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• 1 2018-12-11T00:56:25+00:00 The 12th at Gettysburg 8 Page 4 plain 2018-12-15T21:48:00+00:00

              In July of 1863, the tide of the war changed in favor of the Union. Before the battle of Gettysburg, the Confederates were winning decisive battles that caught Washington D.C. on its heels. It was for this reason that the Confederate army decided it was time to take the war to the north and out of the plantations of the south. On the morning of July 1st, 1863 two great armies converged on the small farm town of Gettysburg, home of Pennsylvania College. The majority of the Union army arrived well after the Confederate army, but the Union cavalry was miraculously able to fend off multiple waves of Confederate infantry until the rest of the army arrived.

              The 12th New Jersey did not arrive in Gettysburg until the next morning on July 2nd. Once the regiment arrived, they were tasked with capturing a small barn on a field known as Bliss Farm. This was a decisive position between the union and Confederate armies, a hot spot for artillery and musket fire. With 532 men, the 12th was able to push back the advancing Confederates and allow for union reinforcements to fortify their position. The 12th was ordered to hold that position the rest of the day, taking on wave after wave of Confederate soldiers.

              On the third and final day of the battle, the Confederate general made the risky decision to attack the center of the union line. The problem, the only thing standing between the mile and a half of open field between the union and Confederate line was a small picket fence. Before the Confederates advanced, they initiated the largest artillery barrage the western hemisphere has ever seen. The booming of the cannons was so deafening that it could be heard in Philadelphia, almost 150 miles away. Unfortunately for the Confederacy, most of their shots over fired the union position. At about noon on July 3rd, the union cannons seized fire, to trick the Confederates into thinking they had damaged their artillery. The Confederates stopped the barrage and 15,000 soldiers appeared from the forest, about to start the longest march of their lives across an open field, staring death in the face. As the Confederate soldiers advanced towards the union line, the Union artillery began firing on the confederate lines, taking out ten soldiers every shot. As the Confederates neared the picket fence, they came within range of the union muskets which unloaded a storm of rifle shots straight into the Confederate soldiers. Once over the fence, the Confederates began to charge the union line, breaking the union formation for only a matter of minutes. The 12th New Jersey was stationed at the point where the Confederates broke their line and were engaged in brutal hand to hand combat for a short while. After sustaining heavy losses, the confederacy retreaded. Only one-third of the Confederate soldiers that made the initial charge returned. This skirmish will prove to be one of the most famous in history, known as “Pickett's Charge.” 
             
  The battle of Gettysburg turned out to be the bloodiest battle in American history with over 53,000 casualties over the three hot July days. This union victory turned the tide of the war, along with the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi, a strong Confederate port city.