I've been trying to figure out where they are at the beginning of this video. I've gone through Google earth but for the life of me I cannot orient myself. What is that intersection? I'm assuming the barn in the background is the Sherfy barn?
Good question. The talk began at around 39°48'12.5"N 77°14'46.8"W which is at United States and Sickles Avenue, looking west southwest. We then walked east on United States Avenue to about Auto Tour Stop 11. Following that, we returned up US Avenue and stopped by one of the buildings of the Trostle Farm and progressively returned to our starting point.
I'm pretty positive that indeed that is the Sherfy Farm in the background, but like you I'm having a degree of difficulty in determining from what area the battle walk tour is at in relation to that familiar landmark.
Was fortunate enough to join Ranger Teague on an Evening Battlewalk on McPherson Ridge this past July. He truly puts his soul into his work, his allowing us into the McPherson barn was both eerie and one of the historical high points of our trip. A true gentleman!
Did multiple battlefield walks last summer. Managed to get one of Matt Atkinson's walks and Ranger Teague's as well. I must say these men love their work and make every effort to tell the individual stories of the field. One day, I hope my kids will learn to love history the way I do.
I watch several videos by Gettysburg rangers and this video kept popping up. Dan Sickles, Dan Sickles, Dan Sickles. The three reasons I avoided this video. I broke down this morning and watched. Darn it, Chuck!!! You did exactly what I was afraid you were going to do. You got me to fully see his reasoning. Now, I can no longer stand on my anti Dan Sickles soap box. Most of me is grateful to you, but there is a part of that is very angry with you. Not a mean angry. A frustrated angry. Good job.
Sickles's actions caused practically every Gettysburg Casualty from NH because two of the three Infantry Regiments at Gettysburg (2nd and 12th) were in his own Corps and the 5th Infantry had to go into the Wheatfield after the Red Diamonds were pushed. However, the question to this day is whether or not it was the right move. If you talk to James Longstreet, Sickles move to the higher ground of the Peach Orchard made Longstreet act sooner than he anticipated look at what happened to Kershaw's Brigade, as a prime example. Three of the SC regiments were torn apart by the excellent placement of artillery and the placement of the 2nd NHVI and two other infantry regiments which tore those units apart to make them ineffective and though pushed back off the Orchard helped to keep Longstreet from taking the Round Tops and Cemetery Ridge.
far as I can see, he just conducted a forward defense....and prevented to enemy columns from converging on the main position at the foot of Seminary Ridge, right?
This is THE guy to learn about this battle from....he's gone BEYOND just endless names and unit designations...he's ADDED information and changed, for the better, our perception/understanding of this falsely "controversial" aspect of the battle
FINALLY somebody smart who's not just regurgitating the crap from the "Its easy to hate on Sickles" crowd....finally something more informed and balanced and thank gawd that mic gave out halfway through lol the feedback was just too much lol
Pretty sure the reason his speaker is feeding back is because its too close to his mic. If you notice it feeds back worse when he lowers his head. Tell the Ranger to move the speaker lower on his body
WOW! This is thoroughly fascinating to me. However I'm not sure what exactly we can make of Captain Paine's map other than to say at the very least even Meade was impressed with terrain and elevation offered by the Peach Orchard area on the battlefield. However, despite the implications of the map I would caution against drawing any conclusions and don't necessarily think it can be used to exonerate Sickle's unilateral decision to advance his III Corps forward to center on the Peach Orchard's high ground. Captain Paine's sketch map was after all a sort of "snap shot" early musing of Meade's thought process at the time that he was trying to figure out how best to use the terrain and base the AOP's line and cannot be seen as his final decision on where to deploy the III and eventually the VI Corps when it arrived later in the day. What I draw from this that there was likely an evolution of different deployment ideas he was coming up with as he got a better idea about the geography of the area as well as information on the estimated time of arrival of the VI Corps and other detached units coming up from Maryland. I purposely left V Corps out of this early battle plan of Meade's as the evidence strongly suggests he was planning to use them in some way to open up an attack on the Confederate left until Lee's attack-in-echelon began in earnest around 4:00 PM on the 2nd Day of Battle. With respect the the Confederate reconnaissance group led by Captain Johnson, I really do believe he made it all the way to the Round Tops, likely arriving much earlier than had originally been assumed. At the time he arrived Sickle's III Corps was largely strung out in bivouac in the area between Emmitsburg & Tawnytown Roads North of Wheatfield or Millerstown Road. However, this would not be an indication of where they were ultimately supposed to deploy. Having said that I think there is ample evidence that has survived the battle which suggests that Sickle's did not get the clearest direction from the commanding general as to just exactly where he should deploy his Corps and this map added to the mix would seem to show that there was likely a confused jumble of contradictory orders coming from Meade that Sickle's had to make sense of. At best his knowledge of this map and the ideas it expressed could have been seen by Sickle's as enough of a justification for advancing his Corps towards the Peach Orchard with thoughts of the nightmare his Corps went through at Chancellorsville when Rebel artillerist Edward Porter Alexander used Hazel's Grove as the ultimate artillery platform to deliver a punishing fusillade against his men. This was a really awesome battlewalk but I agree with some of the other comments which I don't just direct towards Teague but to all other battle walks that are filmed...it would be very instructive if somehow a "You Are Here" map could be shown for the benefit of those watching this on TH-cam! Keep up the Good Work guys!
