Narrator: July 1863.
After crushing union forces in Virginia,
rebel general Robert e. Lee
has led 72,000 troops north into Pennsylvania.
By striking at the heart of the union,
he hopes to force the Yankees
in to finally recognizing southern sovereignty.
They're coming up to win, and not just to win a battle,
but to win their independence.
Narrator: As almost 100,000 Yankees are thrown into the fight
to stop the invasion... Charge!
A rebel colonel will descend on a critical mission
that could win the battle and maybe the war.
Adelman: He's a great soldier.
And he will plow forward with his men and unleash
one of the most ferocious attacks.
Narrator: In his way, 50 of the union's best-trained sharpshooters.
Motts: They were elite.
And these sharpshooters, being as accurate as they were,
could do a tremendous amount of damage.
If the confederates win this victory,
that's checkmate.
Narrator: The fate of the nation is about to be decided
on a hilltop near a town called gettysburg.
Captions by vitac... www.Vitac.Com
captions paid for by discovery communications
[ mortar whistles ]
[ People coughing ]
[ Gunshots in distance ]
[ Groaning ]
John.
I gotcha. [ Groaning ]
[ Coughing ]
John!
Narrator: 29-year-old William oates
serves as a colonel with the confederate army.
After enlisting as a captain in 1861,
he quickly Rose through the ranks
and now leads the 15th Alabama infantry.
Motts: William Calvin oates is really a very interesting character.
We know that his early life, uh, in southeast Alabama,
where he was from, was pretty rough,
pretty hard scrabble.
Atkinson: He was just a man that... that resolves issues.
If it can't be resolved, then he's gonna resolve it with,
you know, thunder and lightning over here.
Narrator: Oates and his men are part of the daring plan
confederate general Robert e. Lee
has created to finally win the civil war.
The southern people are outnumbered.
They don't have as many resources.
They don't have as many men.
They don't have as many cannons.
They don't have as many guns.
The longer the war continues,
the bigger the advantage to the north.
Robert e. Lee doesn't feel that the south can win the civil war
by simply defending a massive amount of territory.
Bold strokes are necessary.
Narrator: Following the stunning rebel victories in fredericksburg
and then chancellorsville,
Lee strikes and invades the north.
Alongside a 72,000-man army,
he pushes deep into Maryland,
then Pennsylvania.
Adelman: He wants to win a major battle up here in the north
and possibly end the civil war right in the summer of 1863.
Atkinson: From a political standpoint,
he wants to win a victory on northern soil
that will put pressure on the Lincoln administration
to sue for peace.
Narrator: But it's a dangerous move.
Outnumbered and outgunned by larger union forces,
Lee hopes something else will level the playing field.
The ferocious fighting spirit of men like oates
and his 15th Alabama infantry.
Atkinson: Now, oates felt that he had the best regiment
in the entire army.
The Alabama boys felt that they could win any match.
Adelman: This is a tough lot. They're gamblers.
They're drinkers when they could.
And, man, on the battlefield,
they were shockingly good troops.
Narrator: The regiment is made up of almost
500 battle-tested veterans,
including William oates' little brother, John.
[ Coughing ]
John, what are you doin' out here?
I couldn't sleep.
You don't look so good, man.
It's them damn yankee cherries.
I'm fine.
It ain't the cherries.
You've been runnin' a fever for 2 days.
Tomorrow's gonna be another hot one.
I think you should ride.
Had that damn dream again, didn't you?
It don't mean a damn thing.
And I ain't ridin' tomorrow.
I'll walk like every other man.
Remind me how you got to be so damned stubborn.
I guess it runs in the family, colonel.
Atkinson: John oates was in fragile health.
It had been a hard march on him.
And William was constantly looking out for John.
[ Coughing ]
Narrator: 85 miles away, in Washington, D.C.,
president Abraham Lincoln faces
one of the most difficult moments of his presidency.
Adelman: Abraham Lincoln is basically
trying to keep the country together at this point.
If things don't start going better for the union,
it's going to be pretty clear that Abraham Lincoln
is going to lose that next election.
It will turn out that next election
will be against a platform that wants to sue for peace.
This country will absolutely split in two
if Abraham Lincoln loses the election of 1864.
He's got a lot at stake.
I mean, how would you like to be known as the president
who lost the country?
Narrator: Lincoln still believes the north can win.
But to do that, they must first find Lee's army.
Having learned that the rebels have gone north,
100,000 union troops have left Virginia
and now scour Maryland and Pennsylvania,
desperate to catch Lee's hard-marching men.
Among them is union soldier Wyman white.
