Crawford's charge

Crawford's charge
Part of Battle of Gettysburg
Date July 2, 1863 Location Gettysburg Battlefield 39°48′00″N 77°14′42″W / 39.80°N 77.245°W / 39.80; -77.245 (Sickes headquarters)[specify]Coordinates: 39°48′00″N 77°14′42″W / 39.80°N 77.245°W / 39.80; -77.245 (Sickes headquarters)[specify] Result Confederate forces retreated
Belligerents
USA (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Fifth Corps, 3rd Div: Samuel W. Crawford Sixth Corps, 3rd Div, 3rd Brigade (Nevin)[1]	[specify]

Crawford's charge was a Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day, skirmish at the end of McLaws' Assault. Brig. Gen. Samuel W. Crawford's Pennsylvania Reserves had arrived to the Gettysburg Battlefield from the Baltimore Pike (near Rock Creek) to the northeast slope of Little Round Top after General Daniel Sickles had been wounded, and the division was subsequently positioned on the northwest slope.^[2]:392 At about 7:30 p.m, the Confederate advance through the Wheatfield continued eastward into the Valley of Death (Gettysburg) toward the Union line remaining from the earlier Battle of Little Round Top. After retreating federals passed Crawford's troops,^[1] the Confederates were charged west of Little Round Top by Crawford's division at "double quick"^[3]--along with Nevin's brigade^[1]--that drove the exhausted Confederates back beyond The Wheatfield to the Stony Hill (Crawford established his line at the east edge of The Wheatfield.)^[4]

Postbellum, Crawford purchased land at the Valley of Death which the Reserves crossed during the charge and, until the First Army Appropriations Act of 1917 acquired the tracts, "Crawford's Glen"^[5] provided a right-of-way for the 1894-1916 Gettysburg Electric Railway.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Tagg, Larry (1998) (RoCeMaBra webpage excerpt). The Generals of Gettysburg: The Leaders of America's Greatest Battle. http://www.rocemabra.com/~roger/tagg/generals/general23.html. Retrieved 2011-10-23. 
2. ^ Pfanz, Harry W (1987). Gettysburg – The Second Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-1749-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=Zph9cjB2LhQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Harry+W.+Pfanz%22&hl=en&ei=8EOiTubzF-S0iQL7nI0v&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
3. ^ Crawford, Samuel W. (September 21, 1886). "The Pennsylvania Reserves at Gettysburg: Gen. Crawford's Contribution" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel] (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania). http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5FcmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=af8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4346,3052655&dq=rocky-ridge+devil's-den&hl=en. Retrieved 2011-10-19. "The enemy's skirmishers had reached the foot of the rocky ridge. His line was advancing irregularly and approaching a stone wall which skirted the wheat field on its Eastern side, running to the left over "Houck's Hill" and into Rose's woods. … His line seemed to be broken and in some disorder, and massed here and there, as he progressed. …I…sent a staff officer to General Sykes, reporting to him the condition of things…[Sykes] authorized me…to act as I deemed proper…I gave the order to advance. … As [my men] proceeded down the gentle slope at the foot of Little Round Top they broke into a double quick of their own motion, advancing over the low marshy ground in their front, the scattered force of the enemy retiring toward the stone wall that skirted the wheat field and "for the possession of which there was a short but decided struggle." As the command advanced the secend [sic] line was deployed to the left upon the first, extending the line in the direction of [the Rose] woods and protecting the left flank. … The enemy fell back across the wheat field to the raised ground on its Western limit, along which they established their line, extending into Trostle's woods on their left and Rose's woods on their right, which they held during the night and until the afternoon of the next day" 
4. ^ Eicher, David J. (2001). The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. Simon & Schuster. p. 535. ISBN 0-684-84944-5. 
5. ^ Krauth, Jno M, et al (GBMA secretaries) (January 5, 1892). "Executive Committee Minutes of the Gettysburg Battlefield Association" (Kathleen R. Georg transcription). Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association. http://www.gdg.org/Research/Monuments/gbmaminutes.html. Retrieved 2011-07-05. "Resolved, That the chairman of the Board be requested to confer with Gen. S. W. Crawford, as to the conveyance of his property, in front of Little Round Top, commonly known as Crawford's Glen, to the Battlefield Memorial Association. … May 13, 1884…On motion, permission was granted Henry Reister to occupy the shanty at the base^[which?] of Little Round Top, for the sale of refreshments, provided, that no intoxicating liquors should be sold."