Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies
in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to
commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people of African descent.
It is also observed in other areas in regard to the abolition of serfdom or other forms of involuntary servitude.
Caribbean
August 1, 1834
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which abolished slavery throughout the British Empire (with the exceptions "of the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company", the "Island of Ceylon" and "the Island of Saint Helena"; the exceptions were eliminated in 1843), came into force the following year, on 1 August 1834.
Only slaves below the age of six were freed. Enslaved people
older than six years of age were redesignated as "apprentices" and
required to work, 40 hours per week without pay, as part of compensation payment to their former owners. Full emancipation was finally achieved at midnight on 31 July 1838.
Barbados
Emancipation Day in Barbados is part of the annual "Season of Emancipation", which began in 2005. The Season runs from April 14 to August 23. Commemorations include:
Emancipation Day celebrations usually feature a walk from Independence Square in Bridgetown
to the Heritage Village at the Crop Over Bridgetown Market on the
Spring Garden Highway. At the Heritage Village, in addition to a
concert, there is a wreath-laying ceremony as a tribute to the
ancestors. Traditionally, the Prime Minister, the Minister for Culture,
and representatives of the Commission for Pan African Affairs are among
those laying wreaths.
Jamaica
Emancipation Park, Kingston, Jamaica 2004
1 August, Emancipation Day in Jamaica is a public holiday and part of a week-long cultural celebration, during which Jamaicans also celebrate Jamaican Independence Day on August 6, 1962. Both August 1 and August 6 are public holidays.
Emancipation Day had stopped being observed as a nation holiday in 1962 at the time of independence. It was reinstated as a national public holiday under The Holidays (Public General) Act 1998 after a six-year campaign led by Rex Nettleford, among others.
Traditionally people would keep at vigil on July 31 and at
midnight ring church bell and play drums in parks and public squares to
re-enact the first moments of freedom for enslaved Africans. On Emancipation Day there is a reenactment of the reading of the Emancipation Declaration in town centres especially Spanish Town which was the seat of the Jamaican government when the Emancipation Act was passed in 1838.
Emancipation Park,
a public park in Kingston, opened on the eve of Emancipation Day, July
31 in 2002, is named in commemoration of Emancipation Day.
Trinidad and Tobago
On August 1, 1985 Trinidad and Tobago became the first country in the world to declare a national holiday to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
It replaced Columbus Discovery Day, which commemorated the arrival of Christopher Columbus at Moruga on 31 July 1498, as a national public holiday.
The commemoration begins the night before with an all-night vigil
and includes religious services, cultural events, street processions
past historic landmarks, addresses from dignitaries including an address
from the President of Trinidad and Tobago and ends with an evening of
shows that include a torchlight procession to the national stadium.
Thursday before the first Monday in August
Bermuda celebrates its Emancipation day on this date, placing it in either July or August.
First Monday in August
Some countries observe the holiday as "August Monday".
Antigua celebrates carnival on and around the first Monday of August. Since 1834 Antigua and Barbuda
have observed the end of slavery. The first Monday and Tuesday in
August was observed as a bank holiday so the populace can celebrate
Emancipation Day. Monday is J'ouvert, a street party that mimics the early morning emancipation.
Anguilla: In addition to commemorating emancipation, it is the first day of "August Week", the Anguillian Carnival celebrations. J'ouvert is celebrated August 1, as Carnival commences.
The Bahamas: Celebrations are mainly concentrated in Fox Hill Village, Nassau,
a former slave village whose inhabitants, according to folklore, heard
about their freedom a week after everyone else on the island. The
celebration known as the Bay Fest, beginning on August 1 and lasting
several days, is held in the settlement of Hatchet Bay on the island of
Eleuthera, and "Back to the Bay" is held in the settlement of Tarpum
Bay, also on Eleuthera.
British Virgin Islands: The first Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of August are celebrated as "August Festival".
Saint Kitts and Nevis: The first Monday and Tuesday are celebrated as "Emancipation Day" and also "Culturama" in Nevis.
Dominica: The first Monday is celebrated as August Monday.
Grenada: The first Monday in August is celebrated as "Emancipation Day" with Cultural activities.
Martinique commemorates emancipation with a national holiday on May 22, marking the slave resistance on that day in 1848 that forced Governor Claude Rostoland to issue a decree abolishing slavery.
Corn Island received its emancipation on August 27, 1841.
Canada
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833
ended slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834, and thus also in
Canada. However, the first colony in the British Empire to have
anti-slavery legislation was Upper Canada, now Ontario. John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (1791–1796), passed an Act Against Slavery
in 1793, which ended the importation of slaves in Upper Canada and
manumitted the future children of female slaves at age twenty-five.
Unfortunately, it did not free a single slave. It was superseded by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
While the date of the First August Monday holiday in Canada is
historically linked to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in
1834, not all of provinces commemorate the holiday as such.
Ontario
In 2008, the Province of Ontario dedicated August 1 as "Emancipation Day"
Toronto, the capital city of Ontario, also hosts Caribana, which is held the first Monday in August. Started in 1967, it has become the largest Caribbean festival in North America.
It is a two-week celebration, culminating in the long weekend with the
Kings and Queens Festival, "Caribana" parade and Olympic Island
activities.
Owen Sound has celebrated Emancipation with a picnic for 157 years, and now holds an Emancipation Festival.
Locally, the August Holiday in Toronto has been designated as "Simcoe Day" to commemorate Ontario's first Lieutenant GovernorJohn Graves Simcoe, who in 1793 approved legislation to reduce slavery in Upper Canada, now Ontario, the first jurisdiction in the British Empire to do so.
