Gettysburg's Bloody Wheatfield | Battle of Gettysburg | Longstreet's Assault | featuring Aaron Smith

On July 2nd, 1863 an ordinary wheatfield would become some of the deadliest acres in the United States. For 3 hours, Union and Confederate forces slugged it out in this field and areas surrounding it. The fighting here, consisted of numerous confusing attacks and counterattacks over three hours by eleven brigades. This final Confederate assault through the Wheatfield continued past Houck's Ridge into the Valley of Death at about 7:30 p.m. The bloody Wheatfield remained quiet for the rest of the battle. But it took a heavy toll on the men who traded possession back-and-forth. The Confederates had fought six brigades against 13 (somewhat smaller) Federal brigades, and of the 20,444 men engaged, about 30% were casualties.
Special Guest Aaron Smith from @forwardgettysburg (channel link below)
/ @forwardgettysburg
Animated map provided by the @AmericanBattlefieldTrust
Civil War maps provided by www.cwmaps.com
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[@ProjectPast1565]

If you’d like to support the channel, help me preserve history and get behind the scenes content then click the link below to become an exclusive supporter. Your generosity and support will help me provide better content and help preserve our nations battlefields. www.patreon.com/ProjectPast

[@DustinWiseM1]

Excellent video James. It was such an honor to tag along and watch both of you and Aaron. Very well done my friend . @ForwardGettysburg your passion and knowledge for Gettysburg is contagious. Keep up the great work to the both of you!!!🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@ProjectPast1565]

I appreciate that and I’m happy you got to tag along. Aaron is a wealth of knowledge

[@markdegraff1950]

Excellent collaboration!👍🏾👍🏾

[@ProjectPast1565]

Thanks Mark! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@HistorySavior1941]

Absolutely awesome episode! You and Aaron helped clear up so much of the confusion for me. The Wheatfield is a tangled mess. It is so hard to understand because of the whirlwind but you guys made it look so easy man. Awesome, awesome job! Best episode yet!

[@ProjectPast1565]

Appreciate that Josh! Aaron is incredibly knowledgeable. I would have made it more confusing. Appreciate you watching!

[@carson1861]

Thanks again for your wonderful well done presentation... all the specified individual battles were critical... the Wheatfield is hugely important... had the union not plugged the hole created by Sickles; there never would have been a Pickets charge or a 3rd day. Great job James... keep em coming. I've decided to help you out with a little financing.

[@ProjectPast1565]

Carson I really appreciate you watching and always taking the time to comment. Thank you so much for becoming a patron. It means the world to me. I will email you the newsletters tomorrow when I get a chance.

[@carson1861]

@@ProjectPast1565 I can tell you're a sincere man of integrity... your videos are truly very enjoyable to watch. I was born in Fort Erie of the war of 1812. We lived 2 houses away from the old fort... we kids spent hours and hours playing there. Maybe some day you'll cover some history of that war. It was sort of Canada's war of independence. I personally have a story of success, to tragedy to victory that I am inspired to share with you when you send me an email... I will return my story in part... sadly not finished, so don't kill me.. lol Bless you James

[@ProjectPast1565]

Thank you for the kind words. I do need to cover more 1812 sites. It’s such an interesting conflict. I’ll get those newsletters emailed to you tomorrow ASAP. Sounds good Carson.

[@michaelhoffman5348]

Nice job Guys... It nice to see a newer generation with such reverence and respect for the sacrifices of our Forefathers. Keep being "influencers".

[@ProjectPast1565]

Lots of lessons to learn and remember. Appreciate you watching!

[@JC-qn3ws]

Excellent presentation once again! Great to see Aaron on here too. Thanks to you both for sharing your knowledge of this important part of the Gettysburg battlefield.

[@ProjectPast1565]

Thanks for tuning in and I appreciate the kind words!

