![]() It was evident not only to Hill but also to Longstreet that 33-year-old Rodes was a competent and effective leader. Daniel Harvey Hill, his division commander, in his battle report. “Rodes’ men were badly cut up,” wrote Maj. He stoically remained in command until the battle was over, at which time he relinquished command to Colonel John Gordon of the 6th Alabama. As he did so, a bullet struck his lower right arm. James Kemper, who had arrived with reinforcements, to show the Virginia brigadier where to insert his regiments. Late in the battle Rodes rode toward the front with Brig. In the third charge, his exhausted men suffered heavy losses. The first charge was part of the general assault to clear Casey’s Redoubt, the second charge occurred against a reformed Yankee line 150 yards in the rear of the redoubt, and the third charge was made against Yankees who had withdrawn into a tract of woods. Rodes’ men impressively charged the Union lines three times that day, helping spearhead the attack of Maj. Standing six feet tall, with a lean frame and gleaming eyes, he would prove every bit the warrior in his baptism of fire at Seven Pines on May 31, 1862. The popular brigadier cut an impressive figure on the battlefield. In the aftermath of the battle, promotions were coming fast and furious, and when Ewell was promoted to division command, Rodes received a promotion to brigadier on October 21. Ewell’s brigade and were deployed on the army’s unengaged right flank where they saw no action. The regiment was sent to Virginia in time for the Battle of First Manassas, July 21, 1861. He had the good fortune on May 11 to receive a commission as the regiment’s colonel. At the outbreak of the war in April 1861, he raised a volunteer company in his adopted state that became part of the 5th Alabama Infantry. In 1856 he accepted a job offer from an Alabama railroad where he eventually rose to chief engineer. After his tenure, he came to be a railroad engineer, building railroads in Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, and Missouri. Upon graduation, Rodes became an assistant at VMI. He rose to the rank of lieutenant and graduated 10th in a class of 24. At 16 he entered the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and graduated three years later. He was born March 29, 1829, in Lynchburg, Virginia. While Iverson bears the brunt of the blame for the destruction of his brigade, Rodes also shares in a portion of it. Robert Rodes’ division, had advanced into the devastating ambush owing to a number of factors, including poor leadership, faulty reconnaissance, and an absence of skirmishers to forewarn the main body of threats. The Tarheels of Iverson’s brigade, which was a part of Maj. The episode occurred on July 1, 1863, the first of three days of fighting at Gettysburg. After the Union soldiers rounded up the prisoners, the dead lay behind in a straight line in grim testimony to the failed assault. The pinned-down Rebels eventually began waving their shoes and hats on bayonets to signal their desire to surrender. The Yankees continued to pour fire on them as they hugged the ground. But the survivors of the other three Tarheel regiments went to ground in a depression that gave them scant protection. ![]() The Union musketry decimated the brigade’s left three regiments.ĭue to the surface configuration of the field, the right regiment was left largely untouched. The Confederates had unwittingly walked into a trap. From behind a rock wall 80 yards in front of them, a brigade of Union soldiers suddenly rose up and fired a crashing volley. They were marching toward the enemy but could see no sign of the Yankees except for some skirmishers, who quickly vacated their position. The field had not been reconnoitered, and no skirmishers had been deployed to their front. Their commanding officer stayed in the rear, so they were on their own. Alfred Iverson’s North Carolina brigade, four regiments strong, marched forward as if on parade, their rifles at the right shoulder, as they went into battle on the first day at Gettysburg.
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