Brigadier General Warren's view from the most famous little hill in America
It is not often that an engineer determines the fate of a nation. Brigadier General Gouverneur K. Warren, Chief Engineer of the Army of the Potomac, did. At Gettysburg.
On November 8, 2024, I piloted the Itty Fit through the farms of Carroll County, MD and Adams County, PA. My cargo, my cousin Jeannie and Helen, watched silently as the Itty Fit, glided along the backroads and rolling hills.
Jeannie was visiting from Vicksburg, MS. Being a beautiful fall day (no jacket – just sunshine and sweatshirts) it was only natural to take the Vicksburgian to Gettysburg. A perfect symmetry – on July 4, 1863, General Robert E. Lee’s broken army limped from the carnage of Gettysburg back to Virginia and in Vicksburg Confederate General and Pennsylvanian John C Pemberton surrendered the starving town to General Ulysses S. Grant after a 47-day siege. The South had effectively lost the war on the nation’s birthday.
On the afternoon of July 2, 1863, General George C Meade told his staff officer and chief Engineer Warren:
“Warren! I hear a little peppering going on in the direction of the little hill off yonder… I wish you would ride over and if anything serious is going on… attend to it.”
We climbed that little hill, Little Round Top, and stumbled upon a guide explaining what happened that day 161 years ago.
"A little peppering" was Confederate soldiers marching toward an undefended Little Round Top – the Union left flank. Warren realized Little Round Top was “the key of the whole position” as it overlooked the entire Union Army.
Warren sent a courier to Meade requesting an additional division and appealed for a brigade from the nearby III Corp. Warren also rode down the hill to commandeer additional troops and came upon troops he previously commanded. He convinced their commander to change course and summit Little Round Top.
Warren's actions saved the hill, the battle, and possibly the war. Little Round Top became and remains “the most famous little hill in America.”
My cousin, descending Little Round Top commented in wonder, “Isn’t it amazing, if not for Warren, I might by living in a different country.”
Love your country and do not let anyone tell you one person cannot make a difference. Attend to it.
How about you? What will you attend to? Share a story.
2nd Helping
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