GDG- Kershaw's left wing: "Move to the right"

[Alan D. Brunelle]

According to standard theory, as Kershaw's left wing (8th SC, 3rd SCbn, 
& 2nd SC) advanced against the eastern portion of the artillery line 
along the Millerstown road, it changed its course to the right to 
conform with movements by the 7th SC which was moving toward its /right/ 
- an attempt to disentangle them from the 3rd SC. Kershaw /did/ order 
the 7th SC to move to the right, and he lamented that the command was 
somehow sent to the rest of the brigade. The effect of this 
miscommunicated command was at least two-fold: (1) The breaking off of 
an attack that was /almost/ there - in terms of getting to the 
artillery, and (2) the loss of a lot of South Carolinian blood - the 2nd 
SC & 3rd SCbn. in particular lost tremendously as they turned their 
sides to Bigelow & Phillips & Clark & Hart & ... and fled eastwards.

I've seen references to the command being verbally transmitted as well 
as interpretations which state the left wing "saw" the change on the 
right and tried to conform. There must be some truth to this - Kershaw 
repeats it in his writings and there are references by a soldier named 
Coxe to this in his writings as well. Still, it seems to me to be rather 
peculiar:

(1) The left wing and the remainder of the brigade must have had some 
significant separation - in the mayhem of battle, it doesn't seem to me 
that a command could be "overheard" - especially at the distances we're 
talking about. Thus it in order for the "command" to be communicated, 
someone would have had to have physically gone from the "right" wing to 
the left to deliver the order.

(2) Similarly, it seems a bit strange that anyone in the left wing would 
have even "noticed" what was going on back over their right shoulders, 
and then somehow misconstrue that as being some sort of brigade-wide 
movement.

(3) Kershaw is very clear in his writings that the goals of the 2 parts 
of the brigade were very different: (a) the left wing was to take care 
of the bothersome artillery (mainly to the east of the Peach Orchard), 
while (b) the 3rd & 7th SC (and hopefully - once he had found them - the 
15th SC) were to take on the troops at the stony hill end of the 
Wheatfield. Thus, even if someone in command of the left wing (in 
particular, Colonel J.D. Kennedy, 2nd SC) /heard/ or /saw/ something 
being done by the remainder of the brigade, it wouldn't matter to him: 
it wouldn't be part of his purpose. [In fact, Kershaw in a letter to 
Bachelder admits that he doesn't understand why the left wing didn't 
continue to pursue its goal, and made it clear that there were two very 
different objectives for the two "wings."] One would think a /direct 
order/ would be required for Kennedy to alter his objective.

(4) Lastly, the 7th SC was to the /right/ of the 3rd SC - and the order 
for the 7th SC to move to the right was specifically intended to 
disentangle the 3rd & 7th SC. Surely any command miscommunication 
wouldn't have gone passed the 3rd SC - otherwise the 3rd SC would 
likewise have moved to the right - and thus remain entangled with the 
7th. Kershaw meant the order for the 7th SC alone - in order for it to 
be miscommunicated, some one (or more than one?) would have to traverse 
part of the distance of the 7th SC, plus the whole length of the 3rd SC, 
plus the gap between the 3rd SC and the 2nd SC (right-most regiment of 
the left wing) before it could even be delivered to Kennedy.

I haven't gotten down to measuring the possible/probable distance for 
the command to travel, but it certainly was quite some distance given 
Civil War battle standards I'd guess. [I also seem to recall that 
Kershaw and his staff went into battle on the ground - I believe that 
Kershaw thought there would be too many obstacles (fences &c) to go in 
on horse back - need to check that as well...]

Anyways, since I started "educating" myself on this area of the 
battlefield, I keep getting stuck trying to understand this strange 
occurrence. I'd appreciate it if anyone else had some light to throw on 
this subject.

Regards,
Alan