If Buford's cavalry was where it was supposed to be on the morning of the 2cd, Johnson (IMO) didn't make it to Little Round Top. But I'm loath to argue as the only other feature in the area he could've mistaken for LRT was Black Cat Knob which is SW of BRT and doesn't faintly resemble LRT.
Sorry, are you saying that if Buford's cavalry squadrons had been where they were _supposed_ to be, then Johnson's reconnoiter wouldn't have made it to Little Round Top or are you saying that you don't think he made it to LTR regardless of Buford's cavalry? Incidentally, where was Buford's cavalry supposed to be? Didn't he set up camp at or near the Peach Orchard after the fighting of the 1st Day? I'll have to Google Map where Black Cat Knob is although Google maps I've noticed doesn't do a good job of representing elevation too well. Thanks for the comments!
@@RobbyHouseIV I'm saying he DIDN'T make it to LRT at 6am. #1 Buford's cavalry was SUPPOSED to be positioned south of BRT guarding the far left flank, and #2 a brigade of the XII Corp was stationed on LRT until around 8am when they were moved to Culp's Hill. Johnson said the nearest Yankees were the II Corp which were around the copse of trees; that WAS the case between the movement of the XII C brigade and Sickle's assignment to the left of II C.
I've not long returned from the US and a Tour of Gettysburg while over there from Australia ......... would say if you have a interest in the Civil War/Gettysburg put aside 2 days here to take it all in.................. I found it a little overwhelming as I put aside only one day to try to see and get a feeling for it all.
I'm assuming you didn't get to travel 30 miles south and visit Antietam Battlefield. It's in a much more pristine setting, not nearing as developed as Gettysburg and is (IMO) terribly interesting as you can stand on Dunker Church plateau and see about 70% of the battlefield.
3 would be better. It REALLY takes real time walks to get a feel for it. The day I spe4nt there in 2019 went WAY too fast, with 90 % on the Union lines.
I've Always thought much of the problem on meade's left was BECAUSE OF MEADE....he didn't assign enough men to the far left till almost too late, he didn't INSURE the holding of the high ground at the Round Tops...Sickles conducted a Forward Defense (just as Buford did on day 1) with the assumption of more troops arriving (and it's NOT Sickles job to insure that those troops are coming, it's MEADES job) Gen Sickles' requests for assistance that were ignored as well as the paucity of troops sent to the extreme left shows Meade didn't hold his left in high priority...a Mistake It seems clear Meade didn't know WHAT TO DO....the rebels made his mind up for him Meade didn't even bother to go look at the ground he was being REPEATEDLY WARNED about.... Thank goodness that guy just sat there and used the weapons and terrain to allow the confederates to smash themselves to pieces Many of the troops thought the west pointers were very incompetent but the west pointers were like a gang, you see it over and over again
For online viewers, this would have been better as a lecture with slides because the camera only films the Ranger, we are not able to see what the Ranger is pointing to or the land they are looking at.
