The Union Retreat – Day One Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg started off on the morning of July 1, 1863 when Confederate troops, led by Gen. James Johnston Pettigrew, attacked a Union Calvary force led by Gen. John Buford. Soon thereafter Gen. John Reynolds’ First Corps came to support Buford. Both sides continued to add reinforcements throughout the day. By mid afternoon, though, superior numbers of Confederate soldiers began to force the retreat of Union forces.

As the Yankees’ position weakened, many began to run in retreat. In many cases it was a fighting retreat. The Iron Brigade of the First Corps retreated some, turned and fought, and then retreated some more. They Union soldiers made their was from the north and west of Gettysburg into the town, itself. Both sides broke out into hand-to-hand fighting. Citizens of the town retreated to their basements to try to ride out the storm of skirmishing.

Some of the Union soldiers who were too exhausted to keep going on knocked on doors of citizens’ dwellings and asked to be hidden. Most of the townspeople took them in and tried to hide the soldiers in their basements. Gen. Alexander Schimmelfennig, jumped over a resident’s fence and hid behind a pile of firewood in their backyard for three days. Eventually the majority of the Union soldiers retreated up Cemetery Hill where Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock helped turn them around and beat back the Confederates.

Over the next couple of days, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s soldiers occupied the town of Gettysburg. Lee sent groups of soldiers to go door-to-door and round up any Union soldier that tried to hide instead of retreat. There was also firing from sharpshooters of both side. Bullets flew back and forth. One way to tell that this gunfire occurred is to go down Baltimore Street to the Farnsworth House Inn. The front and side walls are covered with holes, created from rifle fire. After seeing so many remnants of the battle, it is hard to believe that only one civilian, Jennie Wade, was killed in the three-day battle.

The Farnsworth House Inn is at 401 Baltimore Street. If you go there, don’t forget to go across the street to Mr. G’s Ice Cream Parlor. I think it’s the best place to get ice cream in town. Straight up the street from there is the Jenny Wade House at 548 Baltimore Street. Jenny was in the middle of baking bread for wounded soldiers when a stray bullet struck and killed her instantly.