GDG- 59th New York at the Wall

[zfry at kent.edu]

I sent this once, but it didn't seem to go through.  My apologies if
it's a double posting...

Having just returned from co-leading a weekend-long CWEA tour with Gary
Kross on the "Attack and Defense of Cemetery Ridge" followed by a
dizzying struggle to straighten out travel arrangements for a trip to
Waterloo and Ypres in September (whew), I'd like to add just a few
things to the discussion already in progress on the 59th New York and
Brown's Gate.

First - a warm thank you to Jack Kelly for his careful reading of my
work and also for publicly posting that he supports the view that the
59th did not bolt.  Many thanks, sir.

Second (of captains and coffee pots) - I would ask those interested to
consider one point: in the maelstrom of deadly, chaotic combat on
Cemetery Ridge, which seems more likely - that Cowan could have been
mistaken about how many bars an officer streaming past his guns wore on
his shoulder boards (50 years after the fact), or from which direction
on the line the officer came running?

Finally (adding to the debate over which regiment did what) - I would
simply emphasize the irony of the fact that for a decade (and at no
point previous), the regiment which elicited no primary evidence of a
retreat (the 59th) has been blamed for the "rout."  In contrast, the
regiment which sources agree was before Cowan's guns, (the 69th) and
whose left flank wisely "buckling" under friendly fire we actually do
have evidence to support, has largely escaped this scrutiny.

With that, I leave anyone interested in the debate to consult my
treatments of the episode as published in Gettysburg Magazine issues 36
and 39.

With my compliments,
Zack F.