Through the drifting smoke & confusion, the Colonel witnessed a stirring scene. Near the center of the line stood Sergeant Andrew Tozier with his color staff planted at his side, the upper part clasped in his elbow "...with musket and cartridges seized from his fallen comrade at his side he was defending his sacred trust in the manner of song & chivalry".

“The five man color guard seemed to keep the enemy in check. . .by their heroic bearing and not from the numbers”. Posting himself beside Sgt. Tozier, the colonel led his troops on a rush down the slope into the ranks of the exhausted Alabamians. Joshua Chamberlain was awarded the Medal of Honor. Upon his commander's recommendation Tozier was also awarded the Medal of Honor.

In a postwar address Chamberlain remarked: “The inspiration of a noble cause enables men to do things that they did not dream themselves capable of before... The consciousness of belonging, vitally, to something beyond individuality, greatens the heart to the limit of the soul's ideal, and builds character. Perhaps no better explanation has ever been offered for the incredible feats performed by the Civil War soldiers as they fought under their battle flags.”

General Garnett was struck and killed instantly. His body was never identified.

General Garnett's black charger - Red Eye - amazingly survived the onslaught and was later seen galloping toward the Confederate lines.

Regiments & Color Guards

Confederate Battle flags (left to right):

Kemper's Brigade, Pickett's Division, Longstreet's Corps 3rd Virginia - The 3rd VA from Kemper's brigade became intermingled with the 8th VA. The 3rd VA flag carried by Sgt. Robert A. Hutchins

Garnett's Brigade, Pickett's Division, Longstreet's Corps 8th Virginia - carried by Sgt. William O. Thomas 19th Virginia carried by Cpl William Black 28th Virginia carried by Color Sergeant Thomas C. Holland

Note: All of the original color guards were wounded or killed. The men listed above carried the flag at some point but may, or may not, have survived to reach the wall with the standards.

Federal flags (left to right):

Second Corps, Second Division - Brigadier General Alexander Webb 71st PA 69th PA Irish Regimental Flag 69th PA State Colors carried side by side with the Irish Reg. Flag The guns of Battery A, 4th US Artillery, Lt. Alonzo Cushing commanding

Source: “Never Desert the Old Flag”! - 50 Stories of Union Battle Flags and Color-Bearers at Gettysburg, and “This Flag Never Goes Down”! - 40 Stories of Confederate Battle Flags and Color Bearers at Gettysburg, both by Michael Dreese

Afterward, when ordered by General Lee to prepare his division to receive a counterattack, Pickett responded, "General Lee, I have no division now!"

From left to right: Captain Edward R. Baird (aide de camp); Major Gen. George E. Pickett; Robert A. Bright (aide de camp); Private (identity unknown); 1st Lieutenant William Stuart Symington (aide de camp).

Painting was commissioned by Mercersburg Academy for the 2002 Commemoration of the 140th Anniversary of J.E.B. Stuart's Raid through Mercersburg in October 1862.

Pictured here, left to right, are Major General James Ewell Brown Stuart, Captain James Breathed, Major John Pelham, and trooper Alexander Logan.

Having taken the town without a shot, Major General J.E.B. Stuart and Major John Pelham discuss the placement of two 12-pounders from the 1st Stuart Horse Artillery on Mercersburg's town square. Through his binoculars the battery's commander, Captain James Breathed, surveys the progress of the 1st North Carolina Cavalry north on Main Street. Behind Stuart are troopers carrying the flags of the Washington South Carolina Artillery and 1st Stuart Horse Artillery.

Pictured here, left to right is Lieutenant Richard Channing Price - Stuart's ADG, Colonel William E. "Grumble" Jones - 7th Virginia Cavalry, Major General James Ewell Brown Stuart - Cavalry Division Commander, and Colonel Williams C. Wickham - 4th Virginia Cavalry.

Preparing to leave Mercersburg, General J.E.B. Stuart and his staff discuss a detailed map taken from a Mercersburg resident. This map was invaluable and helped Stuart and his troopers to avoid the main roads where they were likely to encounter Federal cavalry, expeditiously sweep the area for horses, and target Federal buildings, ripe with supplies and currency. Behind Stuart, captured horses are crossing the stream as the 2nd South Carolina Cavalry rides out of town on their way to Chambersburg.

The bridge shown here no longer exists.

Failing to obtain the tribute, McCausland was instructed to burn the town and return to Virginia. Chambersburg was defended by only a small battery of artillery and some irregular troops, which were soon driven off. The Confederates force of over 1,000 cavalry composed of the 1st and 2nd Maryland and the 8th and 37th Virginia units easily took possession of the town.

Adjunct-General Henry Fitzhugh presented the few citizens in the "diamond" with the demands. The order to torch Chambersburg triggered objections from some Southern troops, most notably from Colonel W. E. Peters who refused to obey and was put under arrest for his defiance. McCausland personally handled the operation and, when the demands were not met, the destruction was begun in the center of town and fire consumed over 500 buildings.

When the fire was in full force, the command left the scene at which time a breakdown of military discipline ensued and disorder and looting prevailed. No civilian lives were lost, as the townspeople had evacuated to the nearby fields and hills outside the town. However, one straggling Confederate soldier was killed, having been caught by a group of angry residents with stolen property after the rest of the troops had left.

McCausland's troops left Chambersburg by midday and the brigades re-grouped on the high ground overlooking town. They then traveled via McConnellsburg toward Hancock, Maryland where they levied yet another ransom.

The horrors of the war had been brought to the North.

Battle Summary

Date: Dec.31 1862 Location: Henderson County, Tennessee Campaign: Forrest's West Tennessee Campaign of 1862 Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest CS, Brig. Gen. Jeremiah C. Sullivan US

Description of Battle

As Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest 's Expedition into West Tennessee neared it's conclusion, Union Brig. Gen Jeremiah C. Sullivan, with the brigades of Col. Cyrus L. Dunham and Col.John W. Fuller, attempted to cut Forrest off from withdrawing across the Tennessee River.

At daybreak, Col. Dunham marched his brigade from Clarksburg to Parker's Cross-Roads.
Like Dunham, Forrest held early reveille and led his men for Lexington by way of Parker's Cross-Roads.
Skirmishing began about 9:AM, with Forrest taking an initial position along a wooded ridge northwest of Dunham.

His Federals repelled frontal assaults until attacked on both flanks & the rear. Forrest sent Dunham a demand for surrender. Dunham refused and was preparing for Forrest's next attack when Fuller's Union brigade arrived from the north, and surprised the Confederates with an attack on their rear.

"Charge em both ways", ordered Forrest. The Confederates reversed fronts, repelled Fuller, then rushed past Dunham's demoralized force and withdrew south to Lexington and crossed the Tennessee River.

“The men fell like stalks of grain before the reaper, but still they closed the gaps and pressed forward through the pitiless storm . . . their field and company officers had fallen; color bearer after color bearer had been shot down, but still they never faltered.”

As the 53rd dashed toward “the Angle”, Robert Tyler Jones had possession of the colors. Despite being wounded in the arm, he continued onward. Realizing his men needed all the inspiration they could get to face the tempest of musketry fire, Armistead yelled over, "Run ahead Bob, and cheer them up!'"

Waving his flag triumphantly over his head, Jones leapt upon the wall. A bullet grazed his head and he fell faint from loss of blood.

The infantry in pursuit of Oliver O. Howard`s 11th Corps are from Brig. Gen Raleigh Colston`s and Brig. Gen Robert Rodes divisions.

Alongside are his field officers Major Alexander "Sandie " Pendelton AAG, Capt. James Powers Smith, and Joseph Graham Morrison.