Picture if you can: McClaw's division with artillery, about 18 guns, on the line Sickles Occupied, and Hood's division with artillery, on Little round top...we'd have an L shaped ambush of the Union left, had "Ol' Dan" not moved forward and delayed Longstreet's corps.. basically a repeat of Buford's delaying tactics the day before. He did 'wear em down'..
You also have to ask, How long it would have taken General Meade to figure out that he needed to send help to the left flank of the Union line? We know from Day 3, that the Confederate Army made it across a mile wide field. Do you think 20,000 Rebels could have made it across Plum Run???
If Sickles doesn't occupy the peach orchard, longstreet rolls his battery's right up to the emmitsburg road unabated.....Pickett's division need not apply.
Meade was sleep deprived because through the whole Getty campaign besides shuttling men to where they were needed he also had never received the supplies to feed both his entire army and livestock for the whole army. By the end of the campaign the army of Potomac would lose 16,000 horses and thousands of mules because they went days without food. This is a situation that Meade inherited the very first day taking command a mere 5 Days before the battle starts. I can understand sickle's feeling of not getting enough support to hold his position but Meade was in the saddle during the whole 3 days of battle plugging the holes of every leak. After the battle ended he still had horses and mules dying left and right. The western Maryland railroad the only supply source 22 miles away. Since the Baltimore Pike was in danger of Confederate attacks during the battle supplies could not be brought up. If you want a fair honest appraisal of of Meade's difficulties please listen to Kent Masterson Brown's appraisal of of Meade's logistical nightmares to discover the full truth. That Gettysburg was wonderful by the army of the Potomac is entirely won was because of the managerial skills of Meade. Any criticism is based not on genuine information but based on lack of information and sheer selfish arrogance. Thank you for your video but to paint Meade as anything less than capable.
Something about the Gettysburg battle that this cleared up for me about the sycles debate. Very confusing situation and many overlooked variables such as the 5thand sixth corp, the heart of the army not being involved earlier. Sycles was a politician who was personally not such a good guy but a brave and competent commander who was a patriot. He was also from New York. Reminds me of a modern politician from New York
I would recommend everyone to read last chance for victory. Thus end of the line did not lose for the south. Is was north of this line. Little round top meant nothing. Read the book
Meade was SCREWING UP. Gen. Dan Sickles salient DID "blunt" the CSA attack. Meade SHOULD have BACKED UP Sickles move EARLIER & QUICKER after he DEPLEATED the position !
Blunted the initial attack, weakened the forces attacking AND deprived them of ammunition AND water. Exhaustion , dehydration and lack of ammo...BIG factors in the halting of the Southerners on LRT.
I agree. When the ranger gets to a certain point the cameraman needs to pan around so we have some sort of idea where we are. Ranger Matt and and this ranger need to get together to agree to disagree about sickles decision to place his troops.
I'm confused why the Paine map is considered definitive when it obviously misses huge chunks of the terrain the 3rd Corps was supposed to occupy. There is no high ground at the Peach Orchard and it looks like Sickles is supposed to deploy in the Plum Run swale. Meade would have never ordered that.
No, I meant on the map there is no high ground indicated around the Peach Orchard or the Emmittsburg Road. The Round Tops and Hauck's Ridge are shown, but nothing west of there. No commander would have placed a Corps where the map indicates.
The Army War College used to bring sessions to Gettysburg, to the Peach Orchard, and pound into their future generals and staff not to get into the situation Sickles did. Professional soldiers with years of experience pan this position and Sickles decisions.
The REASON the AWC panned Sickles was centered on the insubordination aspect of the move forward. Understandable in the education of officers. Fact is if Sickles did not move forward it's highly likely the Union left flank gets rolled up on July 2nd.
They are on the southern end of the battlefield just short of Little Round Top and moving westward from their to the Peach Orchard along the Emmitsburg Road.
Interesting. Is the Park Ranger saying Sickles didn't know he was supposed to occupy the ridge "fishhook" or is he saying Sickles disagreed and put the troops where he thought was best? Sounds like Meade is partly to blame for not taking word of an imminent attack seriously. I don't entirely agree that Meade was sleep deprived at least to the point that he couldn't think clearly. He correctly anticipated Lee's moves and on the map had the troops placed in the best position. Excellent video. It does somewhat exonerate Sickles. He asked repeatedly for clear orders from Meade.
