From these rocks of
Round Top, as seen from
Little Round Top, echoed the cannonading at
Gettysburg—the heaviest ever heard on this continent, and seldom equaled anywhere.
For two miles the
Confederate line was planted thick with cannon.
General Hancock's official account gives a clear notion of this part of the battle:
From 11 A. M. until 1 P. M. there was an ominous stillness.
About 1 o'clock, apparently by a given signal, the enemy opened upon our front with the heaviest artillery fire I have ever known.
Their guns were in position at an average distance of about 1,400 yards from my line, and ran in a semicircle from the town of Gettysburg to a point opposite Round Top Mountain.
Their number is variously estimated at from one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and fifty.
The air was filled with projectiles, there being scarcely an instant but that several were seen bursting at once.
No irregularity of ground afforded much protection, and the plain in rear of the line of battle was soon swept of everything movable.
The infantry troops maintained their position with great steadiness, covering themselves as best they might by the temporary but trifling defenses they had erected and the accidents of the ground.
Scarcely a straggler was seen, but all waited the cessation of the fierce cannonade, knowing well what it foreshadowed.
The artillery of the corps, imperfectly supplied with ammunition, replied to the enemy most gallantly, maintaining the unequal contest in a manner that reflected the highest honor on this arm.
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After the battle—round top, Southern end of the Federal line |
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