As he was desperately trying to shore his collapsing line, III Corps commander Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles was struck by a cannonball that mangled his right leg. The stricken general was placed on a stretcher while someone applied a tourniquet to stem the heavy bleeding. He was carried to a field hospital chewing on a cigar; his leg was amputated later that day. David Birney, one of Sickles’ division leaders, assumed command of the embattled corps as it was being squeezed from the west and from the south.
When he saw Brig. Gen. William Barksdale’s Confederates moving north up Emmitsburg Road toward Trostle Lane, he ordered General Humphreys to refuse his left flank. According to Humphreys’ report, his orders were to “throw back my left, and form a line oblique to and in rear of the one I then held, and I was informed that the First Division would complete the line to the Round Top ridge.” He only had minutes to execute the move.
On the left of Carr’s brigade, the 11th New Jersey line pulled back behind the Klingle house facing south and four other regiments aligned on it. Two regiments from Brewster’s brigade, the 71st and 72nd New York, formed to its left (southeast). The 70th New York, which had been in the reserve, formed on their left, and the 73rd New York, which had rushed forward to support Graham against Barksdale’s attack only to be quickly driven back, formed as the last regiment on the left of the line. The only regiments available to Brewster for a reserve were the 120th New York, already a reserve in this sector, and the 74th New York, which was pulled from the extreme right of Carr’s brigade to form behind the left of Brewster’s refused line. Humphreys now had Carr’s brigade deployed along Emmitsburg Road to face Wilcox’s and Lang’s approaching onslaught, and Brewster’s brigade at an almost right angle to it facing Barksdale’s advance from the south.5
Colonel David Lang watched for the start of Wilcox’s charge. As one of his men recalled, “there goes Wilcox’s Brigade, and soon all to the right is hidden by dense smoke, and the rebel yell can be heard above the rattle of musketry.” Almost immediately, the Floridians heard the orders: “Attention, forward, charge!” and the men began their attack.6
As they stepped out of the tree line, Seeley’s, Turnbull’s, and probably Weir’s batteries stationed along Emmitsburg Road, pounded both brigades. For a time the 5th New Jersey, 1st U.S. Sharpshooters, and 1st Massachusetts on the skirmish line held their positions, dropping Confederates with each step, but they were finally forced to fall back before the irresistible advance. The 1st Massachusetts reformed in front of the 26th Pennsylvania, but later shifted to the right, uncovering the Pennsylvanians. The 5th New Jersey retreated from the skirmish line and formed near Seeley’s battery to protect the guns from the growing threat. The Federal fire was intense, as one Confederate foot soldier later remembered: “[The] enemy’s guns are making great gaps in our lines, and the air seems filled with musket balls, our men are falling on all sides.”7
Comparatively little has been written about Barksdale’s demolishment of the Federal left above the Peach Orchard, but at least one source does not believe the New Yorkers held their positions very long. According to the 72nd New York’s historian, “the division changed front and rallied three times, but was compelled to fall back to the second line.”8
As the 70th, 71st, 72nd, and 73rd New York regiments melted away before the advancing Mississippians, and Brewster’s line with them, the 120th New York was called up from its reserve position. It advanced about 50 yards to a position behind a low stone wall. According to one New Yorker, the “order came and the whole line rose as a man and poured into their ranks such a terrible fire of musketry, as to bring them to a standstill when within a few rods of us.”
The 11th New Jersey to the right, and the 74th New York to the left, struggled to hold their positions. It was particularly difficult for the 11th New Jersey. The unfortunate regiment was caught in a crossfire at the tip of the salient, with Barksdale’s men firing from the south and Wilcox’s infantry firing from the west.9