Day Two at Gettysburg & Picket’s Charge
- Erika Newcombe
- Jun 29
- 5 min read
Abstract: The men of the 111th New York Infantry help repel Picket's Charge.
Original written by siblings George & Deb McGraw, September 2023. Revised and edited by Erika Newcombe and Deb Hall, June 2026.
In late June 1863, as the 111th marched toward Gettysburg, Companies B and C had been left behind to guard Washington. They arrived on July 1 and engaged in battle on July 2. From the men who were present the evening of July 1, less than 250 would be counted the evening of July 2. Upwards of 155 had fallen in battle during their first day of fierce fighting.
The regiment received high praise from II Corps and divisional commanders. The following quote comes from General Hancock’s official report, “The Third Brigade … made a gallant advance on the enemy’s batteries to the right of the brick house, in which the One hundred and eleventh New York Volunteers, under Colonel MacDougall bore a distinguished part.”
General Hays had commented to MacDougall about the regiment's efforts at Cemetery Ridge, “I saw your regiment, when they marched up in the face of enemy’s fire, and took their position. I know not how it could have been better done. It was one of the most brilliant things I ever saw”.
The morning of July 3 started with several companies in skirmish lines near the Emmitsburg Road. Others were detailed to recover the wounded and bury the dead. During the morning and early afternoon, an artillery battle waged between the two sides. The 111th was ordered to advance to a low stone wall near the Brien white barn while the Rebel shelling continued. They would soon see Picket’s men marching toward them in what would be the defining hours of the entire battle.
Twenty-year-old Corporal John Paylor (Lyons) of Co. D recorded in his diary, “Lay on our arms all night. We opened on them at 4:15 a.m. with 7 batteries. Infantry fighting on the right. At 3 p.m. opened on us in the center with 150 pieces of artillery. Then made a charge. Three columns deep. We met then at the stone wall. The fight lasted about an hour. We drove them back with heavy loss. Rainey day.”
Twenty-one-year-old William J. Ferguson, musician of Co. G, wrote from Hospital Camp near Gettysburg on the 5th, “I am still alive and in good Health after passing through the Hardest fight … Battles Ever fought on the Continent or in the world that is what the Old soldiers say that has been in all the Big Fights that has been since the war broke out.” William further writes, “Engaged in taking care of the wounded there is a regular slaughter House, Cutting off limbs, there is only 10 left in our Company and 100 in Reg."
Captain Benjamin William Thompson of Co. F wrote in his memoirs, This Hell of Destruction, describing the aftermath of Pickett’s Charge, or as it is sometimes known as, Longstreet’s Charge.
He wrote, “Over five thousand prisoners were taken from the charging army. Some returned to their own lines but the heaps of dead and wounded were something appalling. When these prisoners passed our first line they asked, with surprise, ‘Where is your second line?’ When they found they had surrendered to one thin line of troops their chagrin was very manifest and they remarked bitterly, ‘If we’d ‘a known that, you’uns would never have taken us prisoner’. The triumph of the brigade was one of the many wonderful retributions of the war. We were all surrendered at Harper’s Ferry by Col. Miles and in this charge, we fought the very men who had captured us, and we took from them fourteen stands of colors with “Harper’s Ferry” inscribed upon them, and several thousand Springfield rifled muskets with full suits of accouterments, even to the belt plates with US on them. As they passed through our lines, they recognized our regiments and as they threw down their arms and accouterments they would say ‘There’s what we got from you’un at Harper’s Ferry. We’uns have had ‘em long enough’.
General Hays seized a battle flag marked ‘Harper’s Ferry,’ rode up and down our line trailing the flag in the dirt and blood and shouted ‘So we wipe out Harper’s Ferry’. This raised a rousing cheer from our brigade and for a time made us the lions of our Corps.”
Captain Thompson goes on to write about Company F, “Of the forty-seven men we led into the fight twenty-five were killed or wounded. Of the color guard attached to my command, two were killed and four were wounded out of the eight, and two of the wounded lost a leg apiece. My whole command numbered fifty-seven and the loss was thirty-two…… During the night we had one of those drenching rains that are said always to follow a great battle. But we were too tired and sleepy to think of shelter.”
Private Eldred Newman had to wait until his 17th birthday before his parents reluctantly consented for him to join Co. H in 1862. Forty years after the battle, he would write about his experiences of July 3, 1863, “It seems queer that I can not remember about my own company but I remember the dead that were laid out in Co. E. They were the company next to ours. I was better acquainted with them. There were Lieutenant Proseus and 15 others of that company. After this, I was one of the detail to go on picket duty on the field that night. It proved a bad rainy night as is most always the case after a great battle. It seems to me that the shaking of the heavens has a tendency to produce rain. … While lying there we could hear the rebel wounded call, ‘O brother, O Yank, O friend, for God’s sake, bring me a drink.’ But we had to turn a deaf ear to their cry for we didn’t have any water for ourselves except what we had in our clothes.”
Paylor further records that on the 4th there were some minor skirmishes while a Rebel sharpshooter kept the Union soldiers from the wounded and crossing the battle field. From other reports, these efforts were intended to delay learning that Lee was taking his army back to Richmond.
The regiment paid a great price during the three days of battle. Official reports state losses of 249 killed, wounded or missing. By all accounts the 111th was the second most decimated regiment with losses just under 70%. They would leave Gettysburg with less than 150 men when they joined Meade’s army moving south in pursuit of Lee. Many historians today consider the South’s defeat at Gettysburg and Grant’s capture of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863 to be the beginning of the long road to end the war. The NY 111th and all who fought these early days of July, whether at Gettysburg or Vicksburg, gave President Lincoln the victories that he and our country so desperately needed. ###
Sources:
The 111th NY Volunteer Regiment, by Martin Husk
Author R. L. Murray
These stories have been researched and recalled here after reading both primary and secondary sources, such as Civil War diaries that have been donated to historical societies and libraries, by descendants and collectors. If the reader is a descendant of a Civil War soldier, especially those from Wayne County, New York, please use the contact form to let us know about yourself and your ancestor.
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