#Special thanks to techbro for letting me depict his OCs as rebels

[roosterarts]

Battle of Gettysburg - Day 2

July 2

4:30 PM

The Texas Brigade Attacks Devil's Den

The artillery bombardment has just ended. The attack was about to begin. As they waited, their division commander road by them and, in a loud voice, said: "Fix bayonets, my brave Texans! Forward and take those heights!" With that, the Texas Brigade cheered and prepared to launch their attack.

On July 2 General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, found himself facing an enemy dug in a strong position. The Union Army of the Potomac were occupying the high ground and Lee wanted to dislodge them. Despite complaints from his trusted officer, Lieutenant General James Longstreet, who wanted to march the army away to a place where the Union would be attacking them instead of the other way around, Lee decided to plan for an attack.

His plan was a two-pronged attack. Up on the north, against the Union's right flank, the Confederate Second Corps was to attack Culp's Hill. However, this was to only be a diversionary attack, as the main assault would come further south. Targeted against the Union's left flank, the Confederate First Corps was to strike the Union forces at Cemetery Ridge, where the Confederates believed the Union left flank was.

However, they were wrong. In reality, the Union left flank extended further south from Cemetery Ridge. Occupying positions from Cemetery Ridge down to the base of the Little Round Top Hills, the Union III Corps held their ground. If the Confederates went through with their original plan, the Confederate First Corps' right flank would have been enfiladed by fire from III Corps as they moved against Cemetery Ridge.

But nothing went according to plan that day.

Having difficulty navigating through unfamiliar terrain, while also trying to remain undetected, the Confederate First Corps didn't get into position until 3:15 in the afternoon. But by that time, the Union positions had changed.

Major General Daniel Sickles, commander of the Union III Corps, saw some high ground in front of his corps. Fearing that Confederate forces would place artillery there to shell his positions, and remembering a similar incident that occured to him a few months ago during the Battle of Chancellorsville, Sickles decided to take it.

At 2:00 in the afternoon, despite being told by General Meade to hold his ground, Sickles advanced his corps and occupied pieces of terrain that are now known as the Peach Orchard, the Wheatfield, and Devil's Den. However, despite now holding higher ground, Sickles' move is often considered as a blunder. By moving forward and ahead of the main line of defense, Sickles not only created a gap between his corps and the neighboring II Corps, which was on their right flank at Cemetery Ridge, but he also exposed the Union left, leaving it open to attack.

Such an attack came at 4:00 in the afternoon, when Confederate forces, who have adjusted to the new tactical situation and deployed appropriately, began bombarding III Corps' positions with artillery fire. For thirty minutes the men of III Corps were subjected to an intense bombardment. Then, at 4:30 in the afternoon the Confederates attacked.

Stepping up first, General Hood's Division divided into two assaulting forces. Brigadier General Robertson's Texas Brigade was to attack Devil's Den, while Law's Alabama Birgade was to head for the Round Top Hills. However, due to the terrible rocky terrain, the two assaulting forces got mixed up. Some Texan Regiments from Robertson's Brigade ended up heading towards the Round Top Hills, while some Alabama Regiments from Law's Brigade went to Devil's Den. Despite this, the regiments heading for Devil's Den struck the Union line hard.

More rocky and confined terrain awaited the Confederates at Devil's Den. Despite this, they pushed on and engaged Ward's Union Brigade that defended the position. The fight was tough and intense, but eventually the Texans and Alabamians managed to push out the Union troops from Devil's Den.

However, the capture of Devil's Den could not be fully exploited, as General Hood was injured and taken out of action early in the fight, while his division's scattered brigades were too far from one another to coordinate further assaults.

At 5:10 in the evening, as one portion of Hood's Division secure Devil's Den, the other half was fighting an intense and difficult battle at Little Round Top.

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Featuring Kayla from @techbro-arts and @duran301 as members of the 1st Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment, as they fight their way through the boulders at Devil's Den. Kayla is a color-bearer and is carrying a flag that I don't think I'm allowed to post here, even for historical purposes. So, for anyone who wants to see the full image, message me on Discord.