|
Spangler's Spring Battle of Gettysburg, Culp's Hill Battle of Gettysburg Battlefield Map Peach Orchard
Battle Location, General George Steuart's Henry Slocum Baltimore Pike Rock Creek Maps Details
| Spangler's Spring at southern tip of Culp's Hill |
|
| Gettysburg NMP |
A natural spring that flows at the southern end of Culp's Hill, Spangler's Spring is one of the battlefield's most prominent landmarks and for many years prior to the battle
it had provided water to quench the thirst of man and animal alike. Union troops of the Twelfth Corps occupied this area and
constructed earthworks on the knoll north of the spring site. When these troops temporarily left the area on the afternoon
of July 2, General Greene was forced to leave much of it unoccupied as his thin line of troops could not reach the section
of works above the spring. Adjacent to the spring was a large meadow, bordered on one end by Rock Creek and at its western
edge by the Baltimore Pike and Powers Hill where General Henry Slocum had established a headquarters. From this hill, Union
officers and artillerymen could overlook the meadow to Rock Creek, which was effective for Union guns during the daytime,
but Confederates from General Edward Johnson's Division decided to arrive in this area long after nightfall.
| Gen. Steuart |
|
| Generals in Gray |
Brig. General George "Maryland" Steuart's Brigade came upon these abandoned
earthworks in the darkness and while Steuart's men were initially unopposed, Confederate units adjacent to his ran into Greene's
men and fighting broke out. Steuart reformed his nervous men at the freshly captured works and sent the 10th Virginia Infantry
forward as skirmishers into the black woods where they reached a stone wall bordering a small pasture. Darkness proved to
be helpful to the Virginians but was also a detriment as the officers cold not see any Union positions and had little idea
of where they actually were. "The regiment was compelled to change front to the rear and perpendicular to the wall," Steuart
reported, "from behind which it repulsed a bayonet charge made by a regiment of the enemy." Threatened with another charge
that may not be as easily stopped, "the brigade was ordered back to the works, where it was formed in line of battle, the
First Maryland Battalion on the right and Tenth Virginia on the left, the North Carolina regiments still remaining outside
the breastworks. This reconnaissance, as well as the reports of scouts and the statements of prisoners, gave us the assurance
that we had gained an admirable position." Steuart's troops repelled another Union probe toward the Spangler's Spring area
before 11 P.M., when the firing slowly died away and the night turned strangely quiet. Sensing that more Union opposition
may lay in wait if he pursued his attack, General Johnson ordered Steuart and the rest of his command to halt and occupy the
ground where they were while he requested reinforcements be sent to renew the attack the next morning.
At 4 A.M. when Johnson's men were counter-attacked by returning Twelfth Corps
troops, Steuart's soldiers found themselves trapped on the knoll. His right regiments, the 1st and 3rd North Carolina were
pinned down by strong Union rifle fire coming from the summit and Union regiments that slipped into the woods immediately
west of his position. Union artillery on the Baltimore Pike blasted the trees around his men, defenseless against this terrible
fire.
At the height of the fighting, two Union regiments- the 2nd Massachusetts
and the 27th Indiana, were ordered to send skirmishers toward the knoll where Steuart's men were locked in. By the time the
order was delivered to the commanders of the regiments, it called for a full scale attack. Incredulous, Lt. Colonel Charles
Mudge of the 2nd Massachusetts told his officers, "Boys, it is murder. But these are our orders!" The attack was a disaster.
As the two regiments charged into the meadow just south of the spring, they were hit on three sides by musket fire, not only
from Steuart but Virginians of Brig. General Walker's brigade, who had arrived to support the left of Steuart's line. Both
regiments lost heavily, including Colonel Mudge who was shot dead during the charge.
| Spangler's Spring |
|
| Gettysburg NMP |
(Picture to the Left: Boulders and rocks like these near Spangler's Spring
provided cover to some of General Steuart's Confederates during the fighting that morning. Gettysburg NMP.)
After seven hours of continuous fighting with no possibility of achieving
any success, General Johnson ordered Steuart to pull his men from the positions here and reform with the division after re-crossing
Rock Creek. For General Maryland Steuart, the fighting had taken a very toll on his command. His 1st Maryland Battalion had
lost 189 soldiers out of 400 present and the two North Carolina regiments of his brigade, the 1st and 3rd, had both lost almost half of their numbers
during the fighting. "My poor boys," the general said as his survivors crawled from the hill, "oh, my poor boys!" The earthworks
were soon reoccupied by Union troops who spent the remainder of the day recovering wounded soldiers and burying the dead of
both armies. "We have just concluded the most severe battle of the War," Colonel George Cobham, 111th Pennsylvania Infantry
wrote to his brother on July 4th, "which has resulted in a complete victory on the Union side. The fighting has lasted two
days and been desperate on both sides. All round me as I write, our men are busy burying the dead. The ground is literally
covered with them and the blood is standing in pools all round me; it is a sickening sight."
