GDG- RE: Vincent Position

[Jim Lamason]

To our esteemed Member ship..

I was in the Gettysburg from Thursday through Sunday about midday..

One of the things I did notice is that SOMEONE has filled in the words on 
top of the Vincent Wounding boulder in Black paint. You can now read it 
plainly.

I have conflicting emotions about that btw..
JIM Lamason
Middlesex NJ
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <GEODEUTSCH at aol.com>
To: <gettysburg at gdg.org>
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 2:03 PM
Subject: GDG- RE: Vincent Position


> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:
>
>
>
> There have been  several posts concerning Strong Vincent and his brigade
> prior to moving to  LRT.
> "... Where was  Strong Vincent (and his Brigade) when he met the courier 
> from
> Gen. Warren  and then took responsibility to go to Little Round Top?  Is 
> an
> exact  position known?..."
> "...The entire brigade may have been in the Wheatfield,  but Zack could 
> also
> be correct. If they were the lead brigade of the division,  where were the
> following brigades? Wouldn't the following brigades been closer  to the 
> courier
> than Vincent? How is it that he was approached  first?..."
> Zack's response was  essentially correct: "Vincent's brigade was in 
> defilade
> west of the George  Weikert farm,
> with Vincent personally riding in the direction of the  Wheatfield at the
> time of his being intercepted by Capt. Jay of Sykes'  staff."
> There are several  Weikert farms in the area, the one where Vincent and 
> Jay
> met is northeast of the  Wheatfield across the Wheatfield  Road.
> Vincent himself was  leading the First Division of Fifth Corps, General 
> James
> Barnes (the temporary  commander replacing Charles Griffin who was 
> recovering
> from a  wound) was not with the column. It is commonly alleged that Barnes
> was  somewhere drunk. Judging by his later decisions after he did show up 
> in the
> Wheatfield, the charge of drunkenness seems likely true. Vincent's Third
> Brigade led the column, followed by Tilton & Sweitzer.
> According to Vincent's  aide and brigade bugler, Oliver Norton, while the
> division was halted short  of the Wheatfield, Vincent saw a rider (Sykes's 
> aide)
> approaching and rode  out to meet him.  After taking personal 
> responsibility
> to occupy  LRT, Vincent turned his own brigade towards LRT, while the 
> other
> two brigades headed to their meeting with Kershaw on Stony Hill.
> Here are a  few subsequent interesting facts about Vincent:
> Vincent & Norton  rode ahead of the brigade up onto LRT. The horsemen
> attracted so much  Confederate artillery fire that Vincent ordered Norton, 
> who was
> carrying the  brigade flag, to take the horses and the flag to the 
> backside of
> the hill,  while Vincent scouted where to place his troops.
> Vincent left his sword  on his horse, so carried only his wife's riding 
> crop
> during the  fight.
> Vincent formed the  brigade line in an inverse U shape along the military
> summit, now known as  Vincent's Spur. He made his headquarters in the 
> center of
> the line, behind and  uphill from his old regiment, the 83rd Penna. 
> Today's
> visitor to LRT can  see the HQ position marked by the white, tombstone 
> looking
> marker which reads  "Gen. Strong Vincent Wounded July 2, Died July 7, 
> 1863".
> There is a common  misconception that Vincent was wounded at the spot 
> where
> the marker stands.  He was actually taken there after his wounding before 
> being
> moved to  the Jacob Weikert farmhouse on the reverse side of  LRT.
> This marker was  erected by the veterans of the 83rd and was the first
> permanent monument on the  battlefield outside of the National Cemetery. 
> The
> original was vandalized in  the 1970s and was replaced by the current one. 
> The
> original marker is now on  loan to the Erie County (PA) Library and is on 
> display
> there.
> Vincent was actually  wounded on the west face of LRT behind the line of 
> the
> fractured 16th Michigan while rallying  those troops. He stood on a 
> boulder
> brandishing his riding crop while  ordering the men "Don't give an inch, 
> boys!"
> There are conflicting reports  saying he was shot either while on the rock 
> or
> had just stepped off of  it.
> Visitors can see  the boulder, which is directly north of the 44th NY's
> "castle"  monument. In the late afternoon on a sunny day, you can still 
> make out
> the  faint inscription, which was carved in it near the time of the 
> battle:
> "Col. Strong Vincent fell here Com 3rd Brig. 1st Div. 5 Corps July 2nd 
> 1863."
> Although his wounding  has been commonly attributed to a "sharpshooter" 
> from
> Devil's Den, it is  more likely that he was shot from below by one of the
> Texans assaulting the  hill.
> Vincent entered the  Battle of Gettysburg as a Colonel but was singled out
> for promotion to Brigadier  General by General Meade in a telegram to 
> Lincoln
> the night of July 2nd. Meade knew that  Vincent was mortally wounded, but 
> told
> the President of Vincent's Gettysburg actions  and of his leadership on 
> other
> fields. Lincoln promoted Vincent  to the full rank of Brigadier, not by 
> Brevet.
> Lincoln's order reached  Vincent before he died on July 7th, but there has
> been much conjecture whether  Vincent was actually aware of the promotion 
> before
> his  death.
> Vincent's wife  Elizabeth gave birth to their only child two months later,
> but the baby girl  died just short of her first birthday. Elizabeth never
> remarried. All three are buried  together in the Erie Cemetery.
> Vincent's sword is in  the Smithsonian, his bible is on display in his
> parish, St.  Paul's in Erie but unfortunately  neither the riding crop nor 
> his
> letters to Elizabeth survive today.
> George  Deutsch
>
>
>
>
> **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
> fuel-efficient used cars. 
> (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)
>                   ----------------------------------------------------------------
> You may unsubscribe by going to 
> http://mailman.arthes.com/mailman/listinfo/gettysburg
>
> You can add yourself to the GDG map at: 
> http://www.frappr.com/gettysburgdiscussiongroup
>
> View archived posts from May 2004 -  present at 
> http://mailman.arthes.com/pipermail/gettysburg/