The 15th Massachusetts at Gettysburg

In Honor of those who fought

Edward U. Prouty lived on Ragged Hill Road in West Brookfield. He served with the 15th Massachusetts and was wounded in the hip on July 2, 1863, Day 2, at the Battle of Gettysburg. He died July 15, 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  He was 33 years old.

In July of 1863, the turning point of the American Civil War occurred at the Battle of Gettysburg. Here, General Lee's Confederate army of 75,000 men and General Meade's Northern army of 97,000 men met, by chance, when a Confederate brigade sent for supplies observed a forward column of Meade's cavalry.

Of the more than 2,000 land engagements of the Civil War, Gettysburg ranks supreme.  Although the Battle of Gettysburg did not end the war, nor attain any major war aim for the North or the South, it remains the great battle of the war. Here at Gettysburg on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, more men actually fought and more men died than in any other battle before or since on North American soil.

Day Two                                              Day Three

15th Massachusetts Monument & Right Flank Marker, Gettysburg National Battlefield.  Looking west towards Codori Farm & Confederate lines.

July 2, 1863 Day Two

Early on the morning of the 2nd, the 15th moved from their place of bivouac, and took position in close column by regiments near the battlefield, and stacked arms. The loss of the Peach Orchard in the afternoon of day two destroyed the possibility of holding the line occupied by Humphries' division along the Emmittsburg Road, Humphries urged General Gibbon to close the line by filling the open space between him and the 2nd Corps. It was this movement that directly involved the 15th.

Two regiments, the 15th Mass Inf. and the 82nd N.Y., were sent to the brick house, Codori Farm, which was to the right of Humphries line. Brown's Battery (B, 1st R. I.) was placed in the rear and to the left of the two regiments. The 15th took an advanced position, moving to the front of the batteries and to the right of the 82nd N.Y.

When Wright's Georgia brigade advanced, and would have struck or swept around the right flank of the Third Corps, it encountered the 15th and the 82nd regiments. The engagement was desperate. From their advanced position the two regiments, were to some extent under the fire of their own men as much as that of the enemy. The 82nd, whose left was now uncovered, was forced back, and the whole weight of the assault fell upon the 15th. It was now necessary to fight its way back to the line of the 2nd Corps. But the two regiments had done their work well in protecting the flank of their own corps, for the enemy followed closely and were repulsed by the 2nd Brigade of their division and the 13th Vermont which had just reached the field.

The 15th MVI and the 82nd N.Y. gallantly sustained an unequal contest against greatly superior numbers suffering heavy losses, but inflicted more than a corresponding punishment upon the enemy.

July 3, 1863 - Day Three

The morning of July 3rd brought the renewal of the struggle. At eleven o'clock a strange hush fell on the battlefield. This hush remained unbroken for two hours, while the opposing armies waited in the oppressive heat of the July sun for the decisive contest they knew must come.

Lee would attack on the left center of the Union line. This attack was entrusted to Pickett's Division, Longstreet's Corps. To the Union 2nd Corps fell the duty of repelling the charge. The 2nd Division of this Corps would bare the brunt of the attack.

At one o'clock, 138 pieces of artillery opened fire from the Confederate lines. From the western front of the Federal lines, 80 pieces replied. The air was full of flying shot and shell. The carnage was frightful to behold. This artillery battle, the greatest ever known on American soil, lasted nearly two hours. Some of the Union batteries stopped firing, and some were replaced by others. The rebels, thinking the guns were silenced, slackened their fire.

At this time, the Union troops saw Pickett's division with its supports emerging from the Confederate lines. Pickett's Division rushed up the long slope in a charge that, today, still excites the admiration of every visitor to Gettysburg. There was a moment when the very fate of the Union was at stake. In the very center of the Union position crowning Cemetery Ridge, wave the flags of Virginia and the Confederacy. For an awful few minutes nothing can be heard. The only command heard by the Mass. 15th , was "Up boys, they are coming!"
 
The Union infantry came up somewhat tumultuously, but courageously, and formed around the head of Longstreet's column, four ranks deep. After a short period of desperate fighting, at times hand to hand, all is over. The charge of Pickett's men upon the center of the Union army and its repulse by the 2nd Corps, which contained many Massachusetts regiments, is considered to be the finest single incident of the battle, and perhaps the war. With the failure of Pickett's charge the battle of Gettysburg is decided.

The 2nd Corps had greater losses of killed and wounded at Gettysburg than any other Corps in the Army, the 2nd Division more than any other division, Harrow's Brigade more than any other brigade. The loss of the15th in killed, wounded, and missing was 61.9%. This loss percent was exceeded only by four other regiments at Gettysburg.

Photographs by Kathy & Nancy Parker