The forest of healthy hardwoods on Culp's Hill bore the scars of this battle
for many years afterward, objects of keen interest to visitors. "The scene of this conflict was covered by a forest of dead
trees," Henry Hunt wrote of Culp's Hill in the 1880's, "leaden bullets proving as fatal to them as to the soldiers whose bodies
were thickly strewn beneath them."
The Legend of Spangler's Spring
| Spangler's Spring in 1863 |
|
| Battles & Leaders |
Located at the southern end of Culp's Hill, Spangler's Spring is adjacent to one of the few open pasture
areas in this part of the battlefield. This natural spring provided a steady supply of clear water to refresh farmer and animal
alike for many years prior to the battle. With throats parched after their long trek to Gettysburg, Union soldiers of the
Twelfth Army Corps relished the water of Spangler's Spring as they gathered on the wooded slopes of Culp's Hill on July 2.
These thirsty troops constructed log and earthen barricades on the hillside before they were marched away to support the crumbling
Union left flank at the Peach Orchard. Later that same night, the Confederates of Brig. General "Maryland" Steuart's Brigade occupied those abandoned
breastworks and also used the spring to fill their canteens. The Union counterattack early the following morning placed the
spring in no man's land. Because it lay in front of the reversed line, the thirsty southerners could not get back to it without
running the risk of being shot by Union infantrymen who lay no more that 50 feet away. The spring site was reoccupied by Union
troops late on the morning of July 3rd, finally denying its use to the southerners.
| Spangler's Spring today |
|
| Gettysburg NMP |
Legends sprouted soon after the battle that temporary truces were called
between the sides so that men from both armies could fill their cups and canteens from this spring. This legend, no doubt,
sprung from the stories told by some of the veterans who visited the battlefield years after the war when tales of cooperation
between soldiers of both sides were popular. It is doubtful, when looking back at the historic evidence, that this actually
occurred because of the location of the spring and the vicious fighting that raged around it. Yet, the legend of those temporary
truces declared at Spangler's Spring is still very strong today.
The fame of Spangler's Spring and its legend eventually led to damage from
so many visitors who trampled its banks and destroyed the stone covers. To preserve the spring, the United States War Department
constructed a permanent stone and concrete cover over it in 1895, with a small metal trap door to gain access to its waters.
A metal dipper was provided for visitors to quench their thirst as the soldiers had done years before. This practice was halted
soon after administration of the battlefield was assigned to the National Park Service. Due to the possibility of ground water
contamination, the waters of Spangler's Spring are no longer available for public consumption.
Source: National Park Service; Gettysburg National Military Park
Recommended
Reading: Gettysburg--Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill (Civil War America) (Hardcover).
Description: In this companion to his celebrated earlier book, Gettysburg—The
Second Day, Harry Pfanz provides the first definitive account of the fighting between the Army of the Potomac and Robert E.
Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill—two of the most critical engagements fought at Gettysburg on 2 and 3 July 1863. Pfanz provides detailed tactical
accounts of each stage of the contest and explores the interactions between—and decisions made by—generals on
both sides. In particular, he illuminates Confederate lieutenant general Richard S. Ewell's controversial decision not to
attack Cemetery Hill after the initial southern victory on 1 July. Continued below...
Pfanz also
explores other salient features of the fighting, including the Confederate occupation of the town of Gettysburg,
the skirmishing in the south end of town and in front of the hills, the use of breastworks on Culp's Hill, and the small but
decisive fight between Union cavalry and the Stonewall Brigade. About the Author: Harry
W. Pfanz is author of Gettysburg--The First Day and Gettysburg--The
Second Day. A lieutenant, field artillery, during World War II, he served for ten years as a historian at Gettysburg National
Military Park and retired from the position of Chief Historian of the National Park Service in 1981. To purchase additional
books from Pfanz, a convenient Amazon Search Box is provided at the bottom
of this page.