Born in New Hampshire,
he serves with the berdan sharpshooters.
Formed by hiram berdan, a champion marksman,
the unit was composed of the best sharpshooters
in the country.
They are trained over
and above the average union soldier.
In other words, they are elite.
Narrator: Placed far in front of the union line,
they were used to stall rebel attacks
and to gather intelligence.
The men of perdan sharpshooters wore all-green uniforms.
They also had special goodyear rubber buttons.
These were buttons that did not glisten in the sunlight.
Berdan sharpshooters' men are clothed to conceal them.
And never before, really, in American military history
had that been done.
Narrator: To join this elite unit,
men like Wyman white must pass
an incredibly difficult test.
Motts: The rifle test is pretty significant.
You had to be able to fire 10 consecutive shots
into a target at 200 yards.
And the distance between the center of the bull's-eye
to the center of the bullet that you fired
could not average more than 5 inches.
So basically what that means
is you had to fire in a target
about the size of a dinner plate,
two football fields of distance.
Narrator: White's grandfather fought in the American revolution.
And now he's determined to defend the nation
his grandfather helped create.
Since joining the sharpshooters,
white's been in several battles.
And now he's in southern Pennsylvania,
hunting the rebel army.
But finding them isn't easy.
Since entering the north,
the rebels have been almost constantly on the move.
Elements of both armies
are now just dozens of miles apart.
As night falls, oates' men are encamped
just 25 miles west of Wyman white.
Left to guard the rear of the rebel force,
they have orders to catch up with the rest
of the army in the morning,
now just a day's march to the east.
There it is, boys. There. That's right.
But despite the miles of marching,
morale among the vets remains high.
Next, I want that hat. It'll look good on me.
Atkinson: The confederate soldiers came into Pennsylvania,
wholeheartedly with the expectation
that this would be the end of the war.
Ha-ha, yeah.
They were lighthearted.
They were glad to be in the north.
They were eating well.
They had a quarterback in Robert e. Lee
that they felt, uh,
could guide them to any victory.
And all they needed was a chance to do that.
Narrator: While much seems to be going well for Robert e. Lee,
his invasion is facing one major problem.
He hasn't heard from his cavalry in several days.
Cavalry are the eyes and ears of the army.
They are the whiskers on a cat, if you will.
It leaves Lee blindfolded.
He is groping in the darkness.
And he does not know where the union army is.
Narrator: Lee doesn't want to engage enemy troops
until his cavalry returns.
But it's not to be.
On July 1st, elements of his army bump
into a group of union cavalry on the outskirts
of a small Pennsylvania town called gettysburg.
[ Battlefield noises ]
What begins as a minor scrap quickly spirals
into a massive battle.
As word of the clash spreads,
union scouts watch for rebel troop movements.
Where you headed?
You see any Johnny rebels out there?
They as ugly as I remember:
Red eyes, fangs?
How many? A lot?
Run along now, son.
Narrator: Just miles away, a fight is brewing that
will determine the fate of the nation.
Hey, kid.
What's the name of that town up there?
Gettysburg.
Never heard of it.
And Wyman white is about
to play a key role in its outcome.
Narrator: Confederate colonel William oates
and the men of his 15th Alabama
have been on the move for almost 9 hours.
During the night, they learned that
a fight had broken out near gettysburg.
And at 4 A.M.,
they began the 25-miles march to the battlefield.
Adelman: And it's a hot day.
It's the second-hottest day of the whole summer.
These guys wear wool uniforms.
They had stayed up all night.
And very few of them
had any water left in their canteens.
Narrator: Despite the conditions,
the men are in high spirits.
I'll Grant it that the union has a lot of troops.
But there's one key thing that they seem to be missin'.
And what's that?
Men.
And besides, it's clear the good lord
is marchin' with us.
Fourth of July is two days away.
You think that's a coincidence?
Adelman: They're coming up into Pennsylvania to win,
and not just to win a battle but to win their independence.
And many of them think this is possible.
They're in enemy territory.
They had beat a larger army time and time again.
And at the end of this march, some of them,
many of them can see the end of the civil war.
They have no idea that general Robert e. Lee
has picked them to play a key role in the battle.
As day two of the fighting begins,
union forces have been driven from gettysburg and now
cling to a Ridge south of town.
They have the union army on the run.
And Robert e. Lee is ready to end this thing right now.
Narrator: He's come up with a bold plan to deliver the knockout blow.
Lee's plan is to flank the union army.
For some reason, the union army
can never guard their flanks.
Adelman: The end of your line is called your flank.