1.05 mark: Johnston's scout. I do believe capt. Johnston saw what he was.. yup. However I believe he didn't see everything , the morning had been described as foggy earlier..56 minute mark.
Personally I don't think he made it to LRT or even close to it; I think he reconnoitered one of the hills further south. He never saw Buford's cavalry positioned south of BRT and at 6am a brigade of the XII Corp was on LRT until they were moved off around 8am.
On day two longstreet sent a staff officer to recce the line of march for his corps, but when they emerged ftom the civer of the woods there was sickles corpsoccupying the very ground longstreet was supposed to launch his attack from and roll up the union left..thus the fight late in the day for tge peach orchard ,devils den andwas occupied at the end of what longstreet said ,was the best fighting ever seen,, and rhe union line was still unbroken ,despite barksdales brigade s great effort.that led to lee returning to his determinedplan to break the line and see off the army of the potomac,,,,,,discuss i could be completely off.
Interestingly, Barksdale was also a 'political general', like Sickles...he raised his own regiments, very outspoken. You can see who was the better military commander, in the context of Day 2 at Gettysburg...lol
This is silly, Sickles was a more than competant commander for 3 years,, did a nifty bit of generaling at Chansolersville, it was Sickles getting hit at the wheatfield and Devils den
Before the battle is very easy to say,Meade was correct,he was the comander and Sickles did not follow the orders,if they loose the battle he will be in a court marcial,I believe that everybody is trying to makinf fun of Mead,but he was the winner of the batlle of GETTYSBURG,if Meade was wrong,what to say about Lee,the looser....
For Goodness sakes!! Ranger Teague, bless his soul, points this way and that. But without the comprehensive map---handed to the participants---the video fails totally.
Chuck Teague great - thanks. You Mr Video Man are disgustingly incompetent! As usual. You're camera is pointing at the sky, Chuck Teague is a shadow and when he points at something do you go with it? Hell no! You keep the camera pointed to the clouds while he's pointing out something maybe we'd like to see. Ya think?? You are taking so much away from these great presentations. Fire this guy - he does it every time. Damn I like these but what a lousy backdrop almost always.
I've been trying to figure out where they are at the beginning of this video. I've gone through Google earth but for the life of me I cannot orient myself. What is that intersection? I'm assuming the barn in the background is the Sherfy barn?
Good question.
The talk began at around 39°48'12.5"N 77°14'46.8"W which is at United States and Sickles Avenue, looking west southwest. We then walked east on United States Avenue to about Auto Tour Stop 11. Following that, we returned up US Avenue and stopped by one of the buildings of the Trostle Farm and progressively returned to our starting point.
I'm pretty positive that indeed that is the Sherfy Farm in the background, but like you I'm having a degree of difficulty in determining from what area the battle walk tour is at in relation to that familiar landmark.
It was at the corner of Walk & Dont Walk.
Roughly in the lane between Rose woods and the wheat fields per descriptions at 31-32 minute mark..Sickles was using the Emmetsburg road.
Gordon Adams- the video was recorded at the intersection of sickles avenue and united states avenue. Looking approximately west-southwest
Was fortunate enough to join Ranger Teague on an Evening Battlewalk on McPherson Ridge this past July. He truly puts his soul into his work, his allowing us into the McPherson barn was both eerie and one of the historical high points of our trip. A true gentleman!
Did multiple battlefield walks last summer. Managed to get one of Matt Atkinson's walks and Ranger Teague's as well. I must say these men love their work and make every effort to tell the individual stories of the field. One day, I hope my kids will learn to love history the way I do.
Lucky!!!
I watch several videos by Gettysburg rangers and this video kept popping up. Dan Sickles, Dan Sickles, Dan Sickles. The three reasons I avoided this video. I broke down this morning and watched. Darn it, Chuck!!! You did exactly what I was afraid you were going to do. You got me to fully see his reasoning. Now, I can no longer stand on my anti Dan Sickles soap box. Most of me is grateful to you, but there is a part of that is very angry with you. Not a mean angry. A frustrated angry. Good job.
Don't know if Chuck reads these at this point but that was phenomenal.
