The North Mountain Historical Society

Meeting: July 2003

A school teacher who lives in Fishkill, New York, and his brother who lives in Sugarloaf (near Hazleton), came to the Brass Pelican July 23 as part of the North Mountain Historical Society's monthly series of speakers. The discussion involved the importance of Robert Bruce Ricketts' participation in the second and third days of the Battle of Gettysburg. Mickey and Terry Gallagher were entertaining speakers and kept the packed restaurant at a hushed level as the famed local resident's story unfolded. We'll tell you a little about the engrossing tale told yesterday, but we'll tell you right up front that the Gallagher brothers have agreed to provide a transcript to the Benton News for publication at a later date. As a result, we will not attempt to duplicate the talk given yesterday.

Robert Bruce Ricketts (1839-1918), son of Elijah Green Ricketts, Orangeville and Long Pond (now Ganoga Lake), longed to be an attorney but instead was mustered (enlisted) into military service as a private in 1861. In less than a month, on August 5, he was promoted to First Lieutenant. On May 8, 1863, he made Captain and on June 1 Ricketts assumed command of three officers and 141 men in what became known as Rickett's Battery. A month later at Gettysburg, one hundred and forty years ago, the man commanded a battery of men responsible for six guns of a regiment in a role the Gallagher Brothers felt was significantly underplayed in American History. And after Gettysburg, Ricketts participated in the war for two additional years.

The Gallaghers recalled how on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg lines were drawn in two sweeping parallel arcs. Some soldiers had walked 30 miles in 24 hours in the July heat to get to the battlefield, many soldiers were without water, food or shoes, many had fought the entire previous day and were on the verge of exhaustion. The Confederate and Union armies faced each other a mile apart. The Union forces extending along Cemetery Ridge to Culp's Hill formed the shape of a fish-hook, and the Confederate forces were spread along Seminary Ridge. General Robert E. Lee ordered General James Longstreet to attack the Union's southern flank, aiming for the hills at the southernmost end of Cemetery Ridge. These hills, known as the Little Round Top and Big Round Top would have given the Confederates a good vantage point from which to ravage the Union line. The Gallaghers made the point that the three Southern Corps Commanders, Ewell, Hill and Lee all had their share of problems; i.e., Ewell had an amputated leg and rode around in a wagon to command his troops; General A. P. Hill had a "social sickness," and was essentially out for the year; General Lee suffered a slight heart attack and was hospitalized. That left clear-thinking General Longstreet who disagreed with Lee's orders, hoping that the cavalry under the command of General J.E.B. Stuart would soon come up with the army to participate in the attack. Longstreet was slow to advance on the hills. About the same time of day, 4 PM or so, Ricketts arrived and his battery was put "in reserve." Cannon fire began about 4 PM as Ricketts began defending the Baltimore Pike, an essential Northern Army prime supply route. The "Louisiana Tigers," the 9th infantry regiment of Louisiana volunteers consisting mostly of farmers from North and Central Louisiana, proved a worthy opponent for Ricketts Battery. We'll let you wait for the transcript for the "rest of the story," but until then if you want more on the subject, try...
• "An Encounter with Battery Hell," by Pete Tomasak, as published in Gettysburg Magazine No. 12, DATED JANUARY 1, 1995.
• "Ricketts' Battery" was authored by Civil War historian Peter Tomasak and Dr. Richard A. Sauers. The book is a complete history of the Battery, its members and its leaders from its 1861 recruitment until its final mustering out in 1865. The Battery under the command of Robert Bruce Ricketts participated in the battles of Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville and many other Civil War engagements.

The History Buffs were entertained by three numbers by Elmer Hunter, Shickshinny Lake. He was joined for the first number by his wife, Bernadyne, and together they played and sang "Paper Pins." Elmer then sang "Silver Haired Daddy of Mine."

The July speakers: Mickey and Terry Gallagher		The July Music: Elmer & Bernadyne Hunter

Picture courtesy of Richard Shoemaker
The rifle now owned by Mickey Gallagher similiar to ones serving Union troops on July 2, 1863, as part of Robert Bruce Ricketts' Battery F.		The gracious manager of the Brass Pelican, Monica Diltz.