The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into full effect in the Cape Colony
on the December 1, 1838 after a four-year period of forced
apprenticeship. About 39,000 enslaved people were freed and £1.2 million (roughly equivalent to £4,175,000,000 as a proportion of GDP in 2016 pounds)
– of £3 million originally set aside by the British government – was
paid out in compensation to 1,300 former slave holding farmers in the
colony.
December 1 is celebrated as Emancipation Day in South Africa most notably in the city of Cape Town.
United States
District of Columbia
Celebrating abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, April 19, 1866
The District of Columbia celebrates April 16 as Emancipation Day. On that day in 1862, PresidentAbraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act (an act of Compensated emancipation) for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. The Act freed about 3,100 slaves in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his broader Emancipation Proclamation.
The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act represents the
only example of compensation by the federal government to former owners
of emancipated slaves.
On January 4, 2005, MayorAnthony A. Williams signed legislation making Emancipation Day an official public holiday in the District.
Although Emancipation Day occurs on April 16, by law when April 16
falls during a weekend, Emancipation Day is observed on the nearest
weekday. This affects the Internal Revenue Service's due date for tax returns,
which traditionally must be submitted by April 15. As the federal
government observes the holiday, it causes the federal and all state tax
deadlines to be moved to the 18th if Emancipation Day falls on the
weekend and to the 17th if Emancipation Day falls on a Monday.
Each year, activities will be held during the public holiday including
the traditional Emancipation Day parade celebrating the freedom of
enslaved persons in the District of Columbia. The Emancipation Day
celebration was held yearly from 1866 to 1901.
Florida
Emancipation Day Parade Lincolnville, Florida, 1920s
Thomaston, Georgia
has been the site of an Emancipation Day celebration since May 1866.
Organizers believe it is "the oldest, continuously observed annual
emancipation event in the United States." The annual event is scheduled for the Saturday closest to May 29. William Guilford was an early organizer of the event first held in 1866.
Kentucky
Emancipation Day is celebrated on August 8 in Hopkinsville, Christian
County; Paducah, McCracken County; and Russellville, Logan County
Kentucky, as well as other communities in western Kentucky. According to
the Paducah Sun newspaper, this is the anniversary of the day
slaves in this region learned of their freedom in 1865. According to a
PBS documentary, it celebrates the liberation of the slaves of U.S.
President Andrew Johnson, one of whom started the annual celebration in eastern Tennessee.
Mississippi
In Columbus, Mississippi,
Emancipation Day is celebrated on May 8, known locally as "Eight o'
May". As in other southern states, the local celebration commemorates
the date in 1865 when African Americans in eastern Mississippi learned
of their freedom.
Though the 13th amendment was ratified by the necessary three
quarters vote, Mississippi withheld its ratification document after the
constitutional amendment was submitted to the states. Mississippi
finally submitted the ratification document on February 7, 2013.
Texas
In Texas, Emancipation Day is celebrated on June 19. It commemorates
the announcement in Texas of the abolition of slavery made on that day
in 1865. It is commonly known as Juneteenth.
Since the late 20th century, this date has gained recognition beyond
Texas, and has been proposed for a national Emancipation Day.
Territories
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico celebrates Emancipation Day (Día de la Abolición de Esclavitud), an official holiday, on March 22. Slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico in 1873 while the island was still a colony of Spain.
Juneteenth (a portmanteau of June and nineteenth) – also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day – is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Originating in Texas, it is now celebrated annually on the 19th of June throughout the United States, with varying official recognition. Specifically, it commemorates Unionarmy general Gordon Granger announcing federal orders in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, proclaiming that all slaves in Texas were free.
President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had officially outlawed slavery in Texas and the other states in rebellion against the Union
almost two and a half years earlier. Enforcement of the Proclamation
generally relied on the advance of Union troops. Texas being the most
remote of the slave states had a low presence of Union troops as the American Civil War ended; thus enforcement there had been slow and inconsistent before Granger's announcement. Although Juneteenth generally celebrates the end of slavery in the United States, it was still legal and practiced in two Union border states (Delaware and Kentucky) until later that year when ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolished non-penal slavery nationwide in December.
Celebrations date to 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. It spread across the South and became more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s, often centering on a food festival. During the Civil Rights movement
of the 1960s, it was eclipsed by the struggle for postwar civil rights,
but grew in popularity again in the 1970s with a focus on African American freedom and arts.
By the 21st century, Juneteenth was celebrated in most major cities
across the United States. Activists are campaigning for the United States Congress to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday.
Hawaii, North Dakota and South Dakota are the only states that do not
recognize Juneteenth, according to the Congressional Research Service.
More isolated geographically, planters and other slaveholders had
migrated into Texas from eastern states to escape the fighting, and
many brought enslaved people with them, increasing by the thousands the
enslaved population in the state at the end of the Civil War. Although most lived in rural areas, more than 1,000 resided in both Galveston and Houston by 1860, with several hundred in other large towns. By 1865, there were an estimated 250,000 enslaved people in Texas.
The news of General Robert E. Lee'ssurrender on April 9, 1865, reached Texas later in the month. The western Army of the Trans-Mississippi did not surrender until June 2. On June 18, Union Army General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston Island with 2,000 federal troops to occupy Texas on behalf of the federal government. The following day, standing on the balcony of Galveston's Ashton Villa, Granger read aloud the contents of "General Order No. 3", announcing the total emancipation of those held as slaves:
The
people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation
from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This
involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property
between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore
existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The
freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work
for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at
military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either
there or elsewhere.
Although this event is popularly thought of as "the end of slavery",
the Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to those enslaved in
Union-held territory, who would not be freed until a proclamation
several months later, on December 18, 1865, that the Thirteenth Amendment had been ratified on December 6, 1865. The freedom of formerly enslaved people in Texas was given legal status in a series of Texas Supreme Court decisions between 1868 and 1874.
