Chapter Seventy-Five
A Rebel Twice Over
From “The Gray Fox – Robert E. Lee” by R. Southey-Freeman
Orange & West 1958
“Lee directed Johnson, in the last light of the day, to begin to send his wagons north on the Newville/Carlisle Road. It was a move clearly visible to the Federals on Cemetery Hill. The significance of the move was not lost on Reynolds who ordered Buford to shift his cavalry to the right in order to shadow any move by the rebels northwards from the vicinity of the Harrisburg Pike. Small elements of Stuart’s cavalry were spotted moving northwards beyond the town of Gettysburg itself. Further Reynolds’ Corps commanders reported that Confederate artillery was being withdrawn. Reynolds drew the obvious conclusion – Lee, having attempted to catch the Army of the Potomac divided and having failed to do so, was reverting to his original plan and moving northwards again towards Carlisle or Harrisburg…”
Reynolds observes the rebel train move northwards
From "Always The General - The Life of John Fulton Reynolds" by Jed Bradshaw
Penn State 1999
“Camp fires burned along the whole rebel line but this was a common deceit. The rebels were marching off. Stevens’ Corps and elements of Humphreys’ reserve were put on the road to Harrisburg that night. If the rebels were generally on the move come the morning Reynolds would get the whole army on the road northwards towards Harrisburg…”
From “The Gray Fox – Robert E. Lee” by R. Southey-Freeman
Orange & West 1958
“Johnston had his troops on the move before nightfall. In order to round the Federal line they did have to march northwards aways, but beyond the sight of Federal eyes the troops turned west and then south, passing behind Longstreet’s lines. Allegheny Johnston was to follow Jackson southwards. As the last of Johnson’s troops passed in the rear of Longstreet, he was to peel off his divisions and follow, starting with Anderson…
Jackson himself was already on the march, having left only Ewell’s Division in the rear to hold Longstreet’s flank until Johnson arrived…”
Many of the captured wagons contained rebel wounded
From “The Blue Eyed Prophet of War” by Robert Lee Thomas
Carlotta Press 1906
“Lee had entrusted the fearless Jackson with the most difficult of tasks. Jackson was not only to lead the movement south, but he was also tasked with finding Lee’s “good ground”. Advancing down the Emmitsburg Pike initially, once beyond the Federal flank, Jackson directed his troops south east in the direction of Taneytown. His objective was to get between the Army of the Potomac and its direct lines of communication with Washington…
If one force was capable of out distancing any Yankee pursuit it was the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, Jackson’s foot cavalry, led once again by A.P. Hill’s incomparable Light Division…”
From "Always The General - The Life of John Fulton Reynolds" by Jed Bradshaw
Penn State 1999
“It was apparent to the Union forces on the high ground south of Gettysburg that the bulk of the rebel forces had marched off in the night. Reynolds had already ordered Williams’ XII Corps into motion northwards to follow IX Corps and the single division of V Corps already moving north…
Above all Reynolds needed intelligence as to the roads and routes being used by Lee. Was the intended target Carlisle and a crossing of the Susquehanna north of Harrisburg or would Lee try the defences of Harrisburg itself again? In truth while Union officers speculated wildly about the potential target of Lee’s movement, “Anywhere from Pittsburgh to Perdition via Philadelphia” (Dan Sickles), Reynolds understood that he rode with Lee’s intended target – the Army of the Potomac. In discussions with his aide, Major Joseph G. Rosengarten, Reynolds confided “Lee looks only for the ground to meet us on and the opportunity to do so to his advantage.”…
One can only imagine Reynolds’ distress when, before midday, an urgent galloper found his staff with a message from General Buford. Pleasanton had dispatched Custer’s brigade to raid a lightly guarded section of wagons to take prisoners with a view to obtaining the intelligence so vital to Reynolds' movements. The rebel cavalry screen, such as it was, had fled. The wagons, Custer had discovered, were either empty or full of southern wounded. Wagons Lee had deemed “expendable”. Many were recent acquisitions from Sigel’s force or from the good citizens of Pennsylvania…
Reynolds knew he had been bluffed, but if Lee was not marching on Harrisburg, where was he?...”
Colonel William McComb of Pennsylvania & Tennessee
From “The Blue Eyed Prophet of War” by Robert Lee Thomas
Carlotta Press 1906
“At the lead of Hill’s Light Division was Archer’s Brigade, and first on the road was the 14th Tennessee under Colonel William McComb. It was not by accident the McComb led the vanguard. William McComb was a Pennsylvanian, born and raised until his twenties, though a Tennessean by his own adoption and southern by inclination. Though born in Mercer County in western Pennsylvania, McComb was familiar with this area from his days in the flour business before moving to Tennessee. Hill knew from McComb that beyond Taneytown there should be a creek, Pipe Creek, which might shield the Confederate force if it were to rest and concentrate after its difficult manoeuvre disengaging from the unusually slothful Yankees at Gettysburg…”