And if an enemy arrives on your flank,
it's called being flanked.
Your enemy can shoot all the way down your line.
They can't miss. If they don't hit this person,
they'll hit him or him or him.
And if you are being flanked like these guys are right here,
um, you have two simple choices:
Run away or get shot.
Narrator: With their backs to the wall,
the union has sent out some of their best troops
to protect their lines.
Wyman white and the second us sharpshooters
now control the ground
in front of the union's left flank.
Motts: The sharpshooters get orders
to move to the extreme left of the union army line.
And what's the purpose of that?
To cover the left of that line.
If the enemy appears,
they're gonna be really what you
and I would call the first line of defense.
You think they'll come up the road?
No. I wouldn't.
Narrator: Armed with a revolutionary weapon,
even small numbers of sharpshooters
can inflict massive damage.
Motts: These weapons that berdan sharpshooters carried,
the sharps rifle, was a breech-shielding weapon.
It loads from the rear.
And one of the advantages of this is you could
fire many rounds a minute compared to a regular
Springfield rifle musket or Enfield rifle musket.
Narrator: By mid-afternoon, rebel colonel William oates
and his men reach the edge of the battlefield.
Oates soon learns of the key role his troops
are to play in Lee's plan to win the battle.
His orders are to find the end of the union line
and to turn the union left flank
and to do as much damage as he can.
[ Indistinct chatter ]
Narrator: As the exhausted men try to catch their breath
before the fight,
a detail is sent out to find water.
[ Mortar whistles ]
-Rally, rally, rally! Rally!
- Rally, rally! - Rally, rally, rally!
Narrator: Before it returns,
the position is pounded by union artillery.
Oates and his men must flee and begin their mission
to find and destroy the union army's left flank.
Wyman white and the second us sharpshooters
have now arrived at slyder farm.
It's a large property that lies to the southwest
of the union's left flank.
It's also now just 1 mile to the east of colonel oates
and the men of the 15th Alabama.
It's awful quiet.
Let's go over there.
They have no idea that colonel oates
and hundreds of the south's toughest soldiers
are now heading right for them.
Atkinson: The sharpshooters' presence around the slyder farm
speaks to the fact that the union army
is not expectin' an attack in that area.
Otherwise, they would have had a larger body of men.
But their sharpshooters are kind of like a thin screen,
if you will.
How many do you think we could hold off?
Well, we got 60 guys, 50 shots each.
That's about 3,000 rounds.
That's a lot of dead crackas.
If we don't miss.
Now, don't you read the papers?
We're berdan sharpshooters. We never miss.
Well, what if it's more, like the kid said?
Then we pull back to those woods,
and we make 'em pay for every damn yard.
I hope you're right.
Narrator: William oates and his brother, John,
are now just 1/2 mile west of slyder farm.
What do ya think?
They're definitely out there.
There's more than a few skirmishers.
[ Coughs, clears throat ]
You sure you're up to it?
I ever say different?
All right.
Tell your captain to take your company and two others.
Hem around from the south Ridge. Just keep your head down.
All right? Go on.
Alabama, on your feet!
Forward!
[ Gun cocks ]
Narrator: The fight that will forever change the course
of the civil war is about to begin.
And Wyman white will be at the heart of it.
Here they come.
It's the whole damn rebel army.
Narrator: Near the town of gettysburg,
the battle that will determine the fate of the nation
has entered its second day of carnage.
And as 165,000 men clash just miles to the north,
rebel colonel William oates leads a mission
to find and flank the union army.
They're comin'.
Hold on, Edwin.
All that now stands before the large rebel force
is Wyman white and several dozen union sharpshooters.
If the rebel attack succeeds,
they may win the battle of gettysburg and the civil war.
They're comin' fast.
[ Gun cocks ]
I just can't imagine what's goin' through Wyman white's mind
when he looks up in front of him,
and thousands of people are heading to you.
And the only protection you've got are your friends armed
right there next to ya. And that's it.
Almost there.
Charge!
[ Men screaming ]
Motts: The confederates feel that they're facing
the main line of union resistance here.
Why? Because they're putting up a lot of firepower.
Not only are they putting up a lot of firepower,
but once again, it's accurate.
They hung out there, uh, 'til the last minute.
Fall back.
They were almost crowded in by bayonets
before they left and decided
to withdraw off of that position.
So the confederates were right on top of them.
Narrator: As the rebels storm the farm, white
and his fellow sharpshooters have only one chance:
Sprint for the cover of big round top,
a thickly forested hill that stands
just behind their position.