Sickles's actions caused practically every Gettysburg Casualty from NH because two of the three Infantry Regiments at Gettysburg (2nd and 12th) were in his own Corps and the 5th Infantry had to go into the Wheatfield after the Red Diamonds were pushed. However, the question to this day is whether or not it was the right move. If you talk to James Longstreet, Sickles move to the higher ground of the Peach Orchard made Longstreet act sooner than he anticipated look at what happened to Kershaw's Brigade, as a prime example. Three of the SC regiments were torn apart by the excellent placement of artillery and the placement of the 2nd NHVI and two other infantry regiments which tore those units apart to make them ineffective and though pushed back off the Orchard helped to keep Longstreet from taking the Round Tops and Cemetery Ridge.
Yes, sickles deployment made the surrounding terrain a factor, risky? yes, effective? yes.
far as I can see, he just conducted a forward defense....and prevented to enemy columns from converging on the main position at the foot of Seminary Ridge, right?
Even the North thought Sickles was nuts😮
This is THE guy to learn about this battle from....he's gone BEYOND just endless names and unit designations...he's ADDED information and changed, for the better, our perception/understanding of this falsely "controversial" aspect of the battle
FINALLY somebody smart who's not just regurgitating the crap from the "Its easy to hate on Sickles" crowd....finally something more informed and balanced
and thank gawd that mic gave out halfway through lol the feedback was just too much lol
Pretty sure the reason his speaker is feeding back is because its too close to his mic. If you notice it feeds back worse when he lowers his head. Tell the Ranger to move the speaker lower on his body
or have the guy holding the pics also hold the speaker?
Good presentation. The Fog of War descends..
WOW! This is thoroughly fascinating to me. However I'm not sure what exactly we can make of Captain Paine's map other than to say at the very least even Meade was impressed with terrain and elevation offered by the Peach Orchard area on the battlefield. However, despite the implications of the map I would caution against drawing any conclusions and don't necessarily think it can be used to exonerate Sickle's unilateral decision to advance his III Corps forward to center on the Peach Orchard's high ground. Captain Paine's sketch map was after all a sort of "snap shot" early musing of Meade's thought process at the time that he was trying to figure out how best to use the terrain and base the AOP's line and cannot be seen as his final decision on where to deploy the III and eventually the VI Corps when it arrived later in the day. What I draw from this that there was likely an evolution of different deployment ideas he was coming up with as he got a better idea about the geography of the area as well as information on the estimated time of arrival of the VI Corps and other detached units coming up from Maryland. I purposely left V Corps out of this early battle plan of Meade's as the evidence strongly suggests he was planning to use them in some way to open up an attack on the Confederate left until Lee's attack-in-echelon began in earnest around 4:00 PM on the 2nd Day of Battle.
With respect the the Confederate reconnaissance group led by Captain Johnson, I really do believe he made it all the way to the Round Tops, likely arriving much earlier than had originally been assumed. At the time he arrived Sickle's III Corps was largely strung out in bivouac in the area between Emmitsburg & Tawnytown Roads North of Wheatfield or Millerstown Road. However, this would not be an indication of where they were ultimately supposed to deploy. Having said that I think there is ample evidence that has survived the battle which suggests that Sickle's did not get the clearest direction from the commanding general as to just exactly where he should deploy his Corps and this map added to the mix would seem to show that there was likely a confused jumble of contradictory orders coming from Meade that Sickle's had to make sense of. At best his knowledge of this map and the ideas it expressed could have been seen by Sickle's as enough of a justification for advancing his Corps towards the Peach Orchard with thoughts of the nightmare his Corps went through at Chancellorsville when Rebel artillerist Edward Porter Alexander used Hazel's Grove as the ultimate artillery platform to deliver a punishing fusillade against his men.
This was a really awesome battlewalk but I agree with some of the other comments which I don't just direct towards Teague but to all other battle walks that are filmed...it would be very instructive if somehow a "You Are Here" map could be shown for the benefit of those watching this on TH-cam! Keep up the Good Work guys!
If Buford's cavalry was where it was supposed to be on the morning of the 2cd, Johnson (IMO) didn't make it to Little Round Top. But I'm loath to argue as the only other feature in the area he could've mistaken for LRT was Black Cat Knob which is SW of BRT and doesn't faintly resemble LRT.
