Berdan's Sharpshooters-Second Day at Gettysburg

The three-day battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1863 began as a day of nearly unrelieved defeat for the Union forces but ended as a decisive victory for the Federal Army. In this northernmost battle of the Civil War, General Lee hoped for a Confederate victory like the one at Fredericksburg in December 1862, where he had defeated the Union troops with just half his army.

On the second day at Gettysburg, Union troops formed their line along Cemetary Ridge and south to the Round Tops. Part of the troops worked their way into a peach orchard and wheat field between the opposing forces. When the Confederate General James Longstreet ordered an attack about 4 p.m., his forces drove the Union troops from the orchard and the field and through a rocky gully called Devil's Den. Although the Confederates attacked with crushing fury, they never took Cemetary Ridge or the Round Tops.

The Union victory at Gettysburg was one of the turning points of the Civil War. Shown here, on the second day of the battle, is the New York Regiment of Berdan's Sharpshooters, dressed in their distinctive green uniforms, little cloth caps and canvas leggings. The Sharpshooters firing on the Confederate troops under General Longstreet, are using breech-loading rifles - the first time these rifles were used in battle. To their right, also under cover, supporting troops fire the conventional muzzle loaders.