Early celebrations
An early celebration of Emancipation Day (Juneteenth) in 1900
Formerly enslaved people in Galveston celebrated after the announcement. The following year, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of "Jubilee Day" on June 19. Early celebrations were used as political rallies to give voting instructions to newly freed slaves. Early independence celebrations often occurred on January 1 or 4.
In some cities black people were barred from using public parks because of state-sponsored segregation of facilities. Across parts of Texas, freed people pooled their funds to purchase land to hold their celebrations. The day was first celebrated in Austin in 1867 under the auspices of the Freedmen's Bureau, and it had been listed on a "calendar of public events" by 1872.
That year black leaders in Texas raised $1,000 for the purchase of 10
acres (4 ha) of land to celebrate Juneteenth, today known as Houston's Emancipation Park.
The observation was soon drawing thousands of attendees across Texas;
an estimated 30,000 black people celebrated at Booker T. Washington Park
in Limestone County, Texas, established in 1898 for Juneteenth celebrations. By the 1890s Jubilee Day had become known as Juneteenth.
In the early 20th century, economic and political forces led to a
decline in Juneteenth celebrations. From 1890 to 1908, Texas and all
former Confederate states passed new constitutions or amendments that
effectively disenfranchised black people, excluding them from the political process. White-dominated state legislatures passed Jim Crow laws imposing second-class status.
Gladys L. Knight writes the decline in celebration was in part because
"upwardly mobile blacks [...] were ashamed of their slave past and
aspired to assimilate into mainstream culture. Younger generations of
blacks, becoming further removed from slavery were occupied with school
[...] and other pursuits." Others who migrated to the Northern United States couldn't take time off or simply dropped the celebration.
The Great Depression
forced many black people off farms and into the cities to find work. In
these urban environments, African Americans had difficulty taking the
day off to celebrate. The Second Great Migration began during World War II, when many black people migrated to the West Coast where skilled jobs in the defense industry were opening up. A revival of Juneteenth began right before World War II began. From 1936 to 1951 the Texas State Fair
served as a destination for celebrating the holiday, contributing to
its revival. In 1936 an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people joined the
holiday's celebration in Dallas. In 1938, Texas governor J. V. Allred issued a proclamation stating in part:
Whereas, the Negroes in the State
of Texas observe June 19 as the official day for the celebration of
Emancipation from slavery; and
Whereas, June 19, 1865, was the date when General Robert [sic] S.
Granger, who had command of the Military District of Texas, issued a
proclamation notifying the Negroes of Texas that they were free; and
Whereas, since that time, Texas Negroes have observed this day
with suitable holiday ceremony, except during such years when the day
comes on a Sunday; when the Governor of the State is asked to proclaim
the following day as the holiday for State observance by Negroes; and
Whereas, June 19, 1938, this year falls on Sunday;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JAMES V. ALLRED, Governor of the State of Texas, do
set aside and proclaim the day of June 20, 1938, as the date for
observance of
EMANCIPATION DAY
in Texas, and do urge all members of the Negro race in Texas to observe
the day in a manner appropriate to its importance to them.
Seventy thousand people attended a "Juneteenth Jamboree" in 1951. From 1940 through 1970, in the second wave of the Great Migration,
more than five million black people left Texas, Louisiana and other
parts of the South for the North and the West Coast. As historian Isabel Wilkerson writes, "The people from Texas took Juneteenth Day to Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, and other places they went." In 1945, Juneteenth was introduced in San Francisco by an immigrant from Texas, Wesley Johnson.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement
focused the attention of African Americans on expanding freedom and
integrating. As a result, observations of the holiday declined again
(though it was still celebrated regionally in Texas). It soon saw a revival as black people began tying their struggle to that of ending slavery. In Atlanta, some campaigners for equality wore Juneteenth buttons. During the 1968 Poor People's Campaign to Washington, DC, called by Rev. Ralph Abernathy, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference made June 19 the "Solidarity Day of the Poor People’s Campaign". In the subsequent revival, large celebrations in Minneapolis and Milwaukee emerged as well as across the Eastern United States. In 1974 Houston began holding large-scale celebrations again, and Fort Worth, Texas, followed the next year. Around 30,000 people attended festivities at Sycamore Park in Fort Worth the following year. The 1978 Milwaukee celebration was described as drawing over 100,000 attendees.
Governor Tom Wolf signing legislation to officially recognize Juneteenth in Pennsylvania in 2019
First official recognition
In the late 1970s, the Texas Legislature declared Juneteenth a "holiday of significance [...] particularly to the blacks of Texas". It was the first state to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday under legislation introduced by freshman Democraticstate representativeAl Edwards. The law passed through the Texas Legislature in 1979 and was officially made a state holiday on January 1, 1980.
Juneteenth is a "partial staffing" holiday in Texas; government offices
do not close but agencies may operate with reduced staff, and employees
may either celebrate this holiday or substitute it with one of four
"optional holidays" recognized by Texas.
In the late 1980s, there were major celebrations of Juneteenth in
California, Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia, and Washington, D.C.
In 1996, the first legislation to recognize "Juneteenth
Independence Day" was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives,
H.J. Res. 195, sponsored by Barbara-Rose Collins
(D-MI). In 1997 Congress recognized the day through Senate Joint
Resolution 11 and House Joint Resolution 56. In 2013, the U.S. Senate
passed Senate Resolution 175, acknowledging Lula Briggs Galloway (late
president of the National Association of Juneteenth Lineage) who
"successfully worked to bring national recognition to Juneteenth
Independence Day", and the continued leadership of the National
Juneteenth Observance Foundation.
Activists are pushing Congress to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday.
Organizations such as the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation are
seeking a Congressional designation of Juneteenth as a national day of
observance.
In 2020, state governors of Virginia and New York signed an
executive order recognizing Juneteenth as a paid day of leave for state
employees.
