{"id":283,"date":"2010-07-04T00:31:26","date_gmt":"2010-07-04T00:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/?page_id=283"},"modified":"2010-07-04T00:32:30","modified_gmt":"2010-07-04T00:32:30","slug":"new-bernian-led-famed-charge","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/records\/military\/new-bernian-led-famed-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"New Bernian Led Famed Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg Gen. Lewis Armistead died there"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contributed by Florence Fulford Moore<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

From the Elizabeth Moore Papers, Collection No. 322 East Carolina Manuscript\u00a0Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. For\u00a0research and study only; not for deposit in other repositories. Most manuscripts\u00a0are protected by copyright laws; permission to publish must be requested. \u00a0(Florence F. Moore has received permission to publish these and other works\u00a0from the Elizabeth Moore Collection.)<\/p>\n

\u201cNEW BERNIAN LED FAMED PICKETT\u2019S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG \u2013\u00a0Gen. Lewis Armistead died there.<\/p>\n

Appropriate for the 250th anniversary of the founding of New Bern as well as for the\u00a0approaching centennial programs in connection with the War Between the States\u00a0is the fact that Gen. Lewis Addison Armistead, who led in person the famed Pickett\u2019s\u00a0charge during the Battle of Gettysburg, was born in New Bern as a descendant of\u00a0some of the most prominent local personages.<\/p>\n

His great-grandfather on his mother\u2019s side was John Wright Stanly, an illustrious\u00a0patriot who lost 14 privateers during the Revolutionary War and lent $80,000 to Gen.\u00a0Nathaniel Greene, thus helping materially in winning the war for American Independence.<\/p>\n

Stanly, a merchant at Philadelphia came first to New Bern when he was a young man. \u00a0On his visit here he fell in love with Ann Cogdell, married her, and remained in New Bern\u00a0the rest of his life, until both he and his wife died of yellow fever during the disastrous\u00a0epidemic in 1789. Both are buried in Christ Episcopal Church yard.<\/p>\n

Incidentally this Ann Cogdell Stanly had a sister, Peggy Cogdell, described as \u201cthe most\u00a0beautiful blonde in America by Don Francisco de Miranda, South American leader, who\u00a0visited New Bern in 1783. Peggy became the mother of George E. Badger, Judge,\u00a0United States Senator, and Secretary of the Navy.<\/p>\n

John Wright Stanly\u2019s son, John Stanly, (1774-1833) who was the grandfather of General\u00a0Armistead, was an outstanding lawyer, legislator and congressman. He served as\u00a0speaker of the North Carolina House. In 1802 he had a political controversy with Governor\u00a0Richard Dobbs Speight in a duel at New Bern.<\/p>\n

John Stanly\u2019s only daughter Elizabeth married against her father\u2019s wishes, an army officer\u00a0named Walter Keith Armistead. While she was on a visit to her father, her son Lewis\u00a0Addison Armistead was born on February 17, 1817, in the Stanly home which originally\u00a0stood on the corner of Middle and New Streets, but was moved in recent years to make\u00a0way for the new Federal Building erected in 1933-35.<\/p>\n

Although her father never forgave Elizabeth for marrying Armistead, she came to New\u00a0Bern to nurse him during his last eight years, when he was a physical wreck from a\u00a0paralytic stroke suffered while debating in the North Carolina House of Commons. He\u00a0died in the Armistead home in Virginia but is buried here in Cedar Grove Cemetery, with\u00a0his obituary written by William Gaston. His wife had been an heiress at the time of her\u00a0marriage, but was left destitute on the death of her husband. She continued to live with
\nthe Armisteads in Virginia.<\/p>\n

