Interesting video but some details you mention arent correct. During the war the British absolutely wanted to be seen as neutral and so could not and would not support any action that was military. Although the ship was built in Liverpool, this was a commission that was organised by James Bulloch who was the confederate spy in the UK at the time. He organised with Lairds the construction of the ship (which was called the Enrica iirc at the time), basically in secret - it was not fitted out with any armaments and too all intents looked like a trading vessel. This was so the UK gov inspectors who would tour the ship building yards woulnt be alerted to what was going on. Then one night under darkness the ship was sailed out to sea and to Spain i think (might be wrong) where it was refiited with guns etc as well as a new crew and then it set sail and caused mayhem for the US gov. The funny thing is, at this time a large number of the crew where actually British so even though the country officially wanted to stay out of the war they did in fact construct and man a ship that was right in the thick of the action. I think it has all the hall marks of an amazing spy related film but given the nature of the war involved it's perhaps ground people don't want to tread on.

*Sounds heroic, but he's wrong.* The Confederate bombardment did not fail...it was successful in it's goal. Picket's charge failed because Lee did not learn from Fredericksburg........he chose to attack across open ground, at an entrenched opponent on the hottest day of the year...after exhaustive fighting on the hottest days of the year. *The Confederates suffered every step along the way, and when they arrived...they were exhausted.* Lee should have not have engaged at Gettysburg, but rather he should have turned south, and forced the Union to engage on ground of Confederate choosing. The Republic took it's last gasping breath at Gettysburg.

I heard a study that showed the Confederates had a severe logistic problem, not an accuracy problem. While the view was obscured once enough smoke was in the air they only needed to keep firing using the same setting on the gun elevation. The Confederates used cannon balls that had paper fuses. They were used to time the shell to explode just over the heads of the Union soldiers killing them with shrapnel. The gunners all used the same template to cut the fuse to the correct length. But the fuses were made at three different factories and there was no coordinated quality control between the factories. The result was fuses that burned at the different rates cut to the same length. So roughly 1/3 of the shells exploded harmlessly short of the Union line. Roughly 1/3 of the shells exploded effectively over the heads of the Union troops. Finally roughly 1/3 of the shells exploded after hitting the ground. Those that hit earth where the ground was soft enough, the ground there is very rocky, exploded with most of the force and shrapnel shooting harmlessly straight up into the air. About 2/3s of the artillery may as well not have fired at all. Marching for a mile to an entrenched enemy while exposed to their artillery was a tactical bad idea that good fuses may not have overcome.

It took more courage to charge across 1 mile of open ground than it did to stand behind a stone wall.

Outstanding story of bravery and commitment.

To Call superior officer and any case not covered by instruction

Good video but I would like to point out one thing. At 1:40 the emphasis on Cushing's age is misleading. Yes Cushing was 22 years old, but he was not certainly not a child o,r more accurately, his actions as related to his age should not be misconstrued. The life expectancy for an American male in 1863 was only 40 years old. Life expectancy did not significantly rise until the 1890-1915 time frame when it increased to 50 years, then increasing again to 60 years old by 1935. So in the context of his time, Cushing was practically a middle aged man, expected to think and perform as a middle age man in regards to family, society, career, and leading of other men. Still, an amazing display of bravery.

So apparently the only way to generate wealth is to exploit people's labor an own them. I mean how could white people be expected to God forbid work fields and pay their workers. So tell me this bud who would you being willing to be owned by to make some one rich? Seriously question bud who are you willing to give up your liberty your children's liberty and So on and so forth so they can be rich ? Because black people had to answer that question against their will but that's OK right bud ? Because it made money ! So it's just I mean why wouldn't it be ? It make makes money ! So what else in your mind and " theories " are for sale ? How much does liberty cost and is it ever in your opinion a permanent position or just a station wr get to visit from time to time until rich people need more free labor and money ?

What a wonderful presentation!