Subsequent growth
Juneteenth Flag
Since the 1980s and 1990s, the holiday has been more widely
celebrated among African-American communities and has seen increasing
mainstream attention in the US. In 1991, there was an exhibition by the Anacostia Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution) called “Juneteenth ’91, Freedom Revisited”. In 1994, a group of community leaders gathered at Christian Unity Baptist Church in New Orleans to work for greater national celebration of Juneteenth. Expatriates have celebrated it in cities abroad, such as Paris. Some US military bases in other countries sponsor celebrations, in addition to those of private groups. In 1999, Ralph Ellison's novel Juneteenth was published, increasing recognition of the holiday. By 2006, at least 200 cities celebrated the day.
The holiday has gained mainstream awareness outside
African-American communities through depictions in entertainment media,
such as episodes of TV series Atlanta (2016) and Black-ish (2017), the latter of which featured musical numbers about the holiday by Aloe Blacc, The Roots, and Fonzworth Bentley. In 2018 Apple added Juneteenth to its calendars in iOS under official US holidays. In 2020, several American corporations and educational institutions including Twitter, the National Football League, Nike, announced that they would treat Juneteenth as a company holiday, providing a paid day off to their workers, and Google Calendar added Juneteenth to its US Holidays calendar. Also in 2020, a number of major universities formally recognized Juneteenth, either as a "day of reflection" or as a university holiday with paid time off for faculty and staff.
In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worldwide protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, controversy ensued when President Donald Trump scheduled his first political rally since the pandemic's outbreak for Juneteenth in Tulsa, Oklahoma, site of the 1921 race massacre in the Greenwood district. In response, he rescheduled the rally for the following day. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal,
Trump said, "I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous. It’s
actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever
heard of it."
Recognition
United States Congresswoman Sheila Jackson campaigns for Juneteenth to be a national holiday.
Recognition of Juneteenth varies across the United States. It is not officially recognized by the federal government, although the Senate unanimously passed a simple resolution in 2018 in honor of the day, and legislation has been introduced in Congress several times to make it either a "national day of observance" (akin to Flag Day or Patriot Day) or a full-scale federal holiday.
Recognition of Juneteenth as a holiday in the US
Recognized before 2000
Recognized between 2000 and 2009
Recognized in 2010 or after
Most states recognize it in some way, either as a ceremonial
observance or a state holiday. Texas was the first state to recognize
the date, in 1980. By 2002, eight states officially recognized
Juneteenth and four years later 15 states recognized the holiday. By 2008, nearly half of states observed the holiday as a ceremonial observance. By 2019, 47 states and the District of Columbia recognized Juneteenth, although only one state (Texas) has adopted the holiday as a paid holiday for state employees. In 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charles Baker
issued a proclamation that the day would be marked as "Juneteenth
Independence Day". This followed the filing of bills by both the House
and Senate to make Juneteenth a state holiday. Baker did not comment on
these bills specifically, but promised to grant the observance of
Juneteenth greater importance.
The only three states yet to legally recognize Juneteenth as
either a state or ceremonial holiday are Hawaii, North Dakota, and South
Dakota.
Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota proclaimed June 19, 2020, as
Juneteenth Day, spurring calls for it to be recognized annually, rather
than just for 2020. Similarly, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum announced that the state would formally recognize Friday, June 19, 2020, as Juneteenth Day in North Dakota for the year 2020.
Some cities and counties have recognized Juneteenth through proclamation. In 2020, Juneteenth was formally recognized by New York City (as an annual official city holiday and public school holiday, starting in 2021); by the City and County of Honolulu (as an "annual day of honor and reflection"), and by Portland, Oregon (as a day of remembrance and action and a paid holiday for city employees).
Some private companies have adopted Juneteenth as a paid day off
for employees, while others have officially marked the day in other
ways, such as moments of silence.
Celebrations
The holiday is considered the "longest running African-American holiday" and has been called "America's second Independence Day". It is often celebrated on the third Sunday in June.
Historian Mitch Kachun considers that celebrations of the end of
slavery have three goals: "to celebrate, to educate, and to agitate". Early celebrations consisted of baseball,
fishing, and rodeos. African Americans were often prohibited from using
public facilities for their celebrations, so they were often held at
churches or near water. Celebrations were also characterized by
elaborate large meals and people wearing their best clothing. It was common for former slaves and their descendants to make a pilgrimage to Galveston.
As early festivals received news coverage, Janice Hume and Noah
Arceneaux consider that they "served to assimilate African-American
memories within the dominant 'American story'."
Juneteenth celebrations often include lectures and exhibitions on African-American culture. The modern holiday places much emphasis upon teaching about African-American heritage. Karen M. Thomas wrote in Emerge
that "community leaders have latched on to [Juneteenth] to help instill
a sense of heritage and pride in black youth." Celebrations are
commonly accompanied by voter registration efforts, the performing of plays, and retelling stories. The holiday is also a celebration of soul food and other food with African-American influences. In Tourism Review International, Anne Donovan and Karen DeBres write that "Barbecue is the centerpiece of most Juneteenth celebrations".
Pickett's
Charge from a position on the Confederate line looking toward the Union
lines, Ziegler's Grove on the left, clump of trees on right, painting by Edwin Forbes
Pickett's Charge was part of Lee's "general plan" to take Cemetery Hill and the network of roads it commanded. His military secretary, Armistead Lindsay Long, described Lee's thinking:
There was ... a weak point ... where [Cemetery Ridge],
sloping westward, formed the depression through which the Emmitsburg
road passes. Perceiving that by forcing the Federal lines at that point
and turning toward Cemetery Hill [Hays' Division] would be taken in
flank and the remainder would be neutralized. ... Lee determined to
attack at that point, and the execution was assigned to Longstreet.
