The Twenty-Second Georgia

The waiting for the 22nd Georgia was tense on 2 July 1863, as they listened to the sounds of battle on their right. It would shortly be their turn to march across the field and strike the Union line.


The 22nd Georgia was organized between May and August of 1861. This was an experienced unit by the time the Army of Northern Virginia began its march north to Pennsylvania. The men were a part of the newly formed third Corps of AP Hill.

Ambrose Wright

As the 22nd began their march to Gettysburg on 1 July 1863. They were without a brigade commander. Brigadier General Ambrose Wright was sick and had to find shelter, which he did at a house along the Chambersburg Pike. The men from Georgia went into camp the night of the first about 2 miles from Gettysburg.

By 7 the next morning Wright caught back up with his men. Ordered out to the Confederate left flank along Seminary Ridge, the men were in position before noon. Wright's men had the Florida brigade of David Lang on its right, and Brigadier General Carnot Posey's Mississippian on the left. At noon Wright was informed there would be an echelon attack made once General James Longstreet's Corps were in place on the right. The men of the 22nd heard the opening sounds of the 2 July battle about 4 pm. Then the men waited for their turn to enter the fight which didn't come for two hours. Wright's men lined up; from the left the 48th Georgia, 3rd Georgia and then the 22nd, they marched out onto the field about 6:15 pm.

half section spherical case shot

The 22nd came under heavy artillery fire as soon as they left the tree line on Seminary Ridge. They marched through tall grass into the Union's 15th Massachusetts and 82nd New York. The Union men who had been hidden, rose from the grass and fired a staggering volley into the men from Georgia. The Rebel yell was heard as they continued on, out flanking the 82nd and pushing the Massachusetts men in. Union Colonel George Hull Ward of the 15th was mortally wounded. Wright's men moved next on Brown's artillery. Brown's men opened on the Georgian's with spherical case shot. This ripped big holes through the Georgians ranks, but they continued on, dressing their lines as they moved. Wright's men forced Brown to limber up, making for the rear they lost two guns.

It was about this time that Wright found both his flanks exposed. Lang's Floridians had stopped near the base of Cemetery Ridge to reform their lines, and Posey's men still hadn't advanced. Wright's men continued their surge forward, reaching within 50 yards of the stonewall in front of the Copse of Trees. The 22nd moved to within a point blank range of the 7th Michigan and the 59th New York behind the wall.

The 22nd Georgia found a gap in the Union line to the left of the 59th New York. Aiming for this spot many of them crossed the wall and headed for the crest of Cemetery Ridge. It was at this moment that the 13th Vermont rushed onto the field from the Tanneytown Road. The men of the 22nd Georgia fired a round into the on coming Vermonters. Instead of returning fire, the 13th charged into the Georgians with bayonets fixed. It was such a surprise attack, that many of the Confederates fell to the ground, surrendering as the Vermonters passed over them.

With the Floridians falling back on their right flank, and no troops moving up on the left, Wright's men began falling back. Their losses as they retreated were heavy. After making their way back to Seminary Ridge, Wright's troop regrouped. Wright found only one of his regimental commanders still in line and half of the brigade dead, wounded or missing. The night of 2 July 1863 was spent caring for the wounded and trying to get some sleep.

The morning of 3 July 1863 found the Georgians waiting again. They watched as Pickett, Pettigrew and Trimble's men advanced across the open field toward the Union line in the afternoon. Wright's men moved forward about 550 yards to cover Pickett's retreat. Following the retreat they formed behind Wilcox's Brigade, in support should the Union make a follow up attack.

Green Troops; The 13th Vermont

The 13th Vermont was part of the Second Vermont Brigade. As a 9 month Regiment it had spent its duty, guarding the defenses of Washington. The men of 13th were un-tested in battle and only a few days from the end of their enlistment, when the order came to march for Gettysburg. Many of these young green Green Mountain Boys wouldn’t be returning home.


