[
62]
at this juncture,
Rodes, near the northern extremity of
Seminary Ridge, occupied the key-point of the entire field; and when, at about three o'clock in the afternoon,
Early had pressed
Barlow back, and there was a general advance of the
Confederates,
Rodes dashed through the weak center of the
National line, and, aided by an enfilading battery, threw into confusion the right of the First and the left of the Eleventh Corps.
Then the Nationals fell back in some confusion upon the village, in which they became entangled, when
Early, dashing forward, captured about three thousand men, chiefly of the Eleventh Corps.
The First Corps, whose left had been held firmly by
Doubleday, now fell back.
It brought away the artillery and ambulances from
Seminary Ridge, and took position on
Steinwehr's left and rear on
Cemetery Hill, while the Eleventh
|
Position of the Army of the Potomac, July 1. |
halted in its retreat on
Steinwehr's right and front.
Buford's cavalry had well covered the retreat, and when, toward sunset,
Ewell's corps quietly occupied
Gettysburg, and
Hill's lay on
Seminary Ridge, the sorely smitten Nationals were in a strong position on
Cemetery Hill, anxiously awaiting the arrival of re-enforcements from the scattered corps of the Army of the Potomac, then on the way. So ended, in the defeat of the Unionists, the severe engagement
preliminary to the great
battle of Gettysburg, for the cautious
Lee, ignorant of the number of the