As he watched Brig. Gen. William Barksdale’s heavy lines of infantry advance, III Corps artillery commander Capt. George Randolph feared for the safety of Bucklyn’s battery. Randolph rode up to the commander of the 114th Pennsylvania and shouted, “If you want to save my battery, move forward. I cannot find the general [Graham]. I give the order on my own responsibility.” Captain Edward Bowen immediately led his men across Emmitsburg Road to the Sherfy farm to buy time and lay a covering fire for the battery to withdraw. “The regiment sprang forward with alacrity and passed through and to the front of the battery, which hastily limbered up and [went] to the rear,” an officer wrote after the war. The 57th Pennsylvania and the 105th Pennsylvania also crossed the road to take up positions on the right of their sister regiment. These Pennsylvanians engaged immediately with Barksdale’s 13th, 17th, and 18th Mississippi regiments, which were approaching rapidly from the west.11
From its new position on the south end of the line, the 68th Pennsylvania watched the 21st Mississippi approach. The men were told to “reserve their fire until [the enemy] reach[ed] a certain point, when a destructive fire was opened, the enemy halting and dropping behind a fence.” As the 21st Mississippi advanced against the 68th Pennsylvania’s front, the 17th Mississippi hit its right flank. Punched from two sides simultaneously, the Pennsylvania regiment crumbled quickly and the men retreated to the east side of the Peach Orchard, reforming behind the batteries lining Wheatfield Road.12
The south side of the salient came under renewed attack as the left wing of Joe Kershaw’s Brigade, which had reformed to the southeast, renewed its advance. In response, the 141st Pennsylvania crossed Wheatfield Road and formed in line of battle with the 3rd Michigan on its left and the 3rd Maine on its right. The line faced south and advanced in an attempt to connect with the left of the 2nd New Hampshire on the edge of the Peach Orchard. The 8th South Carolina and 3rd South Carolina Battalion moved to meet them and the two sides opened fire. Veterans from the 141st Pennsylvania recalled how their volleys staggered the advancing South Carolinians. “So deadly and unexpected was our assault that the enemy halted, reeled, and staggered like drunken men, then scattered and ran in every direction like a flock of frightened sheep,” wrote one of the soldiers. “We gave several rousing cheers and felt decidedly good.”13
The Pennsylvanians were dismayed and then outraged to see the 3rd Michigan on one side and the 3rd Maine on the other halt their advance, turn, and head for the rear. The 141st’s Col. Henry Madill noted matter-of-factly in his report, “I found myself alone, with a small regiment of about 180 men.” Madill tried to hold his position but it proved impossible, so he led his redoubtable Pennsylvanians to a new position behind the 68th Pennsylvania, which had moved by the left oblique to take on the right flank of the 21st Mississippi. Seeing that it was unsupported, the 2nd New Hampshire also pulled back, turning periodically to fire before finally taking up a position on slightly higher ground in the Peach Orchard.14
The rest of Graham’s embattled brigade had its hands full farther north near the Sherfy farm along Emmitsburg Road, where the 105th Pennsylvania and 57th Pennsylvania battled the advancing 13th and 18th Mississippi regiments. While the 114th Pennsylvania slugged it out with the 13th Mississippi along its front, the 17th Mississippi delivered a devastating oblique fire against the 114th’s exposed left flank. The men naturally crowded to the right to try and escape this fire, which in turn compromised the 114th’s integrity.
West of Emmitsburg Road, meanwhile, gunners from several batteries watched as the Federal battle line shielding them from the Confederate attack began to collapse. Several of the batteries in the sector began limbering up and pulling back to avoid being trapped when the sagging line broke.
The 73rd New York of Brewster’s brigade moved from its reserve position just north of Trostle Lane to bolster Graham’s weakening line along Emmitsburg Road.15