The Wheatfield Part 1

I've been spending some time studying deeply the fighting in the Wheatfield at Gettysburg. This fighting is known as "a whirlpool"...and for good reason. The Wheatfield changed hands at least 6 times in the 2 hour fighting. One thing that I have learned in my intense studying of this fighting, is that it can be divided up into 3 parts. Here, I'm going to talk about each section individually.

First, the Wheatfield was owned by George and Dorothy Rose who lived outside of Philadelphia. The land was being farmed by George's brother, John. This Wheatfield was a 28 acre section of the Rose Farm.

On July 2nd, 1863, Joseph Sherfy's Peach Orchard was taken over by Daniel Sickles in a move that has been debated for years as to whether it was a good move or not. Dan Sickles' Third Corps was beaten back by McLaws Confederate Division...made up of the Brigades of Kershaw, Barksdale, Wofford, and Semmes. As the Peach Orchard was in front of the Wheatfield, the Confederates pushed through it and headed straight for the Wheatfield.

In the Wheatfield, there were already some men moving into position to protect the left wing of the Union army. Some of these men were Regis deTrobriand's brigade was already on the Stony Hill (the border on the west) and Winslow's Battery (Battery D, 1st New York Light Artillery). The 17th Maine (of deTrobriand's Brigade) was situated behind the stone wall (south border of the Wheatfield). George T. Anderson's brigade attacked through Rose Woods coming at the Union army (mostly the 17th Maine) from the south. Somehow the 17th Maine was able to hold the stonewall.

While the fighting on the southern edge of the Wheatfield was going on, deTrobriand's other three regiments were on the Stony Hill. General James Barnes' division (actually 2 brigades) came to help hold the western end of the Wheatfield. They stationed themselves on the Stony Hill and waited for the Confederates to approach.

The 17th Maine was getting hit, hard, by the Confederates coming at them from the south. So they had to fall back....but not before Winslow's Battery came to the rescue. They started by shooting solid shot into the trees. They had to shoot well above the heads of the 17th Maine because they were directly in front of them. By shooting into the trees, they were able to knock down large pieces of branches and trunks, causing almost as much harm as shooting case shot at the men.

Finally the 17th Maine fell back and Winslow and his men were able to start shooting shell and case shot. They cut the fuses to go off 1 - 1 1/2 seconds after they were fired. But Anderson's men couldn't leave the woods. So instead of coming straight at the Union army, they went around to the side so that they could start picking off some of the artillerymen. Winslow and his men was on the high ground in the Wheatfield and were dangerously exposed so they were forced to retreat to safer ground.

Suddenly the men on the Stony Hill withdrew under pressure from the men of Anderson's Brigade and Kershaw's Brigade coming from the west. Some of Kershaw's men approached the Stony Hill while the right-most regiments continued into Rose Woods.

Barnes felt that he couldn't hold the Stony Hill any more and retreated back to Wheatfield Road (the northern border of the wheatfield). This was when the 17th Maine and deTRobriand's other men had to fall back. Without help, there was nothing they could do. Because of Barnes' men falling back and the fall back of the other regiments, the Stony Hill fell into Confederate hands.

All this took place in the course of under 1 hour. And all this set the stage for part two.