Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863
“...we take up the fighting in earnest. We charge in fan-like fashion, firing as we dash toward them. They pour volley after volley at us. Bullets are whizzing over our heads and shells are tearing by us.”
– Patrick Delacy, The Scranton Truth, July 1, 1913–50 years to the day after he fought at Gettysburg
Often called the turning point of the Civil War, Gettysburg was its bloodiest battle. For three days in Pennsylvania, Union and Confederate forces tested one another. The Union Army of the Potomac had yet to win its first major battle in the war’s eastern theater; the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had won nearly all of them all to date. The fate of the country hung in the balance.
Patrick DeLacy saw intense combat on the battle’s first day, and bore witness to the epic struggle of its last day in Pickett’s Charge.
To see video tours about DeLacy and the 143rd PA at all three days at Gettysburg, go HERE.