Walter Keith Armistead, father of Lewis was born in an army family. Four of his five brothers\u00a0were also soldiers. The other brother was the father of an army officer. All five brothers\u00a0fought in the Mexican War. They came from an English family which emigrated from\u00a0Yorkshire, England to Virginia as early as 1635. William Armistead, the immigrant, had\u00a0a grandson, Henry Armistead, who resided in Gloucester County, and married Martha\u00a0Burwell. Their grandson John Armistead married Mary Baylor, and they were the parents\u00a0of the \u201cMilitary Armisteads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in 1785, Walter Keith Armistead, was graduated from the United States Military\u00a0Academy at West Point in 1803. In the War of 1812, he fought in Canada, was in the\u00a0Seminole War, and became Chief Engineer of the United States Army. He reached the\u00a0rank of brevet brigadier-general and was second in command of the army at the time of\u00a0his death in 1845.<\/p>\n

His son Lewis Addison Armistead entered West Point September 1, 1834, but an untoward\u00a0incident prevented his completing his courses. Jubal A. Early, who afterwards became\u00a0such a \u201cfire-eating\u201d soldier, insulted Armistead on the parade grounds, according to the\u00a0story which has been handed down. In retaliation. Armistead at mess cracked Early\u00a0over the head with a plate. Armistead was thereupon dismissed from West Point, Feb.\u00a015, 1836.<\/p>\n

Undiscouraged, apparently determined to carry out the family tradition of Army Armisteads,\u00a0he was graduated from a military school in North Carolina and entered the United States \u00a0Army, with rank of Second Lieutenant, Sixth Regiment of Infantry on July 10, 1839. He\u00a0fought against the Seminoles under Gen. Zachary Taylor, and also under his own father. \u00a0During the Mexican War he won a splendid reputation for bravery and aggressive fighting. \u00a0He led the storming at Chapultepec, and was first brevetted captain, and later major for\u00a0gallantry in other Battles.<\/p>\n

After the Mexican War he served for 14 years on the Western frontier. \u00a0At the outbreak of the War Between the States, he was still out west. During the summer\u00a0of 1860, he had visited his old friend Turner Ashby at Wolf\u2019s Crag. After listening for some\u00a0time to Asby\u2019s gloomy prophecies of the coming disruption of the Union, Armistead suddenly\u00a0exclaimed: \u201cTurner, do not talk so, I know one country and one flag. Let me sing you a song\u00a0and drive away your gloom.\u201d Thereupon he sang \u201cThe Star Spangled Banner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later when the necessity for a choice came, Armistead and Ashby did not hesitate to join the\u00a0Confederacy. Armistead resigned from the United States Army on May 26, 1861. At Los\u00a0Angeles he presented to his friend Winfield Scott Hancock, then a Captain and a brevet major,\u00a0his major\u2019s uniform with the remark, \u201cSome day you may need this.\u201d They met at Gettysburg.<\/p>\n

Joining Gen. Albert Sydney Johnston and other officers who had resigned from the United \u00a0States Army, Armistead journeyed with them across continent from Vallecite to San Antonio,\u00a0New Orleans and Richmond.<\/p>\n

Entering the Confederate service at Richmond, he was made a colonel with the 57th Virginia\u00a0Regiment. On April 2, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general. With that rank he fought\u00a0at Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, Second Manassas, and Sharpsburg. Everywhere, he displayed\u00a0conspicuous gallantry and for his quality of headlong bravery was known through the Army of\u00a0Northern Virginia. His coolness under fire, his stern perseverance and indomitable pluck won\u00a0the applause of his superiors and the confidence of his followers.<\/p>\n

At Malvern Hill he led the Confederate charge upon the Union lines, only to see his men\u00a0hopelessly slaughtered. It was during this battle that his entire brigade, with the exception of\u00a0one heroic company, broke in panic before a Union counterattack. Armistead and that one\u00a0company staved off the onsurging Northerners, until the frightened, inexperienced Confederates\u00a0could be re-formed and put back into the line.<\/p>\n

During the first Maryland campaign, Armistead was made Provost Marshal of the army, and it\u00a0was his duty to round up stragglers and otherwise insure the efficiency of the troops. He\u00a0received the personal thanks of General Robert E. Lee for the ability with which he discharged\u00a0the duties of that office.<\/p>\n

