Richmond Fayette Artillery at Gettysburg

On July 1st the battle of Gettysburg opened while the 38th Battalion still remained 25 miles away. At 1 or 2 a.m. the following morning, Dearing?s Battalion started with the division toward the sounds of battle. Arriving at about noon, Dearing "the adventurous" went ahead of his battalion and offered his services to Colonel Alexander, commanding artillery of Longstreet's Corps. At once the eager major was dispatched with the batteries if T. C. Jordan and Pichegru Woolfolk Jr., and was ordered to return fire of the enemy guns which had been harassing Alexander most of the morning.

Dearing's response though commendable and daring was again frowned upon by higher command. Even Lee dispatched a note to the major stating that he did not approve of young officers needlessly exposing themselves; your place is with your batteries. Rejoining his battalion at about dusk on July 2, Dearing received orders to move at once to the field of battle, which was done. The battalion bivouacked for the night in the rear of the line of battle of the First Corps in anticipation of the following day.

At about daybreak on July 3 the battalion marched up to the field of battle, and was, later in the morning, put in position on the crest of the hill immediately in front of the enemy's position.... The battalion stood between the Cordori and Rogers houses, with its center approximately 530 yards north of the apple orchard, opposite the house the house of H. Spangler and immediately east of Emmitsburg Road, 650 yards north of the infamous peach orchard. To the left and rear of Colonel Cabell's Battalion and on the right rear was the was the Washington Artillery Battalion.

Not long after the guns went on line, the enemy ?thru forward a strong line of skirmishers in front, Dearing recalled, and having no infantry to drive them away, Captain Stribling's battery was ordered to drive them in, which was done by firing about a dozen rounds. The skirmishers were not driven off, however, until they wounded several gunners and horses around Dearing's guns. Major Read supervised Stribling's battery in the encounter and himself wounded in the head by a fragment of shell. The wound was not dangerous, but Dearing noted that it caused the executive officer grave pain, despite which Read remained on the field.

Following the trouble with the skirmishers, the battalion was prepared to participate in the cannonade to support Pickett's advance on the enemy line. Lieutenant Clopton wrote: "Here we lay until one o'clock, such terrible suspense I never endured." At 1 p.m. the signal gun from the Washington Artillery was fired and Dearing's guns moved to the crest of a slight ridge and joined in the terrific cannonade to soften the Federal lines. The fire from the guns was first slow and deliberate. The major recalled:

To insure more accuracy and to guard against the waste of ammunition, I fired by battery. The firing on the part of my battalion was very good, and most of the shell and shrapnel burst well. My fire was directed at the batteries immediately in my front, and which occupied the heights.... Three caissons were seen by myself to blow up, and I saw several batteries of the enemy leave the field. At one tome, just before General Pickett's division advanced, the batteries of the enemy in our front had nearly ceased firing; only a few scattering batteries here and there could be seen to fire.

Courageously, Dearing stayed on his favorite mount, a large white stallion, and grabbed the battalion's battle flag. Stribling recalled that for the rest of the cannonade, Dearing, following by his staff and courier, waving the battle flag, rode from right to left of the battalion, backward and forward, decidedly the most conspicuous figures in the field. When the courier's horse was killed and the flag waving ceased it was much to the delight of the men, who did not desire anymore attention than they were receiving from the enemy guns. Again, for his reckless behavior, Dearing was chastised by Lee and it was suggested that he should obtain a less conspicuous mount.

From Lieutenant Clopton's perspective, "The very earth seemed to be rolling and tossing under us and the heavens shook above us.... shot and shell screamed and burst over and around us."

It was just as the ammunition supply started to run out that the Federal batteries began to disappear from the opposite ridge. At 3:10 p.m. Pickett's men started the advance toward Emmitsburg Road. As they passed through and by the battalion, the artillerists raised a cheer for their brave and noble comrades. Clopton remembered:

Pickett's Division emerged from the woods behind us five thousand strong.... in a solid line of battle - they passed us and charged straight across the valley in our front which was the valley of the shadow of death for them. The batteries of the enemy now turned on them and how the poor fellows fell but on they rushed and carried the works. They were not supported. The enemy fell upon them by Divisions, overwhelming them. The Division was literally crushed. It was a horrid sight. I hope my eyes will never witness such a scene again...

Just before Pickett's men swept across the field to the front of the battalion, Dearing sent back the caissons for fresh supplies. The battalion was to advance in echelon with the infantry. For over an hour and a half Dearing waited, but no fresh ammunition was to be had. Therefore the 38th Battalion was spared greater losses, which it would have taken had it advanced.

As Federal guns reappeared upon the opposite ridge, two batteries of the battalion and a part of Captain G. V. Moody's battery, of Alexander's Battalion, became the subjects of a very heavy fire for upward of an hour without being able to fire a single shot,noted Dearing, "My own batteries remained on the field after every round of ammunition was exhausted and until I could receive fresh batteries which Colonel Alexander sent me." Blount's Lynchburg battery had all its ammunition exhausted by 5:30 p.m.

Those guns sent to Dearing by Alexander included Moody?s four 24-pounder howitzers, two of Captain Joe Norcom?s and one each of Captain M. B. Miller's and Captain O. B. Taylor?s guns. Once they arrived on the scene they were placed in position and succeeded in driving back a column of infantry that was at that time advancing. The remaining rifled pieces of Dearing?s Battalion also continued to fire upon a column of infantry that advanced upon Pickett's right flank.

By 6:00 p.m., after driving back what enemy could be fired upon the front, only picket fire continued fro the rest of the evening. Battalion losses were considerable.

LOSSES AS A RESULT OF THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN JUNE-JULY, 1863

Companies:

"A" KIA: 0, WIA: 4, MIA: 0, CAPUTRED: 6, HORSES LOST: 10.

"B" KIA: 3, WIA: 3, MIA: 0, CAPUTRED: 7, HORSES LOST: 8.

"C" KIA: 0, WIA: 3, MIA: 0, CAPUTRED: 0, HORSES LOST: 7.

"D" KIA: 4, WIA: 3, MIA: 0, CAPUTRED: 0, HORSES LOST: 12.

On the morning of July 4 the 38th Battalion took position in line of battle with General McLaws' Division, to the right and rear of the position occupied the day before. After remaining in that position until sundown, Dearing was ordered to move his battalion back to Black Horse Tavern and fall in line of march with the corps.

This account is from the book entitled: The Richmond Fayette, Hampden, Thomas, and Blount's Lynchburg Artillery from the H. E. Howard book series by Robert H. Moore II Copyright 1991 pages: 77 to 81.

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