The sector along Willoughby Run was relatively quiet after the bloody repulse of Archer’s Brigade that morning. The lull permitted Brig. Gen. Solomon Meredith time to realign his Iron Brigade on McPherson Ridge.
Meredith placed the 7th Wisconsin on the right of the line, the 2nd Wisconsin on its left, followed by the 24th Michigan and finally the 19th Indiana. The alignment was fine, but the manner of their deployment was not. The front was too long for the Iron Brigade to cover, and the regiments were positioned in such a manner that they could not provide mutual support. The men of the 24th Michigan and 19th Indiana (on the left) were particularly unhappy. In order to connect with the 2nd Wisconsin, the right wing of the 24th Michigan bent back to form an obtuse angle in the line. The men on one end of the regiment could not see those on the other and their fields of fire were similarly restricted. The 24th’s commander, Col. Henry Morrow, sent several aides to report that his position was untenable. Each returned with the same response: “the position was ordered to be held, and must be held at all hazards.” The men of the 19th Indiana were also worried about their position because their left flank hung dangerously in the air. When protests were lodged with General Meredith, he replied that he was merely following orders. It is not clear whether division commander Maj. Gen. James Wadsworth heard any of these complaints.1
Colonel Chapman Biddle’s brigade arrived to support the Iron Brigade. However, instead of closing the gap between units and extending the line to the left, the brigade formed about 200 yards to the rear midway between McPherson and Seminary ridges. The 19th Indiana’s left flank remained in the air, as did both flanks of Biddle’s brigade. The latter was aligned from left to right as follows: 121st Pennsylvania – 80th New York – 142nd Pennsylvania – 151st Pennsylvania. Reynolds’ battery deployed between the 80th New York and the 142nd Pennsylvania; the infantry was ordered to lie down. About 2:00 p.m., the 151st Pennsylvania withdrew to the Lutheran Seminary, where it became the I Corps’ last reserve unit.2
The Confederates were also active during this period preparing a fresh assault. Major General Harry Heth’s last two fresh brigades advanced toward McPherson Ridge between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. The front was composed of Johnston Pettigrew’s large North Carolina Brigade on the right and John Brockenbrough’s much smaller Virginia brigade on the left. The remnants of Archer’s Brigade, now commanded by Col. Birkett D. Fry, aligned themselves on Pettigrew’s right flank. Pettigrew’s 2,600-man brigade deployed from left to right as follows: 26th North Carolina – 11th North Carolina – 47th North Carolina – 52nd North Carolina. The regiments aligned en echelon on the 26th North Carolina, a large regiment of nearly 900 men. Lieutenant Colonel John Lane of the 26th North Carolina recalled after the war that “all kept the step and made as pretty and perfect a line as a regiment ever made, every man endeavoring to keep dressed on the colors.” Brockenbrough’s Brigade, which numbered only about 800 effectives, deployed from left to right as follows: 55th Virginia – 47th Virginia – 40th Virginia – 22nd Virginia Battalion.3
The 26th North Carolina advanced directly toward the 24th Michigan while the 11th North Carolina closed on the 19th Indiana. The rest of Pettigrew’s Brigade extended hundreds of yards south of the 19th Indiana and its exposed left flank. The 24th Michigan opened fire as the 26th North Carolina approached Willoughby Run, but most of the men shot high and found little Southern flesh. When Federal batteries opened on Pettigrew’s line, an enlisted man in the 24th Michigan observed that the North Carolinians closed “up the gaps made by our guns, the slow advance not being checked in the least—banners flying proudly, voices ringing out defiantly above the roar of artillery.” After the war, Pettigrew’s adjutant wrote that the brigade “marched out in perfect alignment, and under as hot a fire as was ever faced, moved steadily through the wheat.”4