On the night of July 2, Meade correctly predicted to General Gibbon, after a council of war, that Lee would attack the center of his lines the following morning.
The infantry assault was preceded by a massive artillery
bombardment that was meant to soften up the Union defense and silence
its artillery, but was largely ineffective. Approximately 12,500 men in
nine infantry brigades advanced over open fields for three-quarters of a
mile under heavy Union artillery and rifle fire. Although some
Confederates were able to breach the low stone wall that shielded many
of the Union defenders, they could not maintain their hold and were
repelled with over 50% casualties, a decisive defeat that ended the
three-day battle and Lee's campaign into Pennsylvania. Years later, when asked why his charge at Gettysburg failed, Pickett reportedly replied, "I've always thought the Yankees had something to do with it."
The specific objective of the assault has been the source of historical controversy. Traditionally, the "copse
of trees" on Cemetery Ridge has been cited as the visual landmark for
the attacking force. Historical treatments such as the 1993 film Gettysburg continue to popularize this view, which originated in the work of Gettysburg Battlefield historian John B. Bachelder in the 1880s. However, recent scholarship, including published works by some Gettysburg National Military Park
historians, has suggested that Lee's goal was actually Ziegler's Grove
on Cemetery Hill, a more prominent and highly visible grouping of trees
about 300 yards (274 m) north of the copse. The much-debated theory
suggests that Lee's general plan for the second-day attacks (the seizure
of Cemetery Hill) had not changed on the third day, and the attacks on
July 3 were also aimed at securing the hill and the network of roads it
commanded. The copse of trees, currently a prominent landmark, was under
ten feet (3 m) high in 1863, only visible to a portion of the attacking
columns from certain parts of the battlefield.
From the beginning of the planning, things went awry for the
Confederates. While Pickett's division had not been used yet at
Gettysburg, A. P. Hill's health became an issue and he did not
participate in selecting which of his troops were to be used for the
charge. Some of Hill's corps had fought lightly on July 1 and not at all
on July 2. However, troops that had done heavy fighting on July 1 ended up making the charge.
Although the assault is known to popular history as Pickett's Charge,
overall command was given to James Longstreet, and Pickett was one of
his divisional commanders. Lee did tell Longstreet that Pickett's fresh
division should lead the assault, so the name is appropriate, although
some recent historians have used the name Pickett–Pettigrew–Trimble Assault (or, less frequently, Longstreet's Assault)
to more fairly distribute the credit (or blame). With Hill sidelined,
Pettigrew's and Trimble's divisions were delegated to Longstreet's
authority as well. Thus, Pickett's name has been lent to a charge in
which he commanded 3 out of the 11 brigades while under the supervision
of his corps commander throughout. Pickett's men were almost exclusively
from Virginia, with the other divisions consisting of troops from North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. The supporting troops under Wilcox and Lang were from Alabama and Florida.
In conjunction with the infantry assault, Lee planned a cavalry action in the Union rear. Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart
led his cavalry division to the east, prepared to exploit Lee's
hoped-for breakthrough by attacking the Union rear and disrupting its
line of communications (and retreat) along the Baltimore Pike.
Despite Lee's hope for an early start, it took all morning to
arrange the infantry assault force. Neither Lee's nor Longstreet's
headquarters sent orders to Pickett to have his division on the
battlefield by daylight. Historian Jeffrey D. Wert blames this oversight
on Longstreet, describing it either as a misunderstanding of Lee's
verbal order or a mistake. Some of the many criticisms of Longstreet's Gettysburg performance by the postbellum Lost Cause authors cite this failure as evidence that Longstreet deliberately undermined Lee's plan for the battle.
Meanwhile, on the far right end of the Union line, a seven-hour battle raged for the control of Culp's Hill.
Lee's intent was to synchronize his offensive across the battlefield,
keeping Meade from concentrating his numerically superior force, but the
assaults were poorly coordinated and Maj. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's attacks against Culp's Hill petered out just as Longstreet's cannonade began.
Artillery barrage
Cannons representing Hancock's defenses, stormed by Pickett's Charge
The infantry charge was preceded by what Lee hoped would be a
powerful and well-concentrated cannonade of the Union center, destroying
the Union artillery batteries that could defeat the assault and
demoralizing the Union infantry. But a combination of inept artillery
leadership and defective equipment doomed the barrage from the
beginning. Longstreet's corps artillery chief, Col. Edward Porter Alexander, had effective command of the field; Lee's artillery chief, Brig. Gen. William N. Pendleton,
played little role other than to obstruct the effective placement of
artillery from the other two corps. Despite Alexander's efforts, then,
there was insufficient concentration of Confederate fire on the
objective.
The July 3 bombardment was likely the largest of the war, with hundreds of cannons from both sides firing along the lines for one to two hours, starting around 1 p.m. Confederate guns numbered between 150 and 170
and fired from a line over two miles (3 km) long, starting in the south
at the Peach Orchard and running roughly parallel to the Emmitsburg
Road. Confederate Brig. Gen. Evander M. Law
wrote, "The cannonade in the center ... presented one of the most
magnificent battle-scenes witnessed during the war. Looking up the
valley towards Gettysburg, the hills on either side were capped with
crowns of flame and smoke, as 300 guns, about equally divided between
the two ridges, vomited their iron hail upon each other."
Despite its ferocity, the fire was mostly ineffectual.