As has been said, Armistead was no \u2018holiday soldier,\u2019 no \u2018carpet knight.\u2019 Col. Rawley W.\u00a0Martin, in his excellent account in the Southern Historical Society papers, wrote of Armistead,\u00a0\u2018he was a strict disciplinarian but never a martinet. Obedience to duty he regarded as the first\u00a0qualification of a soldier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obedient to duty, demanding in turn obedience from others, resolute, unyielding with courage
\ntempered in the flame of Battle, he waited only for an opportunity to prove himself the hero that
\nhe was to write his name high on the roll of fame and win the plaudits of the Military world.\u00a0That chance came at Gettysburg. His courageous daring and magnificent leadership there on\u00a0July 3, 1863, made his name immortal.<\/p>\n

For ten months prior to that battle he had been serving under Gen. Geo. E. Pickett. In April\u00a01862, after being made brigadier-general he was assigned to Gen. Benjamin Huger\u2019s division,\u00a0and the following Sept., his brigade was incorporated with Pickett\u2019s Division of Longstreet\u2019s\u00a0Corps.<\/p>\n

On the third day of the Battle at Gettysburg, not having participated in the fighting of July 1 and\u00a02, Pickett\u2019s three brigades were in excellent condition. Some of the men who had been engaged\u00a0in the previous desperate battle were mustered back into ranks, along with all cooks and\u00a0extra-duty men, many of them wearing bandages for wounds on the heads and arms. With\u00a0tears in his eyes, Gen. Lee is said to have remarked with deep emotion, \u201cThese men ought not\u00a0to be in this charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The charge of Longstreet\u2019s Corps in all its aspects is now considered a fatal blunder. Instead\u00a0of being a grand forward movement of the entire line of some 30,000 men which Lee had desired,\u00a0and which might have swept aside all resistance and perhaps victory, Longstreet delayed, trying\u00a0in vain to persuade Lee to make a flank movement. He postponed action so long that when the\u00a0advance finally came, Union forces had made their position doubly strong, with reinforcements\u00a0of infantry and fresh batteries of artillery. To make matters worse, Longstreet sent in less than\u00a0half the force contemplated by Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a desperate thing to attempt,\u201d exclaimed Gen. Richard E. Garnett to Armistead.\u201d \u201cIt is,\u201d
\nreplied the fearless Armistead, \u201cbut the issue is with the Almighty and we must leave it in His\u00a0hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the brigade waited for the order to proceed, a shell struck a nearby tree. With a touch of grim
\nhumor, Armistead pulled a splinter from the tree and showed it to his men, inquired, \u201cBoys, do
\nyou think you can go up under that? It\u2019s pretty hot out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just before the advance order came, Armistead walked up and down in front of his men and made
\nthem what we would call today a \u201cpep talk.\u201d Rallying them, he said, \u201cRemember men, what you\u00a0are fighting for. Remember your homes, your firesides, your mothers and wives, and sisters and
\nsweethearts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riding up to the color sergeant of the 53rd Virginia regiment he challenged: \u201cSergeant, are you\u00a0going to put those colors on the enemy\u2019s works today?\u201d The color sergeant replied earnestly,\u00a0\u201cI will try sir, and if mortal man can do it, it shall be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the charge, the front brigade was led by General Garnett, the middle brigade by Gen. James\u00a0L. Kemper, and the rear brigade, the Old Stonewall Brigade, by General Armistead, who marched\u00a0on foot, saying that he was an infantryman. All the other generals and field officers were mounted.<\/p>\n

General Garnett was so ill that the surgeon ordered him to a field hospital. He refused to go,\u00a0declaring that he would lead his brigade in the charge. It was a broiling hot day, but he wore an\u00a0overcoat. He was so weak that he had to be lifted onto horseback. Garnett was a native North\u00a0Carolinian.<\/p>\n

