On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee ordered attacks against the Union's flanks, triggering ferocious fighting at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, and Devil's Den. Union forces held their ground at heavy cost, setting the stage for Pickett's Charge the following day and the eventual Confederate defeat.
Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine held the extreme left of the Union line atop Little Round Top, running so low on ammunition that Chamberlain ordered a desperate bayonet charge downhill that broke the Confederate assault. It was one of the most consequential improvisations of the entire war, preserving the Union army's flank at the moment it seemed about to collapse.
Elsewhere the fighting was just as savage. The Wheatfield changed hands six times in a matter of hours, and the Peach Orchard became a killing ground for General Daniel Sickles' exposed Third Corps after he advanced without orders. By nightfall, roughly 9,000 more men lay dead, wounded, or missing, adding to a death toll that would make Gettysburg the costliest battle ever fought in North America.
Key people: Robert E. Lee, Joshua Chamberlain, Daniel Sickles, George Meade