Recommended
Reading: The Artillery of Gettysburg (Hardcover). Description:
The battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the apex of the Confederacy's
final major invasion of the North, was a devastating defeat that also marked the end of the South's offensive strategy against
the North. From this battle until the end of the war, the Confederate armies largely remained defensive. The Artillery of
Gettysburg is a thought-provoking look at the role of the artillery during the July 1-3, 1863 conflict. Continued below...
During the
Gettysburg
campaign, artillery had already gained the respect in both armies. Used defensively, it could break up attacking formations
and change the outcomes of battle. On the offense, it could soften up enemy positions prior to attack. And even if the results
were not immediately obvious, the psychological effects to strong artillery support could bolster the infantry and discourage
the enemy. Ultimately, infantry and artillery branches became codependent, for the artillery needed infantry support lest
it be decimated by enemy infantry or captured. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had modified its codependent command
system in February 1863. Prior to that, batteries were allocated to brigades, but now they were assigned to each infantry
division, thus decentralizing its command structure and making it more difficult for Gen. Robert E. Lee and his artillery
chief, Brig. Gen. William Pendleton, to control their deployment on the battlefield. The Union Army of the Potomac
had superior artillery capabilities in numerous ways. At Gettysburg,
the Federal artillery had 372 cannons and the Confederates 283. To make matters worse, the Confederate artillery frequently
was hindered by the quality of the fuses, which caused the shells to explode too early, too late, or not at all. When combined
with a command structure that gave Union Brig. Gen. Henry Hunt more direct control--than his Southern counterpart had over
his forces--the Federal army enjoyed a decided advantage in the countryside around Gettysburg. Bradley
M. Gottfried provides insight into how the two armies employed their artillery, how the different kinds of weapons functioned
in battle, and the strategies for using each of them. He shows how artillery affected the “ebb and flow” of battle
for both armies and thus provides a unique way of understanding the strategies of the Federal and Union
commanders.
Recommended
Reading: The History Buff's Guide to Gettysburg (Key People,
Places, and Events) (Key People, Places, and Events). Description: While most history books are dry monologues of people, places, events and dates, The History Buff's Guide is ingeniously written and full of not only first-person accounts
but crafty prose. For example, in introducing the major commanders, the authors basically call Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard
S. Ewell a chicken literally. Continued below...
'Bald, bug-eyed,
beak-nosed Dick Stoddard Ewell had all the aesthetic charm of a flightless foul.' To balance things back out a few pages later,
they say federal Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade looked like a 'brooding gargoyle with an intense cold stare, an image in perfect
step with his nature.' Although it's called a guide to Gettysburg, in my opinion, it's an authoritative guide to
the Civil War. Any history buff or Civil War enthusiast or even that casual reader should pick it up.
Recommended
Reading: The Maps of Gettysburg: The Gettysburg
Campaign, June 3 - July 13, 1863 (Hardcover). Description: More academic and photographic
accounts on the battle of Gettysburg exist than for all other
battles of the Civil War combined-and for good reason. The three-days of maneuver, attack,
and counterattack consisted of literally scores of encounters, from corps-size actions to small unit engagements. Despite
all its coverage, Gettysburg remains one of the most complex
and difficult to understand battles of the war. Author Bradley Gottfried offers a unique approach to the study of this multifaceted
engagement. The Maps of Gettysburg plows new ground in the study of the campaign by breaking down the entire campaign in 140
detailed original maps. These cartographic originals bore down to the regimental level, and offer Civil Warriors a unique
and fascinating approach to studying the always climactic battle of the war. Continued below...
The Maps of
Gettysburg offers thirty "action-sections" comprising the entire campaign. These include the march to and from the battlefield,
and virtually every significant event in between. Gottfried's original maps further enrich each "action-section." Keyed to
each piece of cartography is detailed text that includes hundreds of soldiers' quotes that make the Gettysburg
story come alive. This presentation allows readers to easily and quickly find a map and text on virtually any portion of the
campaign, from the great cavalry clash at Brandy Station on June 9, to the last Confederate withdrawal of troops across the
Potomac River on July 15, 1863. Serious students of the battle will appreciate the extensive
and authoritative endnotes. They will also want to bring the book along on their trips to the battlefield… Perfect for
the easy chair or for stomping the hallowed ground of Gettysburg,
The Maps of Gettysburg promises to be a seminal work that belongs on the bookshelf of every serious and casual student of
the battle.