When the signal guns were fired, Armistead shouted \u201cAttention.\u201d At once every man in his brigade
\nrose to his feet from the ground where they had been lying, under heavy Federal bombardment.\u00a0Placing himself in front of the 53rd Virginians and marching on foot twenty yards ahead of the\u00a0brigade, he watched and directed their advance.<\/p>\n

The guiding point for the charge was a clump of trees just beyond a low stone wall, known as\u00a0Ziegler\u2019s Grove. Taking off his hat and placing it on the point of his sword, Armistead called in\u00a0stentorian tones that reached every man under him, \u201cAttention, Second Battalion, the battalion\u00a0of direction, forward, guide, center, march.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning his horse, which he had then remounted, he spurred forward, his silvered head a shining
\nmark in the torrent of bullets which were not long in being unloosed.<\/p>\n

At approximately two o\u2019clock in the afternoon, Pickett\u2019s entire division marched through the rain
\nof shot and shell toward the Union position on Cemetery Hill. Armistead and his men were the\u00a0first to reach the objective. Armistead\u2019s horse was shot from under him. He placed himself\u00a0behind his men to clear the way for their fire.<\/p>\n

General Pickett left the division half-way in its charge and went back to hurry up reinforcements.
\nAs they came under musket and shell fire, General Garnett was killed, and General Kemper took\u00a0over command. Before they reached the Rock Wall, General Kemper was badly wounded and\u00a0incapacitated for further field service, but lived to redeem Virginia from Republicans and Negro\u00a0rule in 1874, and was elected Governor of that state.<\/p>\n

With his superior officers out, General Armistead automatically assumed leadership. The first\u00a0line of Federals just behind the stone wall had risen up and retreated to a new position in the\u00a0rear.<\/p>\n

\u201cColonel,\u201d said Armistead to Col. Rawley M. Martin, \u201cwe cannot stay here.\u201d\u00a0Forward he led the charge to the stone wall where a cannon had been put out of action.<\/p>\n

Armistead dashed toward it and with his sword held high, his pierced hat down to his sword\u2019s
\nhilt guard, he leaped through an embrasure, shouting to his men, \u201cFollow me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dashing ahead, he kept 50 yards in front of his men. At the stone wall, he was among the first\u00a0to leap over it, shouting, \u201cBoys, we must use the cold steel. Who will follow? \u201c Every able-bodied\u00a0man obeyed the challenge. The charge reached the crest of the Ridge to seize the Federal guns\u00a0and plant the colors on the fortifications.<\/p>\n

Some thirty odd yards beyond the wall, Armistead laid his hand on a cannon with the clarion\u00a0call, \u201cThis cannon is mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he was then riddled with bullets. He fell mortally wounded. Within a few minutes, he died.<\/p>\n

Thus he was killed at the true \u201chigh water mark\u201d of the Confederacy, epitomizing the typical\u00a0Confederate line officer, who was always in there, fighting with his men, doing his full duty as\u00a0a soldier, and meeting an honorable if not a victorious fate, contributing to the undying honor\u00a0and glory of the Starts and Bards (sic) (Stars and Bars).<\/p>\n

Gen. Armistead\u2019s body was buried in a vault at St. Paul\u2019s Cemetery on German and Fremont \u00a0Streets, Baltimore, Maryland. A plaque was in recent years erected there by the General\u00a0Lewis Armistead Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy of Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

The Sun Journal, New Bern, NC, Tuesday, March 13, 1962.\u201d (Does not show who wrote the
\narticle. Copied by Elizabeth Moore.\u201d)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contributed by Florence Fulford Moore From the Elizabeth Moore Papers, Collection No. 322 East Carolina Manuscript\u00a0Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. For\u00a0research and study only; not for deposit in other repositories. Most manuscripts\u00a0are protected by copyright laws; permission to publish must be requested. \u00a0(Florence F. Moore has received permission to publish Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":284,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-283","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/283\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}