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Introduction
A CCORDING TO CONVENTIONAL wisdom, Picketts Charge has been long seen as the climax of Gettysburg, the largest and most important battle fought on American soil. But contrary to traditional assumptions, the failure of Picketts Charge, despite all its tragic majesty and heroic grandeur, was not the decisive event that condemned the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederacy to an early death. In truth, Gettysburg was decided not on the famous third day of the battle, but on the previous afternoon. Indeed, Thursday, July 2, 1863 was the most important day in the Confederacys short lifetime and the most decisive of the three days at Gettysburg. And the defining moment of that Second Day was the repulse of the most successful Confederate attack, which came closer to toppling the Army of the Potomac than any other Rebel offensive effort of the war. It was the charge of General William Barksdale and his 1,600-man Mississippi Brigade on the afternoon of July 2, which one Union observer described as the grandest charge that was ever made by mortal man. Unfortunately, the mythical qualities and romantic dimensions of the most famous assault in American history, Picketts Charge, has left a far more successful Southern attackone that swept through and routed much of a veteran Union Corps, captured nearly 20 artillery pieces, and penetrated more than a mile to drive a deep wedge into the Union armys left-centerin the historical shadows, and often only in obscure footnotes of books about the Battle of Gettysburg. In truth, however, Barksdales attackas the foremost spearhead of Longstreets offensive on July 2came closer to achieving decisive success and winning it all for the Confederacy than any other assault of the battle. In Americas fabled national Iliad, the relatively slight, ever-so-brief penetration of the Union center by the courageous attackers of General
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BARKSDALES CHARGE

George Edward Picketts Virginia Division on July 3 has been long celebrated as the High Water Mark of Gettysburg and the Confederacy. But only a relatively few men of a depleted band of attackers ever reached the little copse of trees on the Union right-center along Cemetery Ridge, and once there could only fall to Union fire or be captured. In terms of achieving the greatest gains and coming closer to achieving decisive success, the High Water Mark of Gettysburg has long been located in the wrong place. After the war, United States government historian John Bachelder officially establishedor rather inventedthe High Water Mark at the copse of trees along Cemetery Ridge. Influenced by powerful veteran groups from both sides, especially Picketts Virginians, Bachelders designation became the established High Water Mark that has forever commemorated the geographical and military zenith of Confederate fortunes during the four years of war. Therefore, Picketts Charge has been widely seen as Lees best chance to have won the battle, which was not the case. Propelled by the tide of popular history based upon the muchembellished Virginia version of the story, generations of historians and popular writers have long celebrated the Rebel zenith on the incorrect day and place. The true High Water Mark of the Battle of Gettysburg took place farther south of the famous clump of trees, near Cemetery Ridges southern end on the Union left-center, where Barksdale struck with his brigade. In terms of its overall success, gains reaped, and closeness to achieving a decisive victory, Picketts Charge was neither the most successful nor most important Confederate attack at Gettysburg. In fact, it never came close to achieving what had been accomplished and gained by the Mississippi Brigades sweeping attack the day before. Unlike when Barksdales men smashed through the Union left-center, at a time when it was most vulnerable, General Robert E. Lees decision to target the Federal right-center on July 3 was made when it was far too strongin terms of the number of defenders, both front-line and reserve, excellent elevated defensive terrain, and high-quality Union commandersto overcome. Quite unlike Barksdales Charge on July 2 when the fate of the American nation was decided, Picketts Charge never really had a chance of succeeding. Seldom before and afterward would Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia come closer to achieving decisive victory than when Barksdales Charge came so tantalizing close to cracking the Union line on the late

Introduction

afternoon of July 2. Under Barksdales inspired leadership, the Mississippi Brigades success in smashing everything in its path, including the Peach Orchard salient and the Emmitsburg Road defensive line, was remarkable by any measure. A single regiment of Barksdales Brigade (the 21st Mississippi) captured more artillery pieces than any regiment on either side at Gettysburg. As never before, Barksdale went for broke in personally leading his brigades onslaught in an attempt to win the war in a single afternoon. And he nearly succeeded. But in one of the great inequities of American history, Barksdales Charge has long remained in the shadow of Picketts Charge, thanks largely to the dominance of the Virginia School of history. The general obscurity of Barksdales effort, despite its tactical success, has resulted from the sheer power of myth, traditionalism, and romance in both popular and academic history. As fate would have it, the Mississippians attack was never promoted, embellished, or celebrated by generations of historians after the Civil War. Southern writers favored the gallant effort of the Virginians, while Northern writers preferred to celebrate their clear triumph over Picketts men rather than the moment when their line was barely hanging by a thread, and elements of four corps were forced to converge to stop the onslaught of Barksdales Mississippians. Pro-Virginia propagandists early rewrote the dramatic story of Gettysburgs Third Day to conform to a chivalric and heroic tale dominated by layers of Victorian Era values and romance. They succeeded in transforming the folly of Picketts Charge into the most romanticized saga of the Civil War. The aggressive advocates and prolific writers of the Virginia School, which glorified Virginian leaders, troops, and accomplishments, decisively influenced generations of latter-day historians, popular writers (ironically including Mississippis own William Faulkner), documentaries, and films for generations to come. Unlike Pickett, whose enduring romantic image was largely the product of the writings of his well-connected Virginia wife, the Deep South general, William Barksdale, who led the far more successful charge at Gettysburg, was forgotten. Unlike Barksdale, who fell to rise on more on July 2, Pickett ideally fit the overwrought image of a romantic Virginia cavalier in the popular imagination. In the historical memory, the enduring image of the West Point-trained Pickett cast a giant shadow over the more homespun, less attractive Barksdale, an outspoken Mississippi politician, newspaper editor, and self-made leader. Barksdales death on the field likewise contributed to the obscurity of his attack, so that the authentic High

