3 juli 1863: Pickett's Charge

Den tredje juli år 1863 var en het och kvalmig dag i Gettysburg. Nordstatsarmén hade förskansat sig väl borta vid Cemetary Ridge och hade sett till att få en fördelaktig position på "the highground". Cirka två kilometer bort, i en skogsdunge väntade Robert Lees alla brigader på marschorder. Man svettades i hettan och en del soldater fördrev tiden med att kasta äppelkart på varandra. Omrking middagstid började plötsligt platsen genljuda av en "feu d'enfer". Det var Porter Alexanders artilleri som satte igång- det var öronbedövande. Målet var Cemetary Ridge och männen i de mörkblå uniformerna.

General George Pickett (Sydstaterna)

Klockan två på eftermiddagen cirka- satte så tusentals soldater igång att marschera framåt - framåt mot det som skulle komma att bli en omedelbar död för alltför många av dem. I spetsen tågade General George Pickett- den man som Robert Lee valt ut att leda attacken. Kaos och förvirring utbröt ganska snart och det dröjde inte länge förrän Lee förstod att detta skulle bli en ren masslakt av män. Katastrofen var ett faktum. "It's all my fault", sa Lee.  I skydd av nattens mörker tågade den sargade sydstatsarmén tillbaka in på eget territorium och den skulle aldrig mera sätta fot på nordstatsområde.

Kriget kom dock att vara i nära två år till.

For every southern boy fourteen years old, not once but whenever he wants it, there is the instant when it's still not yet two o'clock on that July afternoon in 1863, the brigades are in position behind the rail fence, the guns are laid and ready in the woods and the furled flags are already loosened to break out and Pickett himself with his long oiled ringlets and his hat in one hand probably and his sword in the other looking up the hill waiting for Longstreet to give the word and it's all in the balance, it hasn't happened yet, it hasn't even begun yet, it not only hasn't begun yet but there is still time for it not to begin against that position and those circumstances which made more men than Garnett and Kemper and Armistead and Wilcox look grave yet it's going to begin, we all know that, we have come too far with too much at stake and that moment doesn't need even a fourteen-year old boy to think This time. Maybe this time with all this much to lose than all this much to gain: Pennsylvania, Maryland, the world, the golden dome of Washington itself to crown with desperate and unbelievable victory the desperate gamble, the cast made two years ago.

Från Intruder in the Dust av William Faulkner

Året var 1863

---- "And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

 And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. "

 

Den första januari år 1863 tillkännagav Abraham Lincoln sin "Proclamation of Emancipation"- han bestämde att alla slavar skulle från och med nu vara fria.

 

I dagarna har filmen "Lincoln" premiär på många svenska biografer och i den ska mycket av handlingen kretsa kring Lincolns arbete med emancipationsproklamationen.

 

 

 1863 kom för övrigt att bli ett år fyllt av dramatiska händelser i USA. Under tre dagar i juli kämpade de båda arméerna (konfederationen och unionen) på ett slagfält (i Pennsylvania) som sedan skulle gå till historien som ett av de allra mest blodbestänkta- Gettysburg.

 

Stormningen av Fort Wagner

 

Robert Gould Shaw

 

Några dagar senare stormade 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Fort Wagner i South Carolina. "54:e" var ett av de första regementena med enbart afro-amerikanska soldater- överste Robert Gould Shaw ledde attacken och han stupade tillsammans med hundratals andra. General Johnson Hagood från konfederationen vägrade att återlämna Goulds kropp till föräldrarna och sa: "had he been in command of white troops, I should have given him an honorable burial; as it is, I shall bury him in the common trench with the negroes that fell with him."

 

 

"We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers....We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company. " Det blev svaret från Robert Gould Shaws far- Frank Shaw.

 

 

 

Sergeant William Harvey Carney tilldelades Medal of Honor för sina insatser vid Fort Wagner.

 

'Twas the Blue against the Gray, Boys,

And he said to all around,

"I've only done my duty boys,

The old Flag never touch'd the ground.

"I've only done my duty boys,"

He said to all around,

"I've only done my duty boys,

It never touched the ground.

 

"As our forces retire, Sergeant Carney, who has kept the colors of his regiment flying upon the parapet of Wagner during the entire conflict, is seen creeping along on one knee, still holding up the flag, and only yielding its sacred trust upon finding an officer of his regiment. As he enter the field-hospital, where his wounded comrades are being brought in, they cheer him and the colors. Though nearly exhausted with the loss of blood, he says, "Boys, the old flag never touched the ground."