Confederate shells often overshot the infantry front lines—in some cases
because of inferior shell fuses that delayed detonation—and the smoke
covering the battlefield concealed that fact from the gunners. Union
artillery chief Brig. Gen. Henry J. Hunt
had only about 80 guns available to conduct counter-battery fire; the
geographic features of the Union line had limited areas for effective
gun emplacement. He also ordered that firing cease to conserve
ammunition, but to fool Alexander, Hunt ordered his cannons to cease
fire slowly to create the illusion that they were being destroyed one by
one. By the time all of Hunt's cannons ceased fire, and still blinded
by the smoke from battle, Alexander fell for Hunt's deception and
believed that many of the Union batteries had been destroyed. Hunt had
to resist the strong arguments of Hancock, who demanded Union fire to
lift the spirits of the infantrymen pinned down by Alexander's
bombardment. Even Meade was affected by the artillery—the Leister house
was a victim of frequent overshots, and he had to evacuate with his
staff to Powers Hill.
"A gun and gunners that repulsed Pickett's Charge" (from The Photographic History of the Civil War). This was Andrew Cowan's 1st New York Artillery Battery.
The day was hot, 87 °F (31 °C) by one account,
and humid, and the Confederates suffered under the hot sun and from the
Union counter-battery fire as they awaited the order to advance. When
Union cannoneers overshot their targets, they often hit the massed
infantry waiting in the woods of Seminary Ridge or in the shallow depressions just behind Alexander's guns, causing significant casualties before the charge began.
Longstreet had opposed the charge from the beginning, convinced
the charge would fail (which ultimately proved true), and had his own
plan that he would have preferred for a strategic movement around the
Union left flank. In his memoirs, he recalled telling Lee:
General, I have been a soldier all
my life. I have been with soldiers engaged in fights by couples, by
squads, companies, regiments, divisions, and armies, and should know, as
well as any one, what soldiers can do. It is my opinion that no fifteen
thousand men ever arrayed for battle can take that position.
Longstreet wanted to avoid personally ordering the charge by
attempting to pass the mantle onto young Colonel Alexander, telling him
that he should inform Pickett at the optimum time to begin the advance,
based on his assessment that the Union artillery had been effectively
silenced. Although he had insufficient information to accomplish this,
Alexander eventually notified Pickett that he was running dangerously
short of ammunition, sending the message "If you are coming at all, come
at once, or I cannot give you proper support, but the enemy's fire has
not slackened at all. At least eighteen guns are still firing from the
cemetery itself." Pickett asked Longstreet, "General, shall I advance?"
Longstreet recalled in his memoirs, "The effort to speak the order
failed, and I could only indicate it by an affirmative bow."
Longstreet made one final attempt to call off the assault. After
his encounter with Pickett, he discussed the artillery situation with
Alexander, and was informed that Alexander did not have full confidence
that all the enemy's guns were silenced and that the Confederate
ammunition was almost exhausted. Longstreet ordered Alexander to stop
Pickett, but the young colonel explained that replenishing his
ammunition from the trains in the rear would take over an hour, and this
delay would nullify any advantage the previous barrage had given them.
The infantry assault went forward without the Confederate artillery
close support that had been originally planned.
Infantry assault
Cemetery
Ridge, looking south along the ridge with Little Round Top and Big
Round Top in the distance. The monument in the foreground is the 72nd
Pennsylvania Infantry Monument.
Copse of trees and "high-water mark of the Confederacy" on the Gettysburg Battlefield; looking north
The entire force that stepped off toward the Union positions at about 2 p.m. consisted of about 12,500 men.
Although the attack is popularly called a "charge", the men marched
deliberately in line, to speed up and then charge only when they were
within a few hundred yards of the enemy. The line consisted of Pettigrew
and Trimble on the left, and Pickett to the right. The nine brigades of
men stretched over a mile-long (1,600 m) front. The Confederates
encountered heavy artillery fire while advancing nearly three quarters
of a mile across open fields to reach the Union line and were slowed by
fences in their path. Initially sloping down, the terrain changed to a
gentle upward incline approximately midway between the lines. These
obstacles played a large role in the increasing number of casualties the
advancing Confederates faced. The ground between Seminary Ridge and
Cemetery Ridge is slightly undulating, and the advancing troops
periodically disappeared from the view of the Union cannoneers. As the
three Confederate divisions advanced, awaiting Union soldiers began
shouting "Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!" in reference
to the disastrous Union advance on the Confederate line during the 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg. Fire from Lt. Col. Freeman McGilvery's concealed artillery positions north of Little Round Top
raked the Confederate right flank, while the artillery fire from
Cemetery Hill hit the left. Shell and solid shot in the beginning turned
to canister and musket
fire as the Confederates came within 400 yards of the Union line. The
mile-long front shrank to less than half a mile (800 m) as the men
filled in gaps that appeared throughout the line and followed the
natural tendency to move away from the flanking fire.
On the left flank of the attack, Brockenbrough's brigade was
devastated by artillery fire from Cemetery Hill. They were also
subjected to a surprise musket fusillade from the 8th Ohio Infantry
regiment. The 160 Ohioans, firing from a single line, so surprised
Brockenbrough's Virginians—already demoralized by their losses to
artillery fire—that they panicked and fled back to Seminary Ridge,
crashing through Trimble's division and causing many of his men to bolt
as well. The Ohioans followed up with a successful flanking attack on
Davis's brigade of Mississippians and North Carolinians, which was now
the left flank of Pettigrew's division. The survivors were subjected to
increasing artillery fire from Cemetery Hill. More than 1,600 rounds
were fired at Pettigrew's men during the assault. This portion of the
assault never advanced much farther than the sturdy fence at the
Emmitsburg Road. By this time, the Confederates were close enough to be
fired on by artillery canister and Alexander Hays' division unleashed
very effective musketry fire from behind 260 yards of stone wall, with
every rifleman of the division lined up as many as four deep, exchanging
places in line as they fired and then fell back to reload.
They were at once
enveloped in a dense cloud of smoke and dust. Arms, heads, blankets,
guns and knapsacks were thrown and tossed into the clear air. ... A moan
went up from the field, distinctly to be heard amid the storm of
battle.
