GDG- 20th Maine vs 137th NY

[Ginny Gage]

In my very humble opinion, the capture of LRT by perhaps 100 +/- exhausted,
out of ammunition, within closer striking distance of the 6th Corp. etc.
etc. Alabamians would have been far less problematic to Mead  than a few
thousand ANV blocking his primary route of escape and supply. Not to mention
the probability of the control of East Cemetery Hill the KEY to the Union
position.  Lt. Randolph H. McKim, General Johnson¹s staff officer, writes in
his memoirs ³A Soldier¹s Recollections:² ³All speculation aside, the
Confederates, who assailed the Union right, could only defeat the AOP by
taking and holding Culp¹s Hill.  It was not only the key to the Union right
flank, but it dominated the main Union line on Cemetery Ridge as well.²

General O.O. Howard was quoted following the battle as saying ³Only the
presence of Greene¹s Brigade on Culp¹s Hill prevented Meade losing the
battle of Gettysburg.²

Col. Henry A. Barnham wrote to John Batchelder, Feb. 7, 1891:  ³Greene¹s
fight in the evening of the 2nd ought to be more conspicuously remembered.
You know that that sturdy brigade saved the Army and the battle in the
evening of the 2nd.²

Unquestionably, these quotes come from men who were engaged on the Union
right.  Nonetheless, E. Porter Alexander attending Greene¹s monument
dedication, was heard to comment ³That as long as Gettysburg stands and the
contour of its hills remain unchanged, students of the Battlefield must
decide that Lee¹s most promising attack from first to last was upon Cemetery
Hill, by concentrated artillery fire from the north and assaults from the
nearest sheltered ground between the west and northeast.²

It appears to me as if the men who fought there placed a great deal more
emphasis on the importance of the right flank when compared to the left.

Robert, shame, shame!  :-)

See you at the Muster!  Looking forward to it.

Very best regards,

Lew Gage