Gen George J Stannard

The 9 month men of the 13th were called the “Paper Collar Brigade” because their uniforms looked so new to the more seasoned Union soldiers. Formed with 5 other Vermont regiments as part of the Militia Act of July 1861, the men who made up the 13th were recruited from Chittenden, Franklin, Lamoille and Washington counties. The 13th were sent to camp in Brattleboro, VT, where they were given equipment including muzzle loading Springfield rifles. Under Colonel Francis V Randall the 953 men and officers were mustered into service 3 October 1862. The 13th was sent to Washington DC where they went into camp on East Capital Hill 13 October 1862. The men from Vermont settled into picket and guard duty, protecting the approaches to the Capital.
Orders came to the Second Vermont Brigade of which the 13th Vermont was a part, on 25 June 1863 to join Union General Joseph Hooker’s Army of the Potomac. The men marched for 7 days, averaging 18 miles a day. Many of the men marched on worn out shoes as the quartermasters didn’t want to waste boots on men about leave the army. They ate well along the way, as Lieutenant Edwin Palmer said of getting food, the “hardtack has played out, whilst green backs last.”
The men of the Second Brigade were ordered on 30 June 1863 to do guard duty for the I Corps wagon trains. At 9 am on 1 July 1863 General George J Stannard, the Brigade commander received orders to march the 13th, 14th and 16th regiments to Gettysburg. By 3 pm the men could hear sounds of battle as they marched along the Emmittsburg Road. Arriving on the field about sunset, there was confusion as to where the men were to go into position. “Private Ralph Sturtevant of the 13th said, “General Stannard swore like a piper…because so much moving about when the boys were all out from the long day’s hard march.” The 13th finally settled in, to the left of General John Buford’s cavalry in a clover field.
On the morning of 2 July 1863 the men of the 13th started their day with coffee made from muddy water. They scrounged for food as the 13th didn’t receive rations. Orders came mid morning for half of the regiment to set up in support of a battery on the hill, the other half moved south and formed up behind the II Corps. As Confederate General James Longstreet’s enechelon attack moved toward the Union II Corps line on Cemetery Ridge, the 22nd Georgia, part of General Ambrose Wright’s brigade found a gap. Union General Winfield Scott Hancock ordered the men of the 13th forward to plug that hole. The 13th was going into battle for the first time. Ordered to charge, stop the Confederate attack and re-take 4 cannon lost earlier by Weir’s Battery, Colonel Francis Randall led his men out. Randall’s horse was shot from under him, but his men continued on, charging “down the sloping hill, over the dead and dying, shouting, firing into the foe.” The Green Mountain Boys of the 13th pursued the retreating Confederates all the way to the Peter Roger’s house on the Emmittsburg Road. They re-took the 4 guns of Weir’s Battery and 83 prisoners. As the 13th returned to Cemetery Ridge, Hancock said, “That was well Done! Give me Vermonter’s for a charge.”
They spent the night on the field, where the men slept on their arms. The mortally wounded Confederate General William Barksdale was carried through their line in the darkness to a field hospital, in the Union rear.
The morning of 3 July 1863 found the 13th to the left and rear of the Vermont 14th, among Hancock’s II Corps. General Stannard asked for volunteer’s to move out about 45 yards in their front to throw up a barricade of fence rails and stones. These volunteers were led by Sergeant George H Scott of the 13th’s Company G, and were under fire from Confederate sharpshooters the whole time.
When the great cannonading of 3 July 1863 began, many of the Vermont Second Brigade were killed or wounded, owing to their advanced position. When Pickett’s Charge began the 13th was ordered into their breastworks, with the 14th on their left extending into the Plum Run Valley. As Confederate General James Kemper’s men came into view, they began a series of left obloquies that opened Kemper’s right flank to the 13th Vermont. General Stannard ordered the 13th into the meadow, where they changed front from the West to the North, using orderly Sergeant James Scully of Company A as the pivot. Colonel Randall ran along his line from left to right yelling orders to his men. The Confederates watching this maneuver knew the 13th would devastate their flank. The men of the 13th loaded their guns as they completed their change of fronts; close enough for hand to hand fighting, they opened fire on Kemper’s men.


Lieutenant Stephen Brown

The 13th took 243 prisoners. Including one captured by Lieutenant Stephen Brown. Brown had been arrested for leaving the march to search for water and had, had his sword taken away. He was released in time for the fight, but hadn’t gotten the sword back, so he entered the fight carrying a hatchet. It was with this hatchet swinging over his head that he captured a Confederate officer. The officer surrendered himself and his sword to Lieutenant Brown.
About 9 pm the 13th Vermont was ordered from the field. They moved to the rear near the Taneytown Road. It was here that the men learned that Generals Hancock and Stannard were wounded. The 13th itself had lost 11 men killed, 81 with wounds, and 23 missing.
They spent the next few days burying the dead, and tending to the wounded. On 6 July 1863 the 13th marched with the rest of the army in pursuit of the enemy. In a hard rain they crossed Catoctin Mountain into Maryland the night of 7 July 1863. Near Middletown, Maryland the next day the men of the 13th received their orders to go home.

The 15th Massachusetts

The 15th Massachusetts Infantry was part of the First Brigade, 2nd Division, 2nd Corps at Gettysburg. They were under the command of Colonel George Hull Ward.


Taking up position on July 2 on the northern end of Cemetery Ridge to the left of the 11th Corps, near the Copse of trees. At 6pm they along with the 82nd New York were ordered forward to the Emmitsburg Road north of the Codori House. This being an exposed position Col Ward ordered the men to take down fences and build a breast work. They were hit by the three Regiments and a Battalion of Georgians commanded by Brigadier General Ambrose "Rans" Wright. The men had to fall back from this exposed position after taking heavy fire.

The commander of the 15th Colonel George Hull Ward. He was born 26 Apr 1826 in Worcester MA the son of Artemas and Sarah Ward. He worked before the war as a machinist and received some military experience as part of the Worcester City Guards in 1847. Ward was wounded at Ball's Bluff 20 Oct 1861 and lost his left leg, he returned to duty with an artificial leg in Feb 1863. Ward was mortally wounded during the fight on July 2nd, his men carried him from field.