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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 1913)
The Omaha Sunday Bee PART TWO SOCIETY PAGES ONE TO TEN LDITOBIAL PAOE3 ONE TO TEN VOL. XLII-NO. 48. Boys Who N THE FIELD at Gettysburg, where fifty years ago two great armies, one from- the north and one from . the, south, fought three days for what, each thought was the right, on July 1, 2 and 3 of the present year, with one flag waving above them, and that the Stars and Stripes, survivors w4H meet around the camp fires and all together celebrate the anniversary of ono of the bloodiest battles iu all tho history of the world and one that marked, the "beginning of aiuera of peace that has ever since continued, wiping off the' map the Mason Dixon line and uniting, all parts of a nation that for three years had been torn apart by strife and war. . " , . Tho battle' of Gettysburg, fought almost within the corporate -limits of the town, one of the fairest and most important In tho southern portion of tho state of Pennsylvania, and which resulted In tho crushing defeat of the confederate forces under General Robert B. Leo, has always been regarded as tho closing event of tho war of the rebellion that liad continued for more than, three years, though peace was not restored until some months later. This" battle that has Lad an Important place In American history commenced on July 1, 1863, and continued almost without Intermission until July 4, when completely routed, Lee withdrew from . the field, retreating into Maryland with only a remnant of what had been an army- that was the flower of the southland. Invasion of the North. Early in June, 1863, General Lee conceived the Idea of an Invasion of the north. The treasury and the granaries of tho confederacy were empty and needed replenishing if the war w.as to continue The south had been overrun, Its towns and cities destroyed and Its business In all lines prostrated. Knowing this, Lee felt that If be cot Id invade tha north he could strike bis enemy in his home, and perhaps tlr up a revolution and that peace would follow on such terms as he himself might dictate. With this idea in view, he organized three army corps, commanded by Longstreet, Ewell and Hill, H 0 "y- years ago two great armies. one lt UT i !' . "tfHIIW-V -c. Sr " ' 1 C I J i Tom -toe north and one from, the, 'tjftT IXKSSSmSS vMP''' . V- InmTiirrJ souh fout three days for what. , (I PO -CV ct'W!-. YrnvWCi s ' Fought at II''! Ill i' r i r- v ii ( I II I 111 M U"UBU' mm "" lu uu,u u.u6. ivvnw. on June 3 that General Lee ordered the movement of. his troops constituting the other divisions, w making up ' the finest and greatest army that the confederacy had put into the field. In the onward move, battle after battle was fought, victory almost always coming to the armyof the stars and bars. Like the waves of the dceaa, the army of Gen eral Leo swept on, the union forces seemingly powerless to resist the onslaughts. Swell was marching up the Shenandoah valley; Harper's Ferry was in the hands of tho confederates and apparently the way into Pennsylvania was cleared for the invaders. City after city surrendered and, for a time It looked as if thero was no power 'that could stop Lee's onward march from Virginia to New York. The people of Philadelphia and other Pennsylvania cities and towns gathered their families and their valuables and fled", to far-away places in the north for safety. In the meantime General Hooker of the union forces was guarding Washington and preparing 4o . cut through the Clue Ridge mountains and inter cept Lee. He laid his plans before General Hal v leek, commander-in-chief, but they metvwlth dis approval. Hooker then asked to be relieved of the command of the army of the Potomac and tho re quest was granted June 27, General Meade suc ceeding him. Governors of northern states issued calls or OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 18, 1913. Gettysburg ,.UuW0i,Ou.u1i,m( roo.u.ouw uu u.uiancD of raw recruits were soon on the field, armed and for the defense of their homes and .firesides, Leo received notice of the uprising of tho masses pro pared to give him battlo and became alarmed, -but still be pushed on. To concentrate, his forces he directed General Ewoll to fall back to Gettysburg and Generals LongBtreet and Hill to advance on the. Chambersburg road through Gettysburg to Balti more. Realizing that a battle of more than ordinary importance and with sanguinary results must soon be fought. General