First Leutenant Alonzo Cushing, recipient of the Medal of Honor (president Obama presented the award 151 years after this battle) was the bravest of the brave and died for his army. Just watched the ceremony again and am interested in learning more about this gallant soldier

Thank you for the Great video

I was there at the battlefield I was there in 1863 the Confederate States of America won the Civil War but the Yankee government does not want you to know the truth

Correction : “ there” instead of their…..

Sorry but their were many other factors, open ground attacking a somewhat fortified position…. bad military decision….. Lee did not listen to Longstreet….. from a 68 year old Army veteran , 20 years…… like Viet Nam / Afghanistan…… too proud…. waste

In that day and age, you were considered an adult, and had better start acting like it when you hit puberty. Now they're coddled until their 30's and 40's. My Father was murdered when I was 15, went to bed the night before a teenager. Went to bed the next night head of the household for 7 people.

My son and I walked Pickett’s Charge starting at the Virginia Memorial and ending at the High Water Mark. Then we walked back. He actually walked backwards to the Virginia Memorial. What a sight!

Is this a high school student ranting and raving?

The bombardment DID fail. After the fist few volleys, the cannon were shooting high. Yes, some artillery batteries were severely hit. But the infantry was not. The artillery shells of that period were not the high damage-radius shells of today, so just because some artillery took a beating doesn't mean that the infantry was taking the same beating. The soldiers' own letters and journals bear this out, saying things like "nothing 4 feet above the ground could live", and "all we had to do was flatten out a little thinner".

Didn't Meade have a entire fresh Corp in reserve?? Even if the south took the wall it wouldn't have lasted long.

I don't agree. This was not the only time that Confederate artillery over shot. It was an issue in other battles as well. Conversely, the Federal Army had excellent artillery instructors, one of whom was from Germany or Switzerland ( I can't remember) and was present at the battle. That said, IMO, the reason the Confederates lost was mostly due to Lee's assumption that he could make the Union troops bolts and run. That had been the previous pattern, plus prior Union generals were reluctant to fully engage Lee, fearing defeat. Meade was different, and recognized his excellent tactical position. Also, this Union army was not a bunch of newbies. They were battle hardened and also recognized their better position for defense. They were smart and exercised professional fire discipline - holding til the last 300 yards. At that range, a typical rifled musket of the Civil War was devastatingly accurate, and the Confederates went down in scores. AS they got closer - under 100 yards, all packed towards the center at the Angle, a single shot could easily take out three men. The attack was doomed from the start.

Ever notice how that Reb artillery always overshoots

But still not really that much damage for 100 cannons and 90 minutes. That's in my estimate over 4000 rounds. That amount if truly effective would have shredded the union 2nd Corp. But both infantry and the other batteries largely remained intact.

Pickett's Charge failed because Union Gen. George Meade had correctly surmised in a conversation with his subordinate Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock the night prior that Gen. Robert E. Lee would order a Confederate infantry assault on Hancock's U.S. II Corps holding the Union center, and so he heavily reinforced Hancock's position accordingly. 15,000 Confederates walked right into a buzzsaw and never stood a chance. Less than half of them made it back to their lines after the disaster.

Go out there, walk across that field on a hot day in July, and imagine facing rifled muskets able to reliably hit man sized targets at 500 yards. I did the walk (not under fire) and no army could have accompliished what Lee asked his men to do that day. Southern by birth and culture, I love and respect the General but that attack was a mistake and a terrible waste of men.

no audio

What the fuck are the background noises

The heavy breathing, coughing and murmuring by the camerawoman was very distracting.

The charge failed because longstreet would not send them foward, Gen alexander (cheif of artiely ) sent word to Longstreet at 1 ;35 pm Send them foward, Im running low on ammo, the charge went off after 4 pm, any questions ??

I wish the audio were clearer.

The real reason it failed is very simple. Lee tried to out guess Mead, he figured Mead would have the bulk on the flanks. Mead for once guessed correct they were coming in the middle. Lee reminds me of Montgomery when told of the German SS armor in market garden he down played it. Lee made a huge mistake and no artillery bombardment was going to change the outcome.

