July 2, 1863, found the troops in the crosshairs of history at Gettysburg. Although Lee had given the new Union commander, Maj. Gen. George Meade, a bloody nose the previous day, Meade had managed to concentrate his army along the hills and ridges south of town. Meade’s position looked formidable until an unauthorized advance by Maj. Gen. Dan Sickles’ III Corps unhinged Meade’s left flank. Southern Lt. Gen. James Longstreet eventually launched an attack against Sickles’ exposed troops.

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In response to this crisis, Meade sent the V Corps and elements of the II and XII corps to Sickles’ assistance. Despite the flow of Union reinforcements to Meade’s left, the flank’s anchor — Little Round Top — remained devoid of Federal troops when Brig. Gen. Evander Law’s Alabama veterans began moving toward the hill. If Law’s men secured Little Round Top, the hill’s cleared summit would provide a natural artillery platform enfilading the entire Union line. A devastating Federal defeat seemed merely minutes away.

Unfortunately for Law and the Southern cause, Gouverneur Warren also saw the problem and managed to intercept Vincent’s 1,300-man, four-regiment V Corps brigade as it marched to aid Sickles and reroute it to Little Round Top. These bluecoats arrived on the boulder-covered hillock scant minutes before 2,400 hard-charging Southerners arrived.

The initial Confederate assaults hit the Butterfield Twins in the center of Vincent’s line and were easily repelled. The 4th Alabama was particularly shot up as it came under cross-fire from the 83rd Pennsylvania and the 20th Maine.

Colonel William Oates brought his 15th Alabama and the 47th Alabama (whose colonel was skulking behind the lines) down the slopes of Big Round Top and attacked Colonel Joshua Chamberlain’s 20th Maine. Oates was initially repulsed, but then the tenacious colonel sent out a squad to outflank the Maine men. Ordering a difficult, rarely tried maneuver, Chamberlain successfully stretched his line, bending it back at right angles and frustrating Oates’ flanking attempt. Nearly out of ammunition, Chamberlain called for a bayonet attack. His men yelled as they charged down the hill and swept the surprised Confederates from the field. Chamberlain’s bold leadership had secured the brigade’s left.

Vincent’s right was a different story. Reinforced by the 48th Alabama, the 4th and 5th Texas renewed their attacks, concentrating on Vincent’s right flank regiment, the 16th Michigan. Climbing shelves and crevices to screen their advance up the rocky hill, a few of the Confederates were able to slide by their foes. Soon the Michigan men began receiving flank fire. As casualties mounted, panic grew.

Rebel pressure intensified until, suddenly, half the Michigan regiment broke in disorder toward the rear. Vincent climbed a rock to rally the men but toppled off, mortally wounded. The Michigan men held, but the Texans kept pressing on toward the summit.

At the very moment the Southerners believed they had triumphed, Colonel Patrick O’Rourke’s 140th New York surged over the crest, racing toward the Confederate ranks. Commandeered by the frantic Warren, O’Rourke’s men scrambled up the hill on Vincent’s right. As the Rochester Racehorses cleared the summit, O’Rourke shouted, Down this way, boys! A Confederate salvo killed O’Rourke but could not stop the charge of his 450 men. The Rebels pulled back to Big Round Top and settled down to a long-range firefight. There would be no more attacks on Little Round Top.

Whatever gains Lee made on July 1 and 2 were more than offset by the costly failure of Pickett’s Charge on July 3. The South’s second major offensive north of the Potomac River had failed.

Meade did not follow up his victory over Lee to President Abraham Lincoln’s complete satisfaction, and he was superseded by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in 1864. Although Meade retained nominal command of the Army of the Potomac, Grant, as general-in-chief, traveled with the army and directed its operations. The Little Round Top Regiments would play a major role in Grant’s ferocious final campaign.

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