under the watchful eye of Lee the brigade headed south and began discarding

all nonessentials. Along the march, the men had witnessed Confederate burying parties interring the dead of the previous days battle. After a twenty-minute rest

stop at Pitzerss Run, the troops turned eastward.

 

Around 11:00 A. M., Kemper's brigade formed line of battle behind the crest

of a ridge just west and south of the Spangler House. Major James Dearing's artillery battalion was stationed on the crest of Seminary Ridge. Four hundred

yards behind Dearing's men, Kemper alligned his brigade from left to right as follows: 3rd, 7th, 1st, 11th and 24th Virginia.

 

The Virginians remained in the open field behind the ridge for the next three hours. Under a blazing sun, the men could do little except watch and wait.

 

By noon, Col. Terry had instructed his captains on the general plan of battle. The company commanders barely had time to return to their Commands and instruct

the men on the location of the enemy position and the difficulty of their task; for

at 1:00 P. M., the Confederate artillery commenced shelling the enemy position

on Cemetery Ridge. The Union artillery quickly replied in kind, and for the next

two hours the ground shook from the incessant artillery fire.

 

Remaining in the open field behind the Confederate artillery, the 24th Virginia "suffered considerably from the iron hail of the enemy's batteries. The only protection that the man had were small piles of rocks. Needless to say, these

rocks were of little value against artillery. Major Hambrick suffered a painful

head wound from the splinters of an apple tree struck by a Union shell.

 

In addition to the artillery fire, the sun took its toll on the troops. Several men actually fainted from the heat. The entire brigade suffered more than a fifteen

percent casualty rate before the actual charge began.

 

At 1:40 P.M ., Col . E. Porter Alexander, commander of Longstreet 's artillery, advised Gen. Pickett to advance. The dapper general had formed his division in

two lines; Kemper's and Garnett's brigades first, followed by Armistead's regiments.

Once Longstreet had consented to the charge, Pickett rode among his men and exclaimed:

 

"Up, men, and to your posts! Don't forget that you are from old Virginia!"

 

With everything ready, Pickett dispatched Capt. Robert A. Bright to instruct Gen. Kemper that he was "to dress on Garnett and take the red barn for ...[his] objective point." At approximately 3:00 P. M., the Confederate artillery ceased firing and Col. Terry ordered the 24th Virginia to prepare to advance. There was no cheering, only a resolute determination to take the enemy position.

 

The regiment quickly moved "by the left flank to the depth of a regiment" and then

headed eastward. The Henry Guards acted as skirmishers 200 yards in advance of the main assault line. As Dearing's men cheered, soldiers from the Virginia highlands passed through the Confederate artillery "deliberately [and] in good order." Continuing eastward, Kemper's brigade crossed the double fence at Spangler's lane and then reformed the line. The brigade had never looked better.

 

Upon traversing the plain below, the Virginians moved alternately by "the front and

by the left flank." This move was concealed from the enemy by a ravine, or swale,

which allowed the men to move in a northeasterly direction without drawing enemy fire.

 

From the bottom of the swale, the 24th Virginia and the rest of Pickett's division began their charge. Once the mountaineers had cleared the ravine and neared the Emmitsburg road, they received a devastating fire from Benjamin Rittenhouse's battery located on Little Round Top. Colonel Freeman McGilvery's battery also opened on the exposed right flank of the 24th Virginia. This unsupported flank made an inviting target, which the Union artilleryists hit with increasing frequency. However, the withering flank artillery fire was just the beginning.

 

In addition to being blasted by artillery, the 24th Virginia came under concentrated musketry. Continuing eastward, Kemper's brigade passed along the south side of the Codori house. After the brigade had cleared the house, it met the Union infantry in force. General George Stannard's Vermont brigade, which was stationed in a cluster of trees southeast of the Codori house and perpendicular to the Union line, took advantage of the Virginians' exposed right flank. Musketry ripped huge gashes in the ranks of the regiment.

 

The Virginians pushed forward, only to be hit from the front by William Harrow's and

N. J. Hall's brigades. Despite the murderous fire from the Union soldiers, the men from the Virginia highlands continued to close ranks around their colorbearer, Charles P. Belcher. The Virginians now opened fire and poured welldirected volleys into the ranks

of their Northern adversaries.

 

In the confusion of battle, Kemper's men had drifted to the left. They passed a piece

of rough terrain in front of Hall's position, then became tangled with Garnett's brigade. General Kemper, having been wounded, relinquished command of the brigade to "Old Buck" Terry. In desperation, Terry tried to stop the leftward movement, but his efforts went for naught. Individually, and in places collectively, Kemper's and Garnett's men continued their easterly charge.

 

The ranks of Kemper's brigade continued to be fragmented by the torrent of enemy

fire on its right flank. To counter this problem, the 24th and part of the 11th Virginia

were ordered to form a right angle to the main line of the brigade. This tactical maneuvre was designed to prevent Stannard's men from infiltrating the rear of the brigade.

 

Owing to Col. Terry's temporary advancement to brigade command, Lt. Col. Maury's unexplained absence and Maj. Hambrick's wound, Capt. Bentley took command of the 24th Virginia. Savage handto-hand combat began between the Virginians and the Union troops just south of the angle.