As his great great grand nephew....You're a stubborn Gordon

"You're badly wounded. Leave the battlefield." "In a minute sir. The fight's not over and I have two guns left." He sounds like the kind of guy who could be down to a bread knife and throwing rocks and still not want to fall back.

I've always been amazed why the attack did not use the smoke as a great advantage and attack through it.. Not attack after bombardment but attack during bombardment!!

The shots were accurate, but the fuses were incorrectly cut. So shells were hitting their marks, like Cushing's cannons, but many of them would continue to bounce and roll well beyond the Federal lines, if they didn't actually hit something solid. That's why the barrage was ineffective.

No mention of the sturdy log fence along the road intersecting the battlefield.

Attacking a fortifiied position across open ground didnt work at Fredricksburg, Cold Harbor, Vicksburg, Franklin, Kennesaw Mt, Corinth, Helena, etc, etc. There were other factors working against the attack's success but bottom line, It was a bad decision on Lee's part.

The winners generally write the history whether it's true or not.

I was discharge from tha U.S.M.C.- In May 1969-as a Sgt.-infantry-I was 2 months short of 21- Had 25 months in Vietnam 22 is not a child in war- Park Ranger is obviously a spoiled-entitlement-think millennial

Pickett's charge failed because as Longstreet allegedly said, no 15,000 men could take then hill in 1863. Hell, 200,000 men couldn't cross a mile of territory after a week of bombardment in 1916 and take a hill. Agree with everyone that the bombardment was a failure. As Porter Alexander said when he visited G'burg for the first time in 1880 (IIRC) and actually saw Cemetery Hill for the first time, "we should have attacked that hill; we would've had enfilading fire from two directions."

Union basically kicked the confederates ass

It was reports of rebels saying them damn Yankees have better aim in the north and with 50,000 men dead or missing I would say it is true

Those guys at Bastogne were a fine example as well.

I had to take a Dramamine after watching this shaky video.

The fuses the Confederates were using were burning too slow. No quality control like the Union had available for their cannons. Smoke didn't help either.

Disagree and modern science proves it!

Tripod.

To put your finger on 1 single thing is ridiculous and absurd.... just like the thought of a silly little island in the Atlantic called the u.k

I was an Field Artillery Officer at 22, just like Cushing was, and that was in 2008. Just because the Confederates managed to hit Meade's HQ and disable some of Cushing's guns does not mean that they were accurate, it means that they were lucky. Hitting a target the size of a car at a range over two miles without the aid of the ranging instruments and sights we have today is a very hard feat; even with modern equipment its still pretty hard (unless you are lasing the target and the location data for the guns is spot on). A big problem the Confederate artillery had a Gettysburg is that the fuses they were using were not burning at the correct speed giving the round around 2-3 seconds of additional flight time before the fuse burst the shell (The Confederate Ordinance Dept conducted an investigation in the fall of 63 and the fuse problem was correct by February 64). With that extra flight time that's about 300-500 yards past the target if the round is supposed to explode above the target or the round is burying itself in the dirt and not doing much damage. The Confederate artillery failed in its mission to clear the Union cannon off the ridge and to break up the infantry formations because they were inaccurate. The Union artillery on the other hand didn't fully engage until the Confederates began their assault. Not only was the guns on Cemetery Ridge engaging, but ones on Cemetery Hill and as far south as the slopes of Little Round Top were too. The Confederates were in effectively a cross fire going across that field. Could the Charge had succeeded if the Confederate artillery had accomplished its mission? Maybe. Unless Lee launched further attacks on Cemetery and Culps Hills I don't think what was left of Pickett and Pettigrew's divisions could have held an Union counterattack. Wright's Georgia Brigade of Anderson's Division did take Cemetery Ridge along with 20 cannon the day before, but had to abandon the position because it was unsupported, so the charge succeeding was possible.

One thing everyone seems to forget including this guy, is that Confederate artillery had bootleg fuses. The guns they used were just as good as Union guns, but the fuses they used were garbage.

Wow I have never read so many comments from veteran Generals before. Everyone an expert😂😂😂😂