E. P. Alexander on Pickett's Charge - Part 1 | Eyewitness Account/Official Report

[@jordandr.j4789]

I wrote my thesis about the Battle of Gettysburg... E.P. Alexander’s memoirs proved to be a very important source

[@globalavenger7580]

Alexander's "Fighting for the Confederacy", is a fascinating read and frankly brings into question the myth of Lee.

[@docaro1770]

Thank you. E. Porter Alexander book is the best my favorite civil war Figure

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I love his account. He paints a great description of the battle. Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel. Please check out my other videos.

[@markcampanelli]

Thanks you for sharing these primary sources!

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

You are very welcome. I've got many on my channel and plenty more to come.

[@leonidaslantz5249]

Excellent. Dang,it is as if being there.Strong work,sir! Huzzah!

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much. Yes, Alexander's account is one of the most vivid that I have ever read. Love his account. Part two drops on Thursday and it is even better.

[@davidrasch3082]

Both Alexander's books make excellent reading.

[@Pablo668]

Just imagine being there and seeing what was about to happen, knowing it was bound to fail. Would have been a horrible feeling.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I can't image and a whole lot of responsibility was placed on the shoulders of Alexander. His account is one of the best as far as description goes.

[@xisotopex]

Longstreet definitely felt this.

[@randallbates9020]

I have always loved history and was very studious about it when I was young and the war between the states was my main study. But hearing these first hand accounts presented as you do just causes me to feel like I am there, in the moment, seeing what these brave men on both sides witnessed. I have been to several battle sites but now that I am older and more patient with my learning I feel the need to visit these places again and view them with a more mature mind and manner. Thanks for the great presentations, I am deeply grateful.

[@steveweing]

Great channel. Thanks for all these interesting first hand accounts.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel. If you haven't already please subscribe.

[@tnt-hv6qw]

awesome. one of your best. thank you so much. i’ve always wanted to hear his side. you sir are a natural. thank you virginian and wish you a good labor day weekend. can’t wait for more. i’d like to see you delve more into the whole artillery ordeal at gettysburg if you get time. thanks again.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much. Part 2 drops on Thursday and it is even better. His account is chilling because you can easily visualize what he is talking about.

[@Assdfgresa]

I wish that charge never happend Awesome video ..thank you

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much for watching. Part 2 will be released Thursday.

[@mikedriggers3635]

It's amazing to me how Longstreet did everything he could to not make the decision for Pickett to go.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I know. He tried everything to get Lee to change his mind. Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel.

[@xisotopex]

Yep, I just commented the same thing, he needed some direct evidence to bring to Lee in order to justify not ordering Pickett to step off.... And this was the day after Hoods half successful attack on the Union left, of which both Longstreet and Hood did not want to make. It seems that on the third day, Longstreet had the most situational awareness of any of the Confederates

[@bluehelech]

Porter Alexander is my favorite WBTS artillerist. Thanks for the great video!

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you for watching. Please check out my other videos.

[@mondoseguendo6113]

My only complaint against Alexander is he could’ve had a better beard.

[@parkestanley2436]

I'd love to see part 2! Thanks

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much for watching. Part 2 drops on Thursday.

[@parkestanley2436]

@@HistoryGoneWilder Excellent!!

[@hatuletoh]

Porter's memoirs are some of my favorite, arguably the best memoirs of any Southerner.

[@xisotopex]

absolutely. very interesting read, and a very interesting individual.

[@zebdoz333]

Think that was a bad idea charging the center like that but I don’t think even if they , the south, had won at Gettysburg, I think or am under the impression that it would have extended the war for awhile but in the end , they would still have lost

[@ninurtathricemajestic7179]

I read his book,it’s one of the better ones

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

He gives an amazing account of Pickett's charge. Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel. Please check out my other videos.

[@ColinH1973]

Excellent use of a key account. Longstreet had no wish to be holding the smoking gun when the battle was lost. He knew that it was hopeless. Where is your accent from please?

[@martinsalas5189]

Long street looked out over the field...oh no ..it's not going to be me.. that sends out Pickett...that General Lee looked at the center and says that's where he will defeat the union army...so sad...I always read Bruce Cattons book "..battle of Gettysburg."..over and over...since I was 8 years old...I am now 60... peace

[@xisotopex]

Longstreet REALLY did not want to make this charge, he was looking for any excuse to bring to Lee to change Lee's mind, any evidence that it was not going to work.

[@Tizniter]

Nicely done.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Thank you so much.

[@jimmylemley4998]

Alexander thought Cemetery Hill should been enfiladed from both the north and south with artillery and the focus of the infantry attack focused on this point.

[@zach7193]

There was a lot of pressure on Porter Alexander and the artillery to soften the Union center in preparation of the charge for the infantry. Longstreet had doubts about the attack would succeed and spent the day arguing against attacking the center. He wanted Lee to swing around and attack the enemy from suitable ground between them and Washington. Believing that the Union Army would charge headlong into defensive positions. Lee would have no objections to change his mind. He decided to go on the offensive. In supporting the attack, Jeb Stuart was to go around the rear of the Union Army and disrupt the lines of communication. Ewell's Corps was to attack the Union right. If all went well, the Union Army would be cut in half.

