GDG- 20th Maine vs 137th NY

[Alan D. Brunelle]

Dennis Lawrence wrote:
> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:
>
>
> Hello,
>
> My little brother has stood on Culp's Hill many times; to his credit 
> he has noticed the trees there, but he also should have noted that 
> Culp's Hill is considerably higher than Cemetery Hill and Steven's 
> Knoll between the two. It would be no feat for a pioneer unit to clear 
> any trees remaining on the crest - remember, the Union had cleared 
> many already - and the Southern artillery would pulverize the Union 
> position on Steven's Knoll and Cemetery Hill.

Hi Dennis -

How much Union artillery was present on Culp's Hill by the end of Day 2? 
I don't seem to recall any offhand, and it make me wonder Why?  I've 
read a lot about the artillery on Stephen's Knoll, Cemetery Hill, and 
then on the morning of the 3rd along the Baltimore Pike area, but I 
don't seem to recall mention of artillery on Culp's Hill itself. Was it 
because there were none available (doesn't seem likely), or that there 
was no use for it (doesn't seem likely), or because there were no good 
positions to fire from and/or they couldn't get the tubes up the hill?

Of course, even if it were the case that there weren't good firing 
positions heading east/northeast/north, that does /not/ mean there 
aren't good ones firing northwest/west/southwest/south/...

Perhaps I'm just misremembering...wouldn't be the first time...

Alan

>
> Remember what happened to the boy Major on Brenner's Hill, brother. 
> The Confederates, desperate for an artillery position sent Latimer to 
> his death seeking to neutralize Union artillery before an attack by 
> infantry. Had they instead been able to use the much better platform 
> of Culp's Hill, there is a god chance the Union would have to abandon 
> its artillery placements on both Stevems and Cemetery Hill.
>
> With Cemetery Hill open, a Confederate assault there would have 
> achieved Lee's objective of pressuring the entire line at once, and 
> Meade would have been fighting Indians in Minnesota within the month.
>
> The great missed chance for the Confederates came in the gloom of the 
> second day attack when they gained flank position on Culp's Hill, not 
> in the bright sunlight of a charging Maine unit on a group of isolated 
> Confederates.
>
> Dennis
>
> At 08:32 AM 4/8/2007, you wrote:
>> Esteemed GDG Member Bob Lawrence Contributes:
>>
>>
>> I disagree? What good was Culp's Hill? Heavily forested it was
>> unsuitable for artillery and was in easy range of devastating artillery
>> fire from Cemetery Hill. At the most they could have caused a small
>> detour over open fields and easy terrain for troops arriving up the
>> Baltimore pike.
>>
>> Likewise I am not so sure that taking LRT would have had the effect that
>> many think. As Tom Dsjardin pointed out you could perhaps put two or
>> thee cannons up there-not enough to have a significantly effect on the
>> union line. And as Wayne W often pointed out there were 6,000 soldiers
>> of the 6th Corp within a half mile to a mile of it in the event of a
>> Confederates did overrun it.
>>
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>
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