Sorry, are you saying that if Buford's cavalry squadrons had been where they were _supposed_ to be, then Johnson's reconnoiter wouldn't have made it to Little Round Top or are you saying that you don't think he made it to LTR regardless of Buford's cavalry? Incidentally, where was Buford's cavalry supposed to be? Didn't he set up camp at or near the Peach Orchard after the fighting of the 1st Day? I'll have to Google Map where Black Cat Knob is although Google maps I've noticed doesn't do a good job of representing elevation too well. Thanks for the comments!
sickles right man at right place at right time g burgs unheralded hero
@@RobbyHouseIV I'm saying he DIDN'T make it to LRT at 6am. #1 Buford's cavalry was SUPPOSED to be positioned south of BRT guarding the far left flank, and #2 a brigade of the XII Corp was stationed on LRT until around 8am when they were moved to Culp's Hill. Johnson said the nearest Yankees were the II Corp which were around the copse of trees; that WAS the case between the movement of the XII C brigade and Sickle's assignment to the left of II C.
@@davidfeador4125 agree!!
I've not long returned from the US and a Tour of Gettysburg while over there from Australia ......... would say if you have a interest in the Civil War/Gettysburg put aside 2 days here to take it all in.................. I found it a little overwhelming as I put aside only one day to try to see and get a feeling for it all.
To do it in depth as an academic it really takes you three days to cover the battle (one for each day of the fighting)
I'm assuming you didn't get to travel 30 miles south and visit Antietam Battlefield. It's in a much more pristine setting, not nearing as developed as Gettysburg and is (IMO) terribly interesting as you can stand on Dunker Church plateau and see about 70% of the battlefield.
3 would be better. It REALLY takes real time walks to get a feel for it. The day I spe4nt there in 2019 went WAY too fast, with 90 % on the Union lines.
I'd like a copy of that map...can't seem to get a print from the National Archives.
Can we get photocopies of That map at 1.02-1.03. [ Capt. W. paine's map.]
I've Always thought much of the problem on meade's left was BECAUSE OF MEADE....he didn't assign enough men to the far left till almost too late, he didn't INSURE the holding of the high ground at the Round Tops...Sickles conducted a Forward Defense (just as Buford did on day 1) with the assumption of more troops arriving (and it's NOT Sickles job to insure that those troops are coming, it's MEADES job)
Gen Sickles' requests for assistance that were ignored as well as the paucity of troops sent to the extreme left shows Meade didn't hold his left in high priority...a Mistake
It seems clear Meade didn't know WHAT TO DO....the rebels made his mind up for him
Meade didn't even bother to go look at the ground he was being REPEATEDLY WARNED about....
Thank goodness that guy just sat there and used the weapons and terrain to allow the confederates to smash themselves to pieces
Many of the troops thought the west pointers were very incompetent
but the west pointers were like a gang, you see it over and over again
Good summary
Good Ol' Boys Club.
For online viewers, this would have been better as a lecture with slides because the camera only films the Ranger, we are not able to see what the Ranger is pointing to or the land they are looking at.
agreed
Picture if you can: McClaw's division with artillery, about 18 guns, on the line Sickles Occupied, and Hood's division with artillery, on Little round top...we'd have an L shaped ambush of the Union left, had "Ol' Dan" not moved forward and delayed Longstreet's corps.. basically a repeat of Buford's delaying tactics the day before. He did 'wear em down'..
You also have to ask, How long it would have taken General Meade to figure out that he needed to send help to the left flank of the Union line? We know from Day 3, that the Confederate Army made it across a mile wide field. Do you think 20,000 Rebels could have made it across Plum Run???
Sickles used his own experience to decide how to deploy. Risky? Yes. Effective? Absolutely!
congrats on video;good work,boy...even though,sometimes,sound a bit confusing...hope i can visit G. one day.Best wishes for you Rangers.
If Sickles doesn't occupy the peach orchard, longstreet rolls his battery's right up to the emmitsburg road unabated.....Pickett's division need not apply.
Just like what happened to 3 rd corps at Chancellorsville, last May. Yup. He learned from experience.
