Commanding Army of the Potomac:
GENERAL: I inclose
herewith the report of General T. H. Ruger of operations of the First Division,
Twelfth Corps, at the battle of Gettysburg, together with the reports of his
brigade and regimental commanders. General Ruger, width a large portion of his
division, was ordered to New York City soon after the battle, and immediately
after his return from New York the corps was ordered to this department. The
reports of General Williams and myself were delayed with the hope of receiving
General Ruger's report in time to forward it with them.
I deeply regret the
necessity which compelled me to send my report and that of General Williams
unaccompanied by any report of the operations of the First Division, for
although an account of the operations of this division was given in the report
of General Williams, who commanded the corps during the battle, I think the
absence of Ruger's report may account for some of the errors contained in your
report as to the operations of the Twelfth Corps.
I inclose a letter
from General Williams, calling my attention to these errors, to which I
respectfully invite your attention, and if anything can be done at this late
day to correct these errors, I trust you will do it. Your report is the
official history of that important battle, and to this report reference will
always be made by our Government, our people, and the historian, as the most
reliable and accurate account of the services performed by each corps,
division, and brigade of your army. If you have inadvertently given to one
division the credit of having performed some meritorious service which was in
reality performed by another division, you do an injustice to brave men and
defraud them of well-earned laurels. It is an injustice which even time cannot
correct. That errors of this nature exist in your official report is an
indisputable fact.
You give great
credit to Lockwood's brigade for services on the evening of July 2, but state
that this brigade was a portion of the First Corps, while it never at any time
belonged to that corps, but was a portion of the Twelfth Corps, and was
accompanied in its operations on the evening of July 2 by General Williams in
person. A portion of this brigade (the One hundred and fiftieth New York) is
still in General Williams' division.
I copy the following
statement from your report:
During
the heavy assault on our left, portions of the Twelfth Corps were sent as
re-enforcements. During their absence, the line on the extreme right was held
by a very much reduced force. This was taken advantage of by the enemy, who,
during the absence of General Geary's division, of the Twelfth Corps, advanced
and occupied part of the line. On the morning of the 3d, General Geary, having
returned during the night, attacked at early dawn the enemy, and succeeded in
driving him back and reoccupying his former position. A spirited contest was
maintained all the morning along this part of the line. General Geary,
re-enforced by Wheaton's brigade, of the Sixth Corps, maintained his position,
and inflicted severe losses on the enemy.
From this statement
it would appear that Geary's division marched to the support of your left; that
Williams' division did not; that his (Williams') division, or a portion of it,
was guarding the intrenchments when the enemy gained possession; that General
Geary returned, and with his division drove the enemy back; that the engagement
on the following morning was fought by Geary's division, assisted by Wheaton's
brigade. This I know is the inference drawn from your history of those
operations by every person unacquainted with the truth. Yet the facts in the
case are very nearly the reverse of the above in every particular, and directly
in contradiction to the facts as set forth in the report of General Geary, as
well as that of General Williams. Geary's division did not march even in the
direction of your left. Two of his brigades, under his immediate command, left
the intrenchments under orders to move to the support of your left, but through
some unfortunate mistake he took the road leading to Two Taverns. Williams'
entire division did move to the support of your left, and it was one of his
brigades (Lockwood's), under his immediate command, which you commend, but very
singularly accredit to the First Corps.
Greene's brigade, of
the Second Division, remained in the intrenchments, and the failure of the
enemy to gain entire possession of our works was due entirely to the skill of
General Greene and the heroic valor of his troops. His brigade suffered severely,
but maintained its position, and held the enemy in check until the return of
Williams' division. The “spirited contest maintained by General Geary, re-enforced
by Wheaton's brigade,” was a contest for regaining the portion of our
intrenchments held by the enemy, and was conducted under the immediate command
of General Williams, and was participated in by the entire Twelfth Corps,
re-enforced not by Wheaton's but by Shaler's brigade.
Although the command
of the Twelfth Corps was given temporarily to General Williams by, your order,
and although you directed him to meet at the council with other corps
commanders, you fail to mention his name in your entire report, and in no place
allude to his having any such command, or to the fact that more than one corps
was at any time placed under my command, although at no time after you assumed
command of the army until the close of this battle was I in command of less
than two corps. I have now in my possession your written orders, dated July 2,
directing me to assume command of the Sixth Corps, and, with that corps and the
two then under my command (the Fifth and Twelfth), to move forward and at once
attack the enemy.
I allude to this
fact for the purpose of refreshing your memory on a subject which you had
apparently entirely forgotten when you penned your report, for you have not
failed to notice the fact of General Schurz and others having held, even for a
few hours, commands above that previously held by them. I sincerely trust that
you will endeavor to correct as far as possible the errors above mentioned, and
that the correction may be recorded at the War Department.
SOURCE: The War of
the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 27, Part 1 (Serial No. 43), p. 763-5
