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broke we began to see evidences of the battle in men along the roadside who had run away from the battlefield the day before; and reaching Littletown we saw a great many men wearing the crescent, the badge of the eleventh corps; and some wounded men had reached there from the field.
From them we learned of the battle, of the fearful loss of the First Corps, and the skedaddle of a part of the Eleventh, and the saying of one member of the corps, “I fights mit Siegel but runs mit Howard,” seems to have been verified in many instances on the first day at Gettysburg.
We were rushed and crowded along, no time was given us to prepare anything to eat, and raw pork and hardtack was our bill of fare that day. Many men became exhausted and dropped down from fatigue in spite of the energetic efforts of the officers to urge them on. Orders were given the officers to shoot stragglers, and every man was impressed with the seriousness of the situation.
As we approached Gettysburg the sound of artillery and musketry became more distinct, and from its weight and volume we knew a terrific combat was progressing.
The roadside and fields along our route were occupied by various trains of wagons.
Scattered along, there seemed to be a vast number of stragglers, and the wounded among them became thicker.
Crossing a considerable stream called Pipe Creek we shortly after filed off the Baltimore pike to the left and in sight of Cemetery Hill where we could see our batteries at work.
We moved over toward the left near Little Round Top and had a long rest.
(B.)
Not till its arrival at
Manchester did the men of the Sixth Corps learn of the change of the commander of the army, that
General Meade had superseded
General Hooker.
The change was a surprise to most of the men and created no little discussion,