[@hvymettle]

Longstreet's idea about swinging around to the right was silly. What is the suitable ground between the AoP and DC that the Confederates would occupy? By what routes would they get there when the AoP controlled the Taneytown Rd. and Baltimore Pike, giving it the inside track? The AoNV couldn't move down the Emmitsburg Rd. because that was an active front and the army stretched out on the road would be 20 miles long. The AoNV would have had to use the Fairfield Rd. and Chambersburg Pike in order to get to Hagerstown, same as they did on their retreat. From Hagerstown, they could have crossed South Mountain and come to Frederick and manned a line on the Monocacy River, a good defensive position, but not between the AoP and DC. Had Lee redeployed towards Hagerstown, the AoP would have followed south and arrived at Frederick first anyway, since they had the inside track. In any event, since Lee would not be between Meade and DC, Meade would not be compelled to attack, and could play a waiting game, until Lee's subsistence ran out, since he would have no rail connection for supplies and would be unable to forage. When examined according to military logic and guided by the map, Longstreet's idea was utterly unrealistic.

[@charlespackwood2055]

You don't have to ask yourself a bunch of hypotheticals until you are confused. All you must do is ask yourself: Would you send yourself over that open field, thinking that you could overrun an entrenched Union position.

[@davidrasch3082]

I've read Alexander's two books on the war. No Lee apotheosis, plain language of a man who was there and invested his life in the cause. I think he is close to Longstreet in uncritical analysis.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

I feel the same way about Alexander. I feel he is a very reliable source.

[@cbigb1000]

Wow, Longstreet seemed so disheartened about this assault that he " took on" the attributes of his commander and delegated the final responsibility to attack to his subordinates. I've long wondered what he was suffering through at Gettysburg.

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

That's what I noticed too. He did not want to order that attack that he was giving the final word to the commander of the artillery barrage to issue the order to Pickett. Part 2 drops on Thursday and it is just as eye opening.

[@elviscobb5922]

Thum Skrew General Longstreet was suffering great mental distress at Grettysburg. In 1862 within a 6 day period he lost three of his four young children to Scarlett Fever. When he got home,his wife Louise was basically in shock over what had happened to her small children .He knew that the situation was critical but he really wasn't prepared for what he was about to see. He stated that he walked into a back bedroom and lying on the bed were his three youngest children. Upon seeing this he fainted and was so despondent that he was bed ridden. General Pickett and his young lady arrived and made all the preparations for the children's funeral. At Gettysburg General Longstreet was basically suffering what is now known as PTSD. He knew ordering his good friend to make the charge was basically ordering his death is how Longstreet stated it. No wonder Longstreet was so distressed at Gettysburg.

[@panzerlieb]

Elvis Cobb I didn’t know about his children dyeing of scarlet fever right before this campaign. Wow, his head must have been somewhere else. I know mine would have been.

[@xisotopex]

Longstreet did spend all three days of the battle in disagreement with Lee, and also seemed to have the most situational awareness of any of the Confederates. He was grasping for any straw with which he could give to Lee to justify not making the charge.

[@xisotopex]

@@elviscobb5922 Longstreet never wanted to give battle on the first day at all. He correctly perceived the situation, while Lee did not, and on the second day, the same thing, and in this case both Longstreet AND Hood wanted to redeploy before attacking the Union left, and of course on the third and final day, he was trying to find some justification to cancel the attack. Longstreet on all three days had the most situational awareness of any of the Confederates.

[@bjohnson4902]

12 pounders lacked the the range?

[@voiceofreason2674]

Alexander is a good writer and had a great business career. But putting him in charge of this bombardment was prolly a mistake, they had better artillery officers available

[@DarthVaderReturns1]

i seriously hate pickets charge I wish pickets charge never happened

[@leivabernie]

Enfilade fire from the town with those Howitzers would have been effective fire. Patience would have gained a Confederate victory, I think.

[@mustardseedoffaith7481]

So it's really Alexander's fault

[@HistoryGoneWilder]

Apparently lol. Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel. Please consider subscribing to the channel if you have not done so already. Please check out my other videos. I think you will enjoy them.

[@mustardseedoffaith7481]

@@HistoryGoneWilder You are welcome and thank you sir

[@aaronjohnson2850]

Why did the army of northern Virginia not put many more cannons in the city of Gettysburg itself to enfalaid fire that would have forced the union troops to move or be killed and it would not have ensured success but it would have been a great help also after the line started off on the attack why didn't the southern guns continue to fire over the head of there troops that would have helped as well not guarantee victory but helping the poor troops that needed it

[@teenieneenie630]

Geez..slow it down a bit son. Your running maps and fast, non-stop narrative by us so fast why heck(!) we can't even figure out where we're at!

[@lafeeshmeister]

I had no idea Longstreet passed the buck on this one. Wow.

[@xisotopex]

I dont think Longstreet was passing the buck. On all three days, he correctly assessed the situation, yet was unable to change Lee's mind about anything. He needed more than just his opinion to give to Lee, since that had not worked so far, and if Col Alexander had reported that the artillery barrage had not had the intended effect, Longstreet would not have hung him out to dry, but backed him up, and this might have been enough for him get Lee to change his mind about the attack. However, giving such responsibility to a subordinate was a bit much, but I do think Longstreet would have supported the decision before Lee.

[@bcask61]

Another “It wasn’t MY fault” Southern officer. Self-serving nonsense.

[@estebanmorales6568]

Read his book before you utter gibberish.