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| Joined: | Wed Jun 13th, 2007 |
| Location: | North Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 420 |
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That thought never occurred to me.
The 6th Corps was a very good corps under Gen. John Sedgwick. His men loved him, called him 'Uncle John.' Don't think anybody called Howard, for example, 'Uncle Oh-Oh." Sedgwick was considered by some to be as good a corps commander as Reynolds or Hancock.
I'd forgotten that the 6th Corps marched 35 miles in 19 hours, always thought it was about 20 some miles in about 24 hours. As it was, they marched nearly two miles per hour for 19 straight hours, an awesome military feat.
The march brought about 13,000 men to the field on July 2 (it was the largest corps in the AofP) and was used primarily as Meade's reserve at Gettysburg. The entire corps lost only about 240 men in the battle since the corps was never fully committed at any point. Meade would take 6th Corps brigades as needed to fill gaps or extend lines. This frustrated Sedgwick, who at one point said, "I might as well go home."