Lt. Col. Franklin Sawyer, 8th Ohio
Trimble's division of two brigades followed Pettigrew's, but made
poor progress. Confusing orders from Trimble caused Lane to send only
three and a half of his North Carolina regiments forward. Renewed fire
from the 8th Ohio and the onslaught of Hays' riflemen prevented most of
these men from getting past the Emmitsburg Road. Scales's North Carolina
brigade, led by Col. William L. J. Lowrance, started with a heavier
disadvantage—they had lost almost two-thirds of their men on July 1.
They were also driven back and Lowrance was wounded. The Union defenders
also took casualties, but Hays encouraged his men by riding back and
forth just behind the battle line, shouting "Hurrah! Boys, we're giving
them hell!". Two horses were shot out from under him. Historian Stephen
W. Sears calls Hays' performance "inspiring".
On the right flank, Pickett's Virginians crossed the Emmitsburg
road and wheeled partially to their left to face northeast. They marched
in two lines, led by the brigades of Brig. Gen. James L. Kemper on the right and Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett on the left; Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead's
brigade followed closely behind. As the division wheeled to the left,
its right flank was exposed to McGilvery's guns and the front of
Doubleday's Union division on Cemetery Ridge. Stannard's Vermont Brigade
marched forward, faced north, and delivered withering fire into the
rear of Kemper's brigade. At about this time, Hancock, who had been
prominent in displaying himself on horseback to his men during the
Confederate artillery bombardment, was wounded by a bullet striking the
pommel of his saddle, entering his inner right thigh along with wood
fragments and a large bent nail. He refused evacuation to the rear until
the battle was settled.
Field of Pickett's Charge, viewed from north of The Angle, looking west
As Pickett's men advanced, they withstood the defensive fire of first
Stannard's brigade, then Harrow's, and then Hall's, before approaching a
minor salient in the Union center, a low stone wall taking an 80-yard
right-angle turn known afterward as "The Angle". It was defended by
Brig. Gen. Alexander S. Webb's Philadelphia Brigade. Webb placed the two remaining guns of (the severely wounded) Lt. Alonzo Cushing's Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, at the front of his line at the stone fence, with the 69th and 71st Pennsylvania
regiments of his brigade to defend the fence and the guns. The two guns
and 940 men could not match the massive firepower that Hays' division,
to their right, had been able to unleash.
Two gaps opened up in the Union line: the commander of the 71st
Pennsylvania ordered his men to retreat when the Confederates came too
close to the Angle; south of the copse of trees, the men of the 59th New
York (Hall's brigade) inexplicably bolted for the rear. In the latter
case, this left Captain Andrew Cowan and his 1st New York Independent
Artillery Battery to face the oncoming infantry. Assisted personally by
artillery chief Henry Hunt, Cowan ordered five guns to fire double canister
simultaneously. The entire Confederate line to his front disappeared.
The gap vacated by most of the 71st Pennsylvania, however, was more
serious, leaving only a handful of the 71st, 268 men of the 69th
Pennsylvania, and Cushing's two 3-inch rifled guns to receive the 2,500
to 3,000 men of Garnett's and Armistead's brigades as they began to
cross the stone fence. The Irishmen of the 69th Pennsylvania resisted
fiercely in a melee of rifle fire, bayonets, and fists. Webb, mortified that the 71st had retreated, attempted to bring the 72nd Pennsylvania (a Zouave
regiment) forward, but for some reason they did not obey the order, so
he had to bring other regiments in to help fill the gap. During the
fight, Lt. Cushing was killed as he shouted to his men, three bullets
striking him, the third in his mouth. The Confederates seized his two
guns and turned them to face the Union troops, but they had no
ammunition to fire. As more Union reinforcements arrived and charged
into the breach, the position became untenable and the Confederates
began to slip away individually, with no senior officers remaining to
call a formal retreat.
The monument on the Gettysburg Battlefield marking the approximate place where Armistead was fatally wounded. The wall behind the monument marks the Union lines.
The infantry assault lasted less than an hour. The supporting attack
by Wilcox and Lang on Pickett's right was never a factor; they did not
approach the Union line until after Pickett was defeated, and their
advance was quickly broken up by McGilvery's guns and by the Vermont
Brigade.
Aftermath
While
the Union lost about 1,500 killed and wounded, the Confederate casualty
rate was over 50%. Pickett's division suffered 2,655 casualties (498
killed, 643 wounded, 833 wounded and captured, and 681 captured,
unwounded). Pettigrew's losses are estimated to be about 2,700 (470
killed, 1,893 wounded, 337 captured). Trimble's two brigades lost 885
(155 killed, 650 wounded, and 80 captured). Wilcox's brigade
reported losses of 200, Lang's about 400. Thus, total losses during the
attack were 6,555, of which at least 1,123 Confederates were killed on
the battlefield, 4,019 were wounded, and a good number of the injured
were also captured. Confederate prisoner totals are difficult to
estimate from their reports; Union reports indicated that 3,750 men were
captured.
The casualties were also high among the commanders of the charge.
Trimble and Pettigrew were the most senior casualties of the day;
Trimble lost a leg, and Pettigrew received a minor wound to the hand
(only to die from a bullet to the abdomen suffered in a minor skirmish
during the retreat to Virginia).
In Pickett's division, 26 of the 40 field grade officers (majors,
lieutenant colonels, and colonels) were casualties—twelve killed or
mortally wounded, nine wounded, four wounded and captured, and one
captured.