Recommended
Reading: Gettysburg,
by Stephen W. Sears (640 pages) (November 3, 2004). Description: Sears delivers another
masterpiece with this comprehensive study of America’s
most studied Civil War battle. Beginning with Lee's meeting with Davis
in May 1863, where he argued in favor of marching north, to take pressure off both Vicksburg
and Confederate logistics. It ends with the battered Army of Northern Virginia re-crossing the Potomac just two months later
and with Meade unwilling to drive his equally battered Army of the Potomac into a desperate
pursuit. In between is the balanced, clear and detailed story of how tens-of-thousands of men became casualties, and how Confederate
independence on that battlefield was put forever out of reach. The author is fair and balanced. Continued below...
He discusses
the shortcomings of Dan Sickles, who advanced against orders on the second day; Oliver Howard, whose Corps broke and was routed
on the first day; and Richard Ewell, who decided not to take Culp's Hill on the first night, when that might have been decisive.
Sears also makes a strong argument that Lee was not fully in control of his army on the march or in the battle, a view conceived
in his gripping narrative of Pickett's Charge, which makes many aspects of that nightmare much clearer than previous studies.
A must have for the Civil War buff and anyone remotely interested in American history.
Recommended
Reading: The
Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command (928
pages). Description:
Coddington's research is one of the most thorough and detailed studies of the Gettysburg Campaign. Exhaustive in scope and
scale, Coddington delivers, with unrivaled research, in-depth battle descriptions and a complete history of the regiments
involved. Continued below...
This
is a must read for anyone seriously interested in American history and what transpired and shaped a nation on those pivotal
days in July 1863.
NEW! Recommended Reading:
ONE CONTINUOUS FIGHT: The Retreat from Gettysburg and
the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 (Hardcover) (June 2008). Description: The titanic three-day battle of Gettysburg left 50,000 casualties in its wake, a battered Southern army far from its base
of supplies, and a rich historiographic legacy. Thousands of books and articles cover nearly every aspect of the battle, but
not a single volume focuses on the military aspects of the monumentally important movements of the armies to and across the
Potomac River. One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg
and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 is the first detailed military history of Lee's retreat
and the Union effort to catch and destroy the wounded Army of Northern Virginia. Against steep odds and encumbered with thousands
of casualties, Confederate commander Robert E. Lee's post-battle task was to successfully withdraw his army across the Potomac
River. Union commander George G. Meade's equally difficult assignment was to intercept the effort and destroy his enemy. The
responsibility for defending the exposed Southern columns belonged to cavalry chieftain James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart. If
Stuart fumbled his famous ride north to Gettysburg, his generalship
during the retreat more than redeemed his flagging reputation. The ten days of retreat triggered nearly two dozen skirmishes
and major engagements, including fighting at Granite Hill, Monterey Pass, Hagerstown, Williamsport,
Funkstown, Boonsboro, and Falling Waters. Continued
below...
President Abraham
Lincoln was thankful for the early July battlefield victory, but disappointed that General Meade was unable to surround and
crush the Confederates before they found safety on the far side of the Potomac. Exactly what Meade did to try to intercept the fleeing Confederates, and how the
Southerners managed to defend their army and ponderous 17-mile long wagon train of wounded until crossing into western Virginia on the early morning of July 14, is the subject of this study.
One Continuous Fight draws upon a massive array of documents, letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, and published primary
and secondary sources. These long-ignored foundational sources allow the authors, each widely known for their expertise in
Civil War cavalry operations, to describe carefully each engagement. The result is a rich and comprehensive study loaded with
incisive tactical commentary, new perspectives on the strategic role of the Southern and Northern cavalry, and fresh insights
on every engagement, large and small, fought during the retreat. The retreat from Gettysburg
was so punctuated with fighting that a soldier felt compelled to describe it as "One Continuous Fight." Until now, few students
fully realized the accuracy of that description. Complimented with 18 original maps, dozens of photos, and a complete driving
tour with GPS coordinates of the entire retreat, One Continuous Fight is an essential book for every student of the American
Civil War in general, and for the student of Gettysburg in
particular. About the Authors: Eric J. Wittenberg has written widely on Civil War cavalry operations. His books include Glory
Enough for All (2002), The Union Cavalry Comes of Age (2003), and The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads and the Civil War's Final
Campaign (2005). He lives in Columbus, Ohio.
J. David Petruzzi is the author of several magazine articles on Eastern Theater cavalry operations, conducts tours of cavalry
sites of the Gettysburg Campaign, and is the author of the popular "Buford's Boys." A long time student of the Gettysburg
Campaign, Michael Nugent is a retired US Army Armored Cavalry Officer and the descendant of a Civil War Cavalry soldier. He
has previously written for several military publications. Nugent lives in Wells, Maine.
|