Meade was sleep deprived because through the whole Getty campaign besides shuttling men to where they were needed he also had never received the supplies to feed both his entire army and livestock for the whole army. By the end of the campaign the army of Potomac would lose 16,000 horses and thousands of mules because they went days without food. This is a situation that Meade inherited the very first day taking command a mere 5 Days before the battle starts. I can understand sickle's feeling of not getting enough support to hold his position but Meade was in the saddle during the whole 3 days of battle plugging the holes of every leak. After the battle ended he still had horses and mules dying left and right. The western Maryland railroad the only supply source 22 miles away. Since the Baltimore Pike was in danger of Confederate attacks during the battle supplies could not be brought up. If you want a fair honest appraisal of of Meade's difficulties please listen to Kent Masterson Brown's appraisal of of Meade's logistical nightmares to discover the full truth. That Gettysburg was wonderful by the army of the Potomac is entirely won was because of the managerial skills of Meade. Any criticism is based not on genuine information but based on lack of information and sheer selfish arrogance.
Thank you for your video but to paint Meade as anything less than capable.
Something about the Gettysburg battle that this cleared up for me about the sycles debate. Very confusing situation and many overlooked variables such as the 5thand sixth corp, the heart of the army not being involved earlier. Sycles was a politician who was personally not such a good guy but a brave and competent commander who was a patriot. He was also from New York. Reminds me of a modern politician from New York
I would recommend everyone to read last chance for victory. Thus end of the line did not lose for the south. Is was north of this line. Little round top meant nothing. Read the book
I won't agree that LRT meant nothing, but it certainly wasn't the be all-end all that "Killer Angels" and "Gettysburg" has made it out to be.
Meade was SCREWING UP. Gen. Dan Sickles salient DID "blunt" the CSA attack. Meade SHOULD have BACKED UP Sickles move EARLIER & QUICKER after he DEPLEATED the position !
Absolutely correct. Meade completely ignored his left.
Blunted the initial attack, weakened the forces attacking AND deprived them of ammunition AND water. Exhaustion , dehydration and lack of ammo...BIG factors in the halting of the Southerners on LRT.
I agree. When the ranger gets to a certain point the cameraman needs to pan around so we have some sort of idea where we are. Ranger Matt and and this ranger need to get together to agree to disagree about sickles decision to place his troops.
I'm confused why the Paine map is considered definitive when it obviously misses huge chunks of the terrain the 3rd Corps was supposed to occupy. There is no high ground at the Peach Orchard and it looks like Sickles is supposed to deploy in the Plum Run swale. Meade would have never ordered that.
The Peach Orchard is very much prominent high ground. You can see 360-degrees from that point to Seminary Ridge and around to Plum Run.
No, I meant on the map there is no high ground indicated around the Peach Orchard or the Emmittsburg Road. The Round Tops and Hauck's Ridge are shown, but nothing west of there. No commander would have placed a Corps where the map indicates.
David Calderhead
Oh I see what you’re saying, yes.
Sickles is one of the reasons of leadership we learned not to follow at Benning, the other is Joseph Stillwell
that's too bad
Sickles was crazy.
The Army War College used to bring sessions to Gettysburg, to the Peach Orchard, and pound into their future generals and staff not to get into the situation Sickles did. Professional soldiers with years of experience pan this position and Sickles decisions.
The REASON the AWC panned Sickles was centered on the insubordination aspect of the move forward. Understandable in the education of officers.
Fact is if Sickles did not move forward it's highly likely the Union left flank gets rolled up on July 2nd.
why don't they say where they are on the battlefied?
They are on the southern end of the battlefield just short of Little Round Top and moving westward from their to the Peach Orchard along the Emmitsburg Road.
Thanks. That is the one thing that bugs me about these great Walks. I don't know enough to guess where they are.
What's fascinating to me is that the Union army ate at the Lincoln diner
Interesting. Is the Park Ranger saying Sickles didn't know he was supposed to occupy the ridge "fishhook" or is he saying Sickles disagreed and put the troops where he thought was best?
Sounds like Meade is partly to blame for not taking word of an imminent attack seriously. I don't entirely agree that Meade was sleep deprived at least to the point that he couldn't think clearly. He correctly anticipated Lee's moves and on the map had the troops placed in the best position. Excellent video. It does somewhat exonerate Sickles. He asked repeatedly for clear orders from Meade.