All of his brigade commanders fell: Kemper was wounded seriously,
captured by Union soldiers, rescued, and then captured again during the
retreat to Virginia; Garnett and Armistead were killed. Garnett had a
previous leg injury and rode his horse during the charge, despite
knowing that conspicuously riding a horse into heavy enemy fire would
mean almost certain death. Armistead, known for leading his brigade with
his cap on the tip of his sword, made the farthest progress through the
Union lines. He was mortally wounded, falling near "The Angle" at what
is now called the High Water Mark of the Confederacy
and died two days later in a Union hospital. Ironically, the Union
troops that fatally wounded Armistead were under the command of his old
friend, Winfield S. Hancock,
who was himself severely wounded in the battle. Per his dying wishes,
Longstreet delivered Armistead's Bible and other personal effects to
Hancock's wife, Almira. Of the 15 regimental commanders in Pickett's division, the Virginia Military Institute produced 11 and all were casualties—six killed, five wounded.
Stuart's cavalry action in indirect support of the infantry
assault was unsuccessful. He was met and stopped by Union cavalry under
the command of Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg about three miles (5 km) to the east, in East Cavalry Field.
As soldiers straggled back to the Confederate lines along
Seminary Ridge, Lee feared a Union counteroffensive and tried to rally
his center, telling returning soldiers and Wilcox that the failure was
"all my fault". Pickett was inconsolable for the rest of the day and
never forgave Lee for ordering the charge. When Lee told Pickett to
rally his division for the defense, Pickett allegedly replied, "General,
I have no division."
The Union counteroffensive never came; the Army of the Potomac
was exhausted and nearly as damaged at the end of the three days as the
Army of Northern Virginia. Meade was content to hold the field. On July
4, the armies observed an informal truce and collected their dead and
wounded. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant accepted the surrender of the Vicksburg garrison along the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy in two. These two Union victories are generally considered the turning point of the Civil War.
History may never know the true story of Lee's intentions at
Gettysburg. He never published memoirs, and his after-action report from
the battle was cursory. Most of the senior commanders of the charge
were casualties and did not write reports. Pickett's report was
apparently so bitter that Lee ordered him to destroy it, and no copy has
been found.
The controversy over Lee's plans and his officers' implementation
of them have led historians to question whether the charge could have
succeeded if done differently. One study used a Lanchester model
to examine several alternative scenarios and their outcomes. The
results suggest that Lee could have captured a foothold on Cemetery
Ridge if he had committed several more infantry brigades to the charge;
but this likely would have left him with insufficient reserves to hold
or exploit the position.
Virginian newspapers praised Pickett's Virginia division as
making the most progress during the charge, and the papers used
Pickett's comparative success as a means of criticizing the actions of
the other states' troops during the charge. It was this publicity that
played a significant factor in selecting the name Pickett's Charge.
Pickett's military career was never the same after the charge, and he
was displeased about having his name attached to the repulsed charge. In
particular North Carolinians have long taken exception to the
characterizations and point to the poor performance of Brockenbrough's
Virginians in the advance as a major causative factor of failure.
Some historians have questioned the primacy of Pickett's role in the
battle. W. R. Bond wrote in 1888, "No body of troops during the last war
made as much reputation on so little fighting."
Additional controversy developed after the battle about Pickett's
personal location during the charge. The fact that fifteen of his
officers and all three of his brigadier generals were casualties while
Pickett managed to escape unharmed led many to question his proximity to
the fighting and, by implication, his personal courage. The 1993 film Gettysburg
depicts him observing on horseback from the Codori Farm at the
Emmitsburg Road, but there is no historical evidence to confirm this. It
was established doctrine in the Civil War that commanders of divisions
and above would "lead from the rear", while brigade and more junior
officers were expected to lead from the front, and while this was often
violated, there was nothing for Pickett to be ashamed of if he
coordinated his forces from behind.
Pickett's Charge became one of the iconic symbols of the literary and cultural movement known as the Lost Cause. William Faulkner, the quintessential Southern novelist, summed up the picture in Southern memory of this gallant but futile episode:
For every Southern boy fourteen
years old, not once but whenever he wants it, there is the instant when
it's still not yet two o'clock on that July afternoon in 1863, the
brigades are in position behind the rail fence, the guns are laid and
ready in the woods and the furled flags are already loosened to break
out and Pickett himself with his long oiled ringlets and his hat in one
hand probably and his sword in the other looking up the hill waiting for
Longstreet to give the word and it's all in the balance, it hasn't
happened yet, it hasn't even begun yet, it not only hasn't begun yet but
there is still time for it not to begin against that position and those
circumstances which made more men than Garnett and Kemper and Armistead
and Wilcox look grave yet it's going to begin, we all know that, we
have come too far with too much at stake and that moment doesn't need
even a fourteen-year-old boy to think This time. Maybe this time with
all this much to lose than all this much to gain: Pennsylvania,
Maryland, the world, the golden dome of Washington itself to crown with
desperate and unbelievable victory the desperate gamble, the cast made
two years ago.
The site of Pickett's Charge is one of the best-maintained portions of the Gettysburg Battlefield.
Despite millions of annual visitors to Gettysburg National Military
Park, very few have walked in the footsteps of Pickett's division. The National Park Service
maintains a neat, mowed path alongside a fence that leads from the
Virginia Monument on West Confederate Avenue (Seminary Ridge) due east
to the Emmitsburg Road in the direction of the Copse of Trees. Pickett's
division, however, started considerably south of that point, near the
Spangler farm, and wheeled to the north after crossing the road. In
fact, the Park Service pathway stands between the two main
thrusts of Longstreet's assault—Trimble's division advanced north of the
current path, while Pickett's division moved from farther south.
A cyclorama painting by the French artist Paul Philippoteaux entitled The Battle of Gettysburg, also known as the Gettysburg Cyclorama,
depicts Pickett's Charge from the vantage point of the Union defenders
on Cemetery Ridge. Completed and first exhibited in 1883, it is one of
the last surviving cycloramas in the United States. It was restored and
relocated to the new National Park Service Visitor Center in September
2008.
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