[ Gunshots ]
[ Men screaming ]
Ah!
Get up. Get up. What? What?
Get up! They're comin'.
[ Men screaming ]
The fighting that breaks out in the woods of big round top,
I don't think a lot of people know about.
[ Gunshots ]
Narrator: Pursued by hundreds of enraged rebels,
white and the other sharpshooters scramble up
the steep slopes of the hill.
[ Grunting ]
But despite being outnumbered
almost 10 to 1,
white has no intention of running.
Motts: When the sharpshooters decide to retire,
let's remember they're retiring to the next place of defense.
Then they're firing until the confederate line advances
to the point where they're at.
Then they go back to their next point
that they think is defendable that they can find
and then fire again.
They're putting up a volume of fire that oates
and the 15th Alabama can not ignore.
Narrator: As an endless wave of rebels close in on their position,
white can't hold them any longer.
Let's go.
As the union's first line of defense,
white and his fellow sharpshooters
must now try to find the federal army
and warn them of the coming attack.
If oates gets behind them, the entire yankee line
will be in hell.
Narrator: 72,000 of the south's toughest troops
have invaded the north in a bold attempt
to finally end the civil war.
A desperate fight to drive them back
has now broken out near the town of gettysburg.
In hopes of winning the battle,
rebel colonel William oates
has been ordered to find and destroy the left flank
of the union army.
After a bloody clash with yankee sharpshooters,
he's taken the summit of big round top,
a large hill that lies to the south of the union mine.
Once there, he's reunited with his little brother, John.
William.
Told you I wouldn't miss the fight.
Glad to see ya.
All right. Come here.
I'll show you what I'm thinkin', okay?
We got this whole Ridge line
that runs right across here, okay?
Adelman: William c. Oates, in command of his own regiment,
gets on top of big round top.
And he can see the... All the hills below him
and see that he's on the high point.
He wanted to fortify big round top and stay there.
And I don't blame him.
He said that he could convert big round top into a Gibraltar
that he could hold against 10 times
the number of men he had.
- Colonel oates. - Made it over on this side.
-Colonel oats, sir. [ Panting ]
Orders from general law:
You're to abandon this position immediately
and find the enemy flank.
Sir.
Atkinson: He was probably very angry.
But once oates sets his mind to something,
he's going to do it.
That's what he's done his entire life.
And so he is gonna push that attack very aggressively.
He will get his men moving. He will find the enemy.
And he will try to destroy them.
Narrator: Oates will now lead his men towards little round top,
a smaller hill located 1/2 mile to the north.
There, rebel generals believe oates
can get behind the left flank of the union army
and win the battle of gettysburg.
But oates isn't the only one looking for the union flank.
A half mile away,
union sharpshooter Wyman white
is struggling up the face of little round top.
Go.
The sharpshooters that were at the base
of big round top, including Wyman white,
when they leave their positions,
they're going to go back to try to find
where the union line is located.
And they don't know where the union line is located.
Narrator: White's desperate to find the union troops.
Come on. Keep it goin', chaldwig.
Come on. Okay.
He has no idea if his superiors realize
that 2,000 of the south's toughest men are racing
toward the union flank.
Around this rock. Go.
White.
Where are they? I don't see anything.
White! Below them.
[ Gunshots ]
White, where are they?
There.
Hold your fire!
[ Gunshots continue ]
Hold your damn fire!
We're union men.
We're comin' up.
[ Men screaming, gunshots ]
White's found elements of several union regiments.
After union commanders finally learned of the rebel clan,
they were rushed to position just minutes ago.
William oates has finally found
the left flank of the union army.
If he can beat it and take the high ground,
the rebels have a good chance of winning the battle.
Adelman: He is a great soldier.
And he will plow forward with his men
and unleash one of the most ferocious attacks at gettysburg.
Narrator: The fight that will forever change the course
of the civil war is about to begin.
If the confederates get possession
of little round top, in my mind,
that's pretty much a deal breaker.
You're gonna get control of the road
that's behind, uh, little round top.
You're gonna be able to put artillery
and fire up the union line.
Adelman: The confederates are worn out.
They are hungry, tired, thirsty.
But what confederates have going for them
is that the 15th Alabama is a particularly dogged unit.
These guys are experienced.
They've been in more than 15 battles already.
And they had made the union flee at most of them.
[ Men screaming ]
Here they come.
The fight for little round top is a particularly savage fight.
You have the confederates launching,
depending on who you listen to, two, three, four,
five charges against the union.
Narrator: But each time, they are driven back
by Wyman white and the union troops.
