Catalyst of Carnage: Sickles and the Peach Orchard

Why would Sickles move his entire corps forward nearly 3/4 of a mile away from the nearest troops at Gettysburg?
Well, we seek to answer that very question!
Thanks to the guys at ‪@battleofgettysburgpodcast‬ for their always amazing Sickles work!
#americanhistory #history #civilwar #gettysburg #pennsylvania #warfare #america #union #confederate #Sickles #newyork

[@dg11306]

Loved this video. Well done sir.

[@romar6]

as a fellow historian, it is always good to use maps to give your audience a perspective of time and space on a battlefield. thanks

[@panzerdeal8727]

Note: the line Sickles was holding , and the line he was supposed to hold, were both about 1.6 miles long. His cut up 2/3 size corps, after Chancellorsville, would not have reached LRT anyhow...even IF he had been on the ridge. A full division had been disbanded due to losses, and it's survivors reassigned to 1 and 2 divisions to make up numbers. Despite all that he was still about 30 % short of troops.

[@dickturpin1964]

Sickles' III Corps and Meade's V Corps fought defensively side-by-side from 3 to 6 May at Chancellorsville. This was when Hooker was suffering from concussion. I wonder if there was any bad feeling from that time?

[@davidtirschman6288]

Thank you for your video. Yes sickle's was an emotional leader. His movement further to the front affected the battle in a large way. Not having adequate numbers of troops made things quite perilous and only while Longstreet's attack started did Meade see the true situation and used a large number of 5 other corps to stabilize the line. Sickle's claim that Meade wouldn't have moved if sickle's didn't advance is total hogwash. You are touching a few appropriate points but taking libraries to present it with your own spin.

[@scottscottsdale7868]

You seem to suggest Meade is at fault. Well I blame Meade for day 2. He should have at least spared 10 min for Sickles to talk their positions over a map.

[@forwardgettysburg]

I like that position. Meade certainly should have made some time to at least entertain Sickles

[@dinahnicest6525]

Meade completely neglected his left flank. His orders were vague. Exactly where was the end of the line supposed to be? The very most predictable of all attacks is on the flank, focusing on the end of the line. And Meade didn't give it one minute's worth of consideration, not even to locate it. LRT? Big RT? Or half a mile east of BRT where it eventually was? Where ever he put it, Hood's entire division of 7375 men would besiege whatever fraction of the 1,0675 men of the 3rd corps held that part of the line after all of Hood's and Alexander's artillery pounded it unopposed for as long as they wanted to. I think they'd have rolled up the whole Union line. Sickles' move was costly, but at the end of day 2, the South gained nothing on the Union left. I think Sickles blundered into saving the day.

[@melissastokes8090]

❤ it Garth

[@dadsongs]

May I ask what is meant by "prolific" around 7:17? Thanks.

[@dickturpin1964]

I would imagine he meant prominent.