Meade massed bis army with the Idea of sweeping the enemy from the midst of the. terrified citizens. During tho night of June 80, 6,000 cavalry under General Buford arrived be fore Gettysburg for the protection of tho city and Its inhabitants. The following morning the cou federates, who had almost reached the city, at tacked JDuford, buy ho held the force In check until General Howard's corps camo to his relief. Tho following day tho battle Commenced in earnest, though neither Lee nor Meade bad intended that Gettysburg should be the scene of the engagement. Meade was at Pipestone, fifteen miles away,' while Lee bad stopped at Gettysburg as a base for defensive operations. The attack, however,, was made by the confederate forces and General Doubleday was pushed back to Seminary Ridge, taking with him 800 confederate prisoners. Ab he moved back through the village his troops scat to Meet There A tored and 3,000 of them were taken prisoners. Reinforcements for both armies commenced to ar rive and during tho afternoon the battle bocamn general, the union lino extending throo miles along tho front of the town and in the form of a triangle. Having ranked Doubleday, Howard continued the retreat' to Comotory Ridge, covered by Bu ford's. cavalry. This ended thp first , day of .tho. battle, but all night troops kopt arriving and tak- Jng pOBjuon - th0 union forces on Comotory and the confederate forces on Seminary Ridge. Second Day of Battle. - - t The morning of July' 2 dawned clear and bright una early both armies wero astir, but both com manders seemed loth to order an attack, appar ently Lee wishing to draw Meade from his position and the latter being unwilling to leavo It. About noon General Sickles. took position on the left from Round Top, in front of Meade's intended line of battle. This was a bait and Lee swallowed it. Ho directed Longstreet to crush this force, Ewell to attack the union right and Hill ,the center, thus securing Llttlo Round Top. Meade was thus forced to support Sickles, who was finally forced back to Cemetery Ridge after a desperate hand-to-band struggle. Here Sickles stood firmly. Elated by what seemed a victory, tho con federates rushed up to the very foot of the union position, but wero repulsed with heavy loss. At 10 o'clock that night, after various, charges and counter charges, Ewell succeeded In getting a foot hold on Culp's Hill, but l 4 o'clock tho morning of July 3 he was forced back after a struggle that lasted until after sunrise. ' Leo spent all the morning of July 3 in prepara tion for a crushing blow on Meade's center. Dur ing the night batteries hod been placed and at 1 o'clock Lee opened fire with ISO guns, which wore answered promptly by the union forces, who SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS. gam Cfa.p6 Joseph 2laJjson Capt. tfo.2. 9V&3?e$'t MY. Vols brought '100 cannon into action. For two hoars the artillery battlo raged, tho air being alive with solid shot and shell, the explosions shaking the ground and boihg heard twenty miles away. Pickett's ruinous Cttnrge. When tho artillery flro ceased tho confederate line made a general advance, General Pickett tak ing the lead in a charge that has gone down into history as one of the bravest evor conceived. His mon scaled the union breastworks thrown up In front of Cometery Ridge, and, though hurled back; .time after time, continued the assault until only a handful of them were left, and many of them maimed and wounded. The two armios, practically 80,000 each, had met and tho flower of the south had been van quished by the flower and youth of the north. The losses had been enormous, those of tho union army being estimated at 23,000 and those of the con federate at 36,000, besides many thousands of prisoners, and thousands of small arms and hun dredB of cannon captured." The following day, July 4, thero was some fighting, -but tho battlo was only a skirmish us compared with' what had occurred on the days previous, and most of the time was devoted to tha burial of tho dead. Every band of the union army played "Yankes Doodle," "The Star Spangled Banner," and other patriotic airs, while the Stars -and Stripes waved over positions occupied by the confederates for three days previous. . ,Lato in tho day, Leo, with the remnant of his. army, commenced the retreat, but Meade did not follow, rapidly, and at Rapid Anna he was allowed to rest and nurse his command for a lay,' when be resumed his march back toward rginifc, ta (Continued on Page Ton.) i . x ...