Captain Robert A. Bright.
Statement as to where the General was during the Charge.—Why the attack failed.The following statement of what I saw and heard on the third day at Gettysburg was in the main written about thirty years ago, and was rewritten for publication in 1903, but the issue of it was prevented until now by an attack of gout, from which I suffered. I earnestly wish that it had come out before the death of my corps commander, the brave General Longstreet. Early in the morning Pickett's Virginians, forty-seven hundred muskets, with officers added, five thousand strong, moved from the camping ground of the second day, two miles in rear, to the battlefield, and took position behind the hill from which we charged later in the day. Then came the order from headquaaters: ‘Colonel E. P. Alexander will command the entire artillery in action to-day, and Brigadier-General Pendleton will have charge of the reserve artillery ammunition of the army.’ Later, General Pickett was informed from General Longstreet's headquarters that Colonel Alexander would give the order when the charge should begin. Several hours later the batteries on both sides opened. Had this occurred at night, it would have delighted the eye more than any fire works ever seen.
