| Show VETERANS UNDER PICKETT gettysburg FIELD at the end of mama in place of wounds or prison or death were handshakes speeches and cheers gettysburg pa A handful of men in gray on thursday enacted reenacted re the charge of pickett across the field of gettysburg up the slope of cemetery ridge where death kept step with them in 63 some veterans of the virginia regiments of tbt tha immortal brigade made their slow parade under the brow of the ridge in the bloody angle where here the tle philadelphia brigade stood that day aas as a handful in blue scarcely larger malting to meet the onslaught of peace there were no flashing sabers no guns roaring with shell only eyes that dimmed last and kindly faces behind the stone wall that marks the angle at the end in place of wounds or prison or death were ere handshakes speeches and mingling cheers the veterans Net erans in gray marched for a quarter of a mile over mer the ground that they traversed during the charge they came up the slope slop in columns of fours irregular but res responsive to the commands of major W W bentley of the twenty fourth virginia one of the few officers of either picketts or the 16 e philadelphia brigade who was as pre present ahead of them marched a band and well down the column was a faded confederate flag its red field pierced with many holes its cross bars bar B dim and ita its shaft colored with the sweat of many a man who died that it might fly high in the last desperate effort to pierce the union lines its progress was as slow and painful for the timothy in the field surface was not easy for world weary earv feet up to the very edge a stone wall nall covered now wita tangled vines shaded by trees and peaceful as a summer lane they marched in the hot sun while the band played dixie there they stood for half an hour while their tom comrades rades in blue peered across at them the blue line formed behind the walls nalls over thir heads floated a faded standard of the second aminy corps behind them were ere the statues of the philadelphia brigade and tho the fourth united states army battery where general armistead died in the midst of tho the guns killed the history histories es say by a shot fired by the dying dyl ng corn mander gushing cushing tho the blue formed a long line facing the wall the stars and bars and the flag of ane second army crops were crossed in ar amity anity the stars and stripes were unfurled and the crowd that came to watch burst into a cheer representative J moore of pennsylvania made a long speech and major bentley answered him on bhala 0 of f the south the veterans 10 in gray were given medals provided by john wanamaker they crowded over the stone wall shook hands and the chargo was aas oyer there a q many picturesque figures in the line th that a t camo came up tho the slope W H turpin of the fifty third vir gatila appeared in the uniform ho he wore on the day of the charge ills feet w were ere bound in ho he had an army blanket strapped to his back and he calmly smoked a longster amed cob pipe |
