July 1, 1863, had gone poorly for the Union army's XI Corps. Shattered
in battle north of the Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg, the battered and
embarrassed unit ended the day hunkered at the crest of a
cemetery-topped hill south of the village. Reinforcements fortified the
position, which extended eastward to include another key piece of high
ground, Culp's Hill. The Federal line also extended southward down
Cemetery Ridge, forming what eventually became a long fishhook.
July 2 saw a massive Confederate attack against the southernmost part of
the line. As the Southern juggernaut rolled inexorably northward,
Federal troops shifted away from Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill to meet
the threat. Just then, the Army of Northern Virginia's vaunted Second
Corps launched itself at the weakened Federal right. The very men who,
just the day before, broke the Union army resolved to break it once
again.
The ensuing struggle--every bit as desperate and with stakes every bit
as high as the more-famous fight at Little Round Top on the far end of
the line--left the entire Union position in the balance. "Stay and fight
it out," one Union general counseled.
Confederates were all too willing to oblige.
Authors Chris Mackowski, Kristopher D. White, and Daniel T. Davis
started their Gettysburg account in Don't Give an Inch: The Second Day
at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863--from Little Round Top to Cemetery Ridge.
Picking up on the heels of its companion volume, Stay and Fight It Out:
The Second Day at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863--Culp's Hill and the Northern
End of the Battlefield they recount the often-overlooked fight that
secured the Union position and set the stage for the battle's fateful
final day.
