Alexander Schimmelfennig

Was he or was he not a coward???? That's the question that seems to come up in any conversation dealing with this man. Let me explain why this question seems to come up all the time.

During the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the XI Corps was routed from the area around today's Barlow Knoll (yesteryear's Blocher Knoll). In their frantic retreat, the I and XI Corps tried to get through the crowded and confusing streets of Gettysburg on their way to Cemetery Hill. Some of the men were able to head straight down the streets but for the most part, due to Confederates shooting at them, the soldiers were forced to head down alley's, through backyards, anywhere that they could get away from the bullets and safely reach the Hill. General Schimmelfennig was no different. As he was heading down one street, he noticed Confederates in his rear and in front of him, so he headed down an alley. Unfortunately, there was no way to get out of this alley, so he climbed a fence and ended up in someones backyard. There he found a woodshed and was able to hide in there until the battle was over. Mrs. Garlach was the resident where this woodshed was located and she accidentally found the general in there. So the first day, she was able to sneak some food and water out to the general but then he was on his own after that because she couldn't sneak out there any more without being caught.
The General was there until the town cleared on July 4th.

People believe that his hiding in that wood shed was a sign of cowardice...that he should have gotten up off his butt and walked out into the town and headed for Cemetery Hill, praying that he didn't get captured. If he did get captured, then he would have been with some of his own men in the prisoner of war camp. But......

A general isn't supposed to be captured. A general is supposed to do whatever he deems necessary to NOT be captured. If one were to be captured, it was quite possible (and probable) that his imprisonment would be ten times worse than anything a private would go through. And forget about being paroled. Keeping a general off the battlefield was high priority.

What could General Schimmelfennig do? If he did walk out of that woodshed, he could have been picked off by the sharpshooters on Cemetery Hill (his own men) or he could have been picked off by the sharpshooters located throughout the town (the other side) or he could have been captured. Of the three options (and its most likely that one of them would have happened), none of them were feasible. So, there sat General Schimmelfennig....in the woodhouse....for three whole days.

My own opinion is that, although he was in a tough situation, he did the right thing. If he had been imprisoned or killed, how would he have been of any use to the army in future battles? He may not have been a hero at Gettysburg, he did buy himself some time which is precisely what he needed to do at that time. He didn't desert....he merely hid out. Sometimes, we have to do things that look bad at the time and may cause us to look bad, but in hindsight, it was probably the best option. I believe that this is what happened to the general and in hindsight, we may say some mean things about him for hiding out, but we also don't have minie balls buzzing our heads either.