Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 37.djvu/145

Rh that sheltered lines of infantry cannot be shattered or dislodged when behind breastworks, by field artillery, at the distance of one thousand yards and upwards.

The soldier who has been taught by experience to hug tight to his breastworks, and who knows that it is more dangerous to run than to lie still, comes to regard with stoical indifference the bursting missiles which are mostly above or behind him.

The slackening of fire of the Federal batteries, which was taken to be an auspicious moment for the advance, proved to be for the purpose of removing disabled guns and bringing up fresh batteries instead, and before Pickett's column was fairly launched, their places were supplied by others.

When Pickett and the other divisions emerged from cover and advanced to the open, they presented a thrilling spectacle, and one which no beholder can ever forget. The ranks were beautifully dressed and the battle-flags told off the different commands. Many a brave heart in the Federal ranks must have blanched at the prospect which loomed so terribly before them. One of them, conveying his impression at the time says, "The perfect order and steady but rapid advance of the enemy called forth praise from our troops, and gave them the appearance of being fearfully irresistible."

As the lines advanced, and the batteries of the enemy again opened, and the gaps in the ranks began to grow wider, and then to shrivel and shrink up beneath the deadly withering fire of the infantry, and the stream of the wounded began to pour back in increasing volume, the hearts of those who were spectators were filled at first with a deep hush of expectancy, and then with a feeling of agonized despair when the goal seemed to be reached and hanging suspended a moment, the tide rolled backward broken into fragments, and the brave fellows who a half hour before marched so valiantly up to the cannons' mouth now lay prostrate on the green slopes, or else came tramping back battered and bleeding. There is no need for repetition of the details. The monuments on the ground attest the desperate valor with which each side fought.

Of Pickett's brigade, commanders, Kemper was first shot and