 

Despite the Federal advantage of a stone wall, at least part of the 24th Virginia was able

to get inside of the Union works. The mountaineers stormed over the wall, causing many Federals to surrender. Continuing forward, Capt. Bentley and his men were able to occupy at least one of Alonzo H. Cushing's Union guns. However, the unsupported Virginians could not maintain their advantage.

 

A Northern counterattack swept the men back across the stone wall. Colonel Joseph Mayo of the 3rd Virginia and Capt. Bentley, the latter bleeding from a wounded hip,

tried to regroup the troops. Yet before they could rally the menus both flanks of the

small force were dangling in the air. The troops were forced to retire.

 

In backing across the field, the men from the Virginia highlands continued to fall.

Walter Harrison, inspector general for Pickett's division, described the scene by stating: "kiln the attack it was heavy but the rear. unheeded; in the retreat it became terrible."

 

However, a few men of the 24th Virginia were able to find their way back to Seminary Ridge where the charge began. There the men bathed their wounds in a little creek.

Clear water soon ran crimson with blood. Farther down the creek, troops quenched

their ravinous thirst with the same rose-colored liquid.

 

A heartbroken Gen. Pickett mingled among the survivors of his division. When he approached the small group of men from the 24th Virginia, Charles Belcher waved

the colors of the regiment and exclaimed; "General, let us go it again ! " The words quickly lost their meaning as Gen. Kemper passed by on a stretcher.

 

General Lee, who had ridden out to greet his men, spotted Kemper. Lee inquired

about his wound and whether there was anything he could do for the wounded general.

In great pain, Kemper replied, "Yes General Lee, do full justice to this division for its

work today." With bowed head, Lee said: "I will."

 

Soldiers then took Kemper to the rear. Suffering over a fifty percent casualty rate, Pickett's division was butchered at Gettysburg. Of the nearly 4,300 men in the division, 232 were killed, 1,157 wounded and 1,499 captured or missing. Kemper's brigade had 731 casualties. Of these, the 24th Virginia lost 18 killed, 71 wounded,40 wounded and taken prisoner and 50 missing. No other regiment in Kemper's brigade suffered such frightful casualties. The regiment would never fully recover from its heroism at Gettysburg.

 

On the night after the battle, the survivors of the 24th Virginia were either in the regimental hospital or scattered along Seminary Ridge. Some of the men procured

rations from wagon trains and prepared for the following day's battle. By early

afternoon on July 4, it became apparent to Lee that Gen. George G. Meade was

not going to counterattack. Lee then ordered his battered columns to prepare to

return to Virginia.

 

On the march back to Virginia, the 24th Virginia—along with the rest of Pickett's division—were detailed as provost guards. The Confederates considered this duty to

be a disgrace; they did not relish the task of taking some 4,000 Union prisoners back

to Virginia. Torrential rains added more discomfort to an already disagreeable assignment.

 

Early on the morning of July 5, the brigade left Fairfield and resumed its southerly

march. By evening Kemper's men had reached Monterey on top of South Mountain.

The following day, the men proceeded down the mountain to Waterloo, where they

rested for several hours. The troops renewed the march that evening and, by 2:00 P.M. on July 7, were just north of Williamsport, Md.

 

After resting for a day, the weary Virginians eagerly relinquished their prisoners to

troops under Gen. John Imboden. Late on the evening of the 10th, the 1st, 3rd and

24th Virginia crossed the Potomac and began picket duty about a mile south of the

ferry. For the next two days, the Virginians guarded the roads while Lee's army

crossed back into Virginia.

 

At 5:00 P. M. on July 13, the brigade headed for Martinsburg, W. Va. Two days

later, it reached Bunker Hill. The brigade enjoyed three days of rest before moving to Smithfield in Jefferson County. Five days later, the men went into camp near Culpepper Court House. There they remained until August 3. That day the troops marched to the Rapidan River and halted near Martain Run. The men then went into regular camp and resumed drills and other camp duties.

 

On September 9, Kemper's brigade started for Richmond. Passing through Louisa

Court House, the men took the Mountain road to the capital. On the 13th, the Virginians reached Chaffin's Farm, south of the city. The brigade remained there ten days then proceeded back to Richmond and took the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad back to Taylorsville. There the troops guarded the roads and bridges in the area.

 

During autumn of 1863, Kemper's brigade began to recover in part from Pickett's

Charge. The men were fully clothed and, with the exception of but one man, they

were completely shod. Their arms and accouterments were in good condition, except

for the loss of some bayonets. At Taylorsville the troops had built substantial quarters.

 

However, their rations were not as plentiful as the men would have liked. One pint of unsifted meal and a quarter-pound of bacon per day was the general ration. The bacon was usually eaten raw. To fry it would have caused it to shrink too much. Coffee, of a sort, was made from parched wheat, rye or sometimes rice.

 

The men from the Virginia highlands went into winter quarters less buoyant than they

had been the previous year. The ultimate victory which they had hoped for in 1863 had not materialized. Instead, defeat had befallen the Army of Northern Virginia.

 

What the coming year would hold for the survivors of Pickett's Charge was unknown; however, the men of the 24th Virginia were by no means ready to quit after one defeat. The men knew that 1864 would be a new year, with new opportunities for success.

 

{THE END}