1.05 mark: Johnston's scout. I do believe capt. Johnston saw what he was.. yup. However I believe he didn't see everything , the morning had been described as foggy earlier..56 minute mark.
Personally I don't think he made it to LRT or even close to it; I think he reconnoitered one of the hills further south. He never saw Buford's cavalry positioned south of BRT and at 6am a brigade of the XII Corp was on LRT until they were moved off around 8am.
On day two longstreet sent a staff officer to recce the line of march for his corps, but when they emerged ftom the civer of the woods there was sickles corpsoccupying the very ground longstreet was supposed to launch his attack from and roll up the union left..thus the fight late in the day for tge peach orchard ,devils den andwas occupied at the end of what longstreet said ,was the best fighting ever seen,, and rhe union line was still unbroken ,despite barksdales brigade s great effort.that led to lee returning to his determinedplan to break the line and see off the army of the potomac,,,,,,discuss i could be completely off.
Look at it from Lee's perspective, obviously he deemed Sickles was failing to protect the Union flank.
What do you mean?
Meade and Sickles are studied at NO military colleges. They are mediocre at best.
That map constitutes a written order, which takes precedence over a verbal command. There should be no debate, really.
Interestingly, Barksdale was also a 'political general', like Sickles...he raised his own regiments, very outspoken. You can see who was the better military commander, in the context of Day 2 at Gettysburg...lol
What if Hood and Sickles were in place of Grant and Lee ?
Good talk. Dan Sickles was a politician not military at all. He ignored orders so lost men.
SICKLES NEVER ATTENDED WEST POINT WAS A SUCK ASS POLITICIAN WHO NEVER DESERVED A COMMAND WHO GAVE IT TO HIM
This is silly, Sickles was a more than competant commander for 3 years,, did a nifty bit of generaling at Chansolersville, it was Sickles getting hit at the wheatfield and Devils den
Suckled was a politician a scoundrel and a sex fiend plus being a murderer. He was terrible. The idiot got men killed
He was getting hit in the wheat field and den because he moved his Corps, against orders and had to be bailed out
Sickles knowingly disobeyed direct orders......3 times. Not so nifty after all.
I'm the great great grandson of Daniel e Sickles and ur Wong with ur knowledge of him u need to read his book
Meade was FIRED a bit after this engagement , we KNOW why!
When ? Meade served as the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac from June 28, 1863 - June 28, 1865
Yes, Meade was promoted sideways, a military insult. Lincoln couldn't stand him.
When studying the civil war you must have an open mind. If you dont IT(the civil war) will open it for you .. lol
Sickles was a genius
??????
Before the battle is very easy to say,Meade was correct,he was the comander and Sickles did not follow the orders,if they loose the battle he will be in a court marcial,I believe that everybody is trying to makinf fun of Mead,but he was the winner of the batlle of GETTYSBURG,if Meade was wrong,what to say about Lee,the looser....
Meade was in a bad spot..less than a day or two to take charge then this happens..steady fighter.
Meade was mediocre. Lincoln couldn't stand him.
One of THE most important talks on Gettysburg and it's sad the sound at points is SO bad.
This Ranger is great! The chatty Kathy in the audience needs to kick bricks.
For Goodness sakes!! Ranger Teague, bless his soul, points this way and that. But without the comprehensive map---handed to the participants---the video fails totally.
MOVE
No disrespect in tended but being a Gettysburg scholar I am having trouble following this guy. He's confusing in his presentation.
As a Gettysburg super scholar, I find him very clear
1:17:24 I understand this to be his point of the whole discussion.
+Mountaintab. I kind of thought the same thing. A confused park ranger explaining a confused corps commander, lol.
Which fits the theme perfectly...now put yourself in Sickles shoes..based on the early morning map and the conflicting instructions thereafter..bingo.
Too much of a micro look. That's what all these guys do.
agreed
Wow! Apparently you didn't read the TITLE of the talk?
Chuck Teague great - thanks. You Mr Video Man are disgustingly incompetent! As usual. You're camera is pointing at the sky, Chuck Teague is a shadow and when he points at something do you go with it? Hell no! You keep the camera pointed to the clouds while he's pointing out something maybe we'd like to see. Ya think?? You are taking so much away from these great presentations. Fire this guy - he does it every time. Damn I like these but what a lousy backdrop almost always.