Henry

Philadelpia Times  6-3-1863 "Has the War Come to a Screeching Halt?"

Today will be a day in history that will never be forgotten. This afternoon, General Robert E. Lee and General George Pickett of the Confederate Army declared a surprise assault on General George Meade and his men of the Union Army. But, little did the Conferderate Army know, was that their plan would end up being more of a slaughter, than what they were hoping for, victory. I stand on the Union side, the free side. Cannons start firing, but not from our side. The Confederates begin fire and fire from left to right. Our men were caught off guard. Meades headquarters got hit by a cannon ball and wood and splinters flew everywhere. There were two men in Meades headquarters when it exploded. Union men ran to take cover. The smell of smoke was incredibly strong. A few Union men dropped to the ground.There were fires from the explosions of the cannons. The Union soldiers were hurrying to respond. Now there were cannons from both sides firing. The Confederates were marching across the field, all 11,000 of them. The Union men started firing, and the Confederate men started to drop like flies. The Union men waited patiently. The smell of death was everywhere. The sight was unbearable. Hancock was sitting proud on his horse, when he declared "There are times when a Corp. Commanders life does not count". Out of the 11,000 man charge, less than 500 made it over the wall for hand to hand combat. There were rebel yells everywhere. Hancock was on his horse when a bullet from the enemy hit his saddlehorn and pierced his abdomen. Men rushed to his aid, but Hancock calmly said, "I will not be moved until this engagment is decided." The Confederates tried to take the Union cannons, a couple succeeded while the others got blown away from being in the line of fire of the cannons. I could see blood everywhere, and corpses everywhere in the field. Men were hitting eachother with bayonets, and the Union men were taking Confederates prisoner. The Confederates knew they were losing. They didn’t know if they should continue or not. General Armistead of the Confederate Army was hit and down on the field. I recall hearing that he was asking for General Hancock, they had been best friends, but they were both hit and down. He died while he was with the Union soldiers. It was the end of the battle, and it was obvious the Confederates had lost. The Union men were together chanting, “Fredricksburg, Fredricksburg!” There were bodies littered throughout the battlefield. Unbion men were loading up the bodies and searching the field for the downed men’s names. All in all, the North succeeded. This might not be the end of the war, but we keep our hopes high that it is. For now we look to the future and see free men, no more slavery.