BARKSDALES CHARGE

Tide at Gettysburg has been generally overlooked. Unlike the soldiers of Picketts Virginia Division, which was not a battle-hardened command, Barksdales veterans possessed an early and well-deserved reputation for repeatedly achieving the impossible during some of the wars most important battles. In fact, reaping dramatic battlefield gains was the hallmark of Barksdales rough-hewn brigade of combat troops by the time of the battle of Gettysburg. In key roles the Mississippi Brigade had repeatedly fought against great odds in vital battlefield situations, revealing that Barksdales command was possibly the best fighting brigade in Lees Army. While Pickett was neither in command of the overall July 3 assault (only his Virginia Division) nor led the charge all the way to Cemetery Ridge, and his men were not the majority of attackers, Barksdale personally led Lees most successful attack in terms of coming closer to achieving a decisive victory at Gettysburg. Ironically, the widely celebrated twin dramas of Picketts Charge (primarily a romanticized product of the Nineteenth Century) and the battles most famous small-unit action, when the 20th Maine garnered recognition in the struggle for Little Round Top (primarily an equally romanticized product of the Twentieth Century) have together obscured the real High Water Mark of Gettysburg. Compared to Picketts men, Mississippis veterans, mostly illiterate farm boys from a remote frontier-like region located far from leading eastern centers of population and influence, possessed little clout, political connections, and literary machinery to garner recognition for their supreme effort at Gettysburg. Therefore, despite the importance of Barksdales steamrolling attack in nearly winning it all, this remarkable story of the most successful offensive effort at Gettysburg has been a forgotten chapter of history. Most of all, the Mississippi Brigades unsurpassed success on July 2 marked the true zenith of the Confederate offensive effort during the three days of Gettysburg. The closest that the Army of Northern Virginia ever came in its long storied history to reaping a truly decisive success in vanquishing the Army of the Potomac was when Barksdales assault overran nearly twenty field pieces and demolished one brigade after another, while gaining hundreds of yards during the relentless push to gain Cemetery Ridges strategic crest at any cost. In an attempt to finally set the historical record straight and to overturn a host of longstanding assumptions and myths about Gettysburg,

Introduction

this is the first time that the full story of the most successful Confederate offensive effort at Gettysburg has been told to reveal just how close Barksdales crack Mississippi Brigade nearly came to winning the most decisive success of the Civil War. Clearly, Barksdale and his Mississippi soldiers saw their finest hour on Thursday July 2, rising to the supreme challenge by almost winning the war in a single afternoon. But more important, Barksdales Charge should be remembered today as one of the most dramatic and memorable chapters of not only the battle of Gettysburg but also the Civil War. Few examples in the annals of American military history have more thoroughly revealed the courage, fighting prowess, and heroics of the American fighting man than the unforgettable story of Barksdales Charge. When the shattered remains of the Mississippi Brigade, after having lost half its strength, retired along the bloody path they had made and fell back in the fading light of July 2, Barksdales repulse also marked the Confederacys sunset: the South was now on the road to extinction and there was no detour or exit. For the millions of people from around the world who have toured Gettysburgs hallowed ground each year to marvel at the majesty of the stately Virginia Monument, where the Old Dominion men of Picketts Charge began their lengthy march from Seminary Ridge, over the open fields toward the famous copse of trees on Cemetery Ridge, where the doomed attack finally ended in its inevitable bloody climax, has long drawn the greatest gatherings of any spot on the Gettysburg battlefield. In a classic irony and in striking contrast, relatively few visitors of Gettysburg today are even aware of Barksdales Charge or how the Mississippians sweeping attack of more than a mile actually came closer to achieving victory. Consequently, almost all visitors to the pastoral fields and seemingly haunted hills of the battlefield drive by the forgotten but true High Water Mark of the Confederacy, oblivious to its importance. Therefore, it is now time to take a fresh new look at the truths, myths, and realities of the battle of Gettysburg and its relatively forgotten culminating moment, beyond the romantic stereotypes and unchallenged conventional wisdom that that have flourished for the last 150 years. It is now time to tell the story of the true Confederate High Tide, Barksdales Charge, when the fate of the American nation was decided. Dr. Phillip Thomas Tucker Washington, D.C. May 23, 2013