Motts: Wyman white and the second United States sharpshooters
really have a front-row seat to that major engagement.
And because they're specially armed,
because they can put up a lot of rifle fire
and put it up accurately, they're gonna make a dent
in this confederate advance.
I want you to take your men over that Ridge and up there.
Adelman: William c. Oates, during this fight,
was right where he should be.
He is up with his regimen.
Atkinson: Oates always led from the front.
In other words, he would never send his men
where he was unwilling to go.
It becomes like a horror movie.
You can hear the cries
and the screams of the wounded men.
Narrator: As the ground is soaked with rebel blood,
the 15th claws its way up the hill.
The line holds for now.
But it could fall at any moment.
If it does, and oates gets behind the yankee army,
the battle of gettysburg is all but over.
[ Battlefield noises ]
Narrator: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
The largest battle of the civil war
has entered its 35th hour.
The fighting has already claimed almost 25,000 casualties.
To win the battle,
rebel colonel William oates
has been sent on mission to flank the union line.
To succeed, he must now push union sharpshooter
Wyman white and hundreds of yankee soldiers
off the summit of little round top.
Atkinson: It really gets to the point,
after several charges had taken place,
as to who is going to have the last man standing.
Both sides are running out of ammunition.
Both sides are running out of men.
Uh, and both sides are...
Are at the end of their rope.
Narrator: Further down the slope,
William oates steels his men for one last charge.
Forward! [ Men cheer ]
Narrator: He's convinced the union line is about to crack.
I'm out. You?
As ammunition begins to run low,
Wyman white wonders if the line can hold back one more attack.
[ Men screaming ]
Here they come.
Look there.
Incredibly, a union regimen
fighting to the left of Wyman white
has stormed down little round top
and charged the rebels.
[ Men screaming ]
Adelman: With confederate soldiers just strewn about everywhere
and seeing the futility of further attacks,
he was ultimately convinced
that he had to order that retreat.
And he ordered it with the greatest amount of reluctance.
- Retreat! - Let's get out of here.
[ Men screaming ]
Hands up!
[ Indistinct chatter ]
They're runnin'. My god, they're runnin'.
[ Cheering ]
Narrator: Oates flees with the shattered remains
of the 15th Alabama.
Almost 40% of his regiment have been killed or wounded
on the bloody slopes of little round top.
Among the fallen is his younger brother, John.
[ Men screaming, gunshots ]
Atkinson: William had always looked after John.
I think it was one of the worst experiences
in William oates' life,
the day he had to leave his brother
behind on that battlefield.
I can't imagine the pain which that caused him.
Narrator: The next day, after one more attempt
to break the union line fails,
general Lee calls off the invasion of the north.
In 3 days of fighting,
almost 25,000 of his men have been killed or wounded.
Oates and the rest of the army
must limp back to Virginia,
dreaming of what could have been.
Atkinson: The confederate army enters Pennsylvania
with the highest morale
probably of any army in history,
expecting victory.
They march out of Pennsylvania very despondent,
saddened by all the losses that they've incurred
and the battle which they had just...
That they have just...
Was that close to winning that day.
Um...
What if?
[ Telegram whirring ]
Narrator: In Washington, D.C., an anxious Abraham Lincoln
finally receives a telegram from the gettysburg battlefield.
He learns that union forces have tangled with the best
the rebels could muster and won.
It's proof that Lee can be beaten
and that maybe one day, the civil war
can be brought to an end.
Lee's army incurs so many losses here at gettysburg
that he will never be able to renew the offensive.
The south's greatest chance
of winning independence is gone.
[ Thunder rumbles ]
[ Lightning crashes ]
Sure beats the fireworks show I saw in Concord last year.
Happy fourth of July, white.
[ Canteens clank ]
Happy fourth of July.
[ Lightning crashes ]
Adelman: It is unquestionable that the second United States
sharpshooters forever changed the battle of gettysburg.
They forced the confederate attack
to go to a different place.
They slowed the confederate line down.
I don't know of another unit on the gettysburg battlefield
that had a bigger impact for their smaller numbers.
Narrator: In the summer of 1864,
during his 27th battle,
William oates is shot.
He survives and goes on to become the governor of Alabama.
Wyman white continues to serve with the us sharpshooters.
At the end of the war, he returns to New Hampshire
and marries in 1867.
In 1888, oates writes a letter to one of the commanders
of the union sharpshooters at gettysburg.
It says,
"you and your command deserve a monument
for turning the tide in favor of the union cause.
But for the service on your part,
I am confident we would have swept away the union line
and have captured little round top,
which would have won the battle for us."