[@markh9825]

Great video! You are absolutely correct about the importance of remembering the Wheatfield and also that it is one of the most neglected areas of the battle. Its a shame that so many tourists who now come and in some cases overrun GNMP have only the film Gettysburg (Which I admit to liking and watching many, many times) as their sole source of reference for the battle. The Wheatfield was completely left out of the movie and Chamberlain never lead a charge down the Stony Hill. Therefore in their eyes it's not important

[@sdingeswho]

Have to mention another excellent point you made, one that I already knew about but that bears repeating: That from within the Wheatfield, you are seemingly “isolated” from all the OTHER Hell that’s breaking loose all around! The “whirlpool of death”, indeed. I’ve read a lot about the Civil War in general, and I highly encourage anyone who’s “caught the bug” to look into the Big Picture, which is the entire George Rose farm. One farmer’s land, on the south end of the battlefield, that just happens to include the Peach Orchard, the Wheatfield, Devil’s Den, and the Valley of Death (a portion of Plum Run Creek) leading towards Little Round Top! Mind-boggling slaughter, on one man’s land - to me, this action on the Second Day is the focal point of the entire 3 days. A deadly SNAFU of epic proportions - again, I encourage everyone to study the details of how this mess happened, and why it unfolded the way it did!

[@ProjectPast1565]

It’s hard to imagine the slaughter on those fields that day. It’s such an overlooked portion of the battlefield. I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the video.

[@marvmattison5248]

Thanks so much guys. Very informative 👍. !!!

[@ProjectPast1565]

Thank you for watching! Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

[@RedoubtProductions1754]

Great video, Mr. Smith was able to put things in perspective of how the battle moved across the Wheatfield. I too have been intimidated about doing a video on this part of Gettysburg but not for a lack of knowledge about it. Rather, I don't know how to put to words the portion of the battle my ancestor directly participated in. The more creepier parts of the battlefield is located on Stoney Hill, the field hospital of the 32nd MA that is denoted being within the boulders the 5th Michigan monument now rests upon.

[@ProjectPast1565]

Thanks for watching. Aaron is phenomenal. It’s really hard to imagine what unfolded there. I saw the plaque there while filming. I’d love to go back and film the 32nds portion.

[@allanburt5250]

Thanks for sharing this with us guys excellent

[@ProjectPast1565]

Appreciate that. Aaron was fantastic to learn from.

[@allanburt5250]

​@@ProjectPast1565 Yes indeed fascinating 👏

[@2104dogface]

You guys nailed it , think this is by far the best video covering the action of the wheatfield i've seen in awhile, Aaron you earned another Beer lol in sept. Sadly , i think the wheatfield is even more over looked then the 1st day area's and Culp's Hill. Keep up the good work, you guys are doing great.

[@ProjectPast1565]

Thanks Paul! Aaron is a wealth of knowledge. I enjoyed meeting up with him and learning about the Wheatfield. He crushed it this episode. Thanks for watching

[@2104dogface]

@@ProjectPast1565 so glad you guys were able to connect and do something together

[@ProjectPast1565]

@@2104dogface absolutely as am I

[@rayparker7496]

Awesome video. Great content. Love your videos and Arron's videos too

[@ProjectPast1565]

Very happy to hear that! Appreciate you watching.

[@jmsdeco]

Outstanding video!

[@ProjectPast1565]

I appreciate that! That is for watching

[@cyndiebill6631]

I grew up and live in NH so the 5th New Hampshire holds special place in my heart. They fought hard and lost their Commander. The wheat field the bloodiest place on second day and it cost more lives that day than any other place on the battlefield.😢♥️

[@ProjectPast1565]

The carnage on that small field is hard to imagine. Thanks for watching

[@donkeylong7707]

My 2 g grandfather fought in that field and rose woods.. he was in the 1st division 2nd corps 4th brigade under Brookes command Cpl. George Washington Carpenter Jr. 53rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry

[@ProjectPast1565]

Thanks for sharing. Can’t imagine what he saw that day. Appreciate you watching as well.

[@carson1861]

SO COOL Donkeylong7707. Cpl George Washington Carpenter Jr. woul have part of pluggi ng Sickles sailiant. Did he survive the war ?

[@BritIronRebel]

My Great Great Grandfather also fought in the Wheatfield/Stony Hill area with the 62nd Pennsylvania Infantry, Company D. - 5th Corps. Enlisted in 1861 (Armstrong Co) and mustered out in Pittsburgh in 1865

[@coldroses5337]

Cheers brother Thank you for sharing your history

[@sdingeswho]

Update on the audio: The problem only occurs when I turn my phone sideways for the full-sized picture, so it must be some weird little fidddly software issue 😂! The audio is fine if I leave the phone in normal orientation, and is SO worth hearing again! I should mention that my vision is very poor, so I needed the picture as large as I could make it, i.e. with the phone sideways. I was laying here watching this as a bedtime story last night (go figure 😎!), but I’ll put it up full-size on my “real” computer today 🙂. Thanks again for this wonderful presentation of this pivotal battle within the battle!

[@ProjectPast1565]

Thanks for the update. That’s so strange it cuts out when the phone is sideways. I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the video. I appreciate the kind words!

[@vm.999]

Excellent Intel

[@ProjectPast1565]

Thanks! Appreciate you watching

[@sdingeswho]

Great presentation for precisely the reason stated: We are out in the middle of the action as it unfolds, and the directions are clear! The only real flaw was that apparently his mike wasn’t turned on, so we were only getting audio from the camera 😮! Hope you find a way to “push” it for a revamped upload 🙂!

[@ProjectPast1565]

His mic was one. The sounds is good on my end and was good during editing. I’ll look into it though.

[@sdingeswho]

@@ProjectPast1565 the overall audio was great, but the sound-level on his narration was way too low, had to turn volume all the way up on my end to hear it. The dubbed-in battlefield sounds were at the proper level (nice touch, BTW!), and that was where I really noticed there was something wrong with the volume on the narrration, which is a shame because the commentary is really good!

[@BritIronRebel]

I think what is the most confusing thing about Day 2 is the actual timing of it all. As in.... when the action was happening where and/or what preceeded what.

[@ProjectPast1565]

I completely agree. What’s helped me(not that I’m an expert on Gettysburg) is breaking it down by locations and just focusing on that part. Then I can leave them together and it makes a little more sense.

[@BritIronRebel]

@@ProjectPast1565 I am certainly a mere neophyte compared to you and your friends. This video was the best at helping me wrap my head around the Wheatfield actions that I've seen. I sincerely thank you for your work here!! 👍

[@ProjectPast1565]

Appreciate the kind words but I’m just a goofball with a camera. Aaron did a fantastic job.

[@tomr1630]

My Great Great Grandfather fought in the Wheatfield with the 8th. New Jersey Infantry.

[@ProjectPast1565]

Thanks for sharing! Hard to imagine what he saw that day.

[@stevewatt4819]

always amazed me how many civil war battles were fought in national parks...just kidding, good job guys!

[@ProjectPast1565]

😂 thanks for watching!

[@fw2780]

.

[@kzeich]

The Confederates didn't exactly hold the wheat field at the end of the day. it was more of a no man's land with the Confederates on Stony Hill and the union looking down over the plum run Valley. The way I see it the Confederates got bogged down taking ground that turned out to be useless for them save for the peach orchard wish they were able to use the following day for artillery

[@ProjectPast1565]

I think definitely you’re right about the bogged down part. I think today that’s why it ended up being so important even if at the time it meant nothing tactically. Appreciate your thoughts and you watching.

[@kzeich]

@@ProjectPast1565 thanks for your reply. I love this kind of stuff, 160 years later there is still stuff to talk about.

[@ProjectPast1565]

Absolutely! I love hearing people’s thoughts and their views on stuff. That’s how we all learn together.