The so-called Brooklyn 14th Militia Regiment is a militia regiment formed in Brooklyn, New York, whose members are mainly local abolitionists, generally local citizens, and their education is relatively high, and many of them have also received military school education.

The most impressive thing about this unit is their uniform, they did not wear the traditional blue uniform of the Northern Army, but wore a kind of clothing similar to that of French hunters, the biggest feature is that most of them wear red flat hats, blue shirts and red pants, so they also have a nickname, called "Red Legs Devil".

If it is just a maverick in clothing, it will not be too outstanding, the key is that this unit has strong combat effectiveness, since the day of its birth, it has participated in a series of brutal battles on the Eastern Front, has always been brave and good at fighting, has never flinched, is a steel force.

That is, with this unit called the militia regiment, but in fact this is an urban mercenary, which has been in the army for a long time, has rich combat experience, and is disciplined and tenacious, far from being comparable to those volunteers who are temporarily conscripted for several months.

Although the name is the Brooklyn Fourteenth Militia Regiment, in the regular combat sequence, this regiment is actually called the New York 84th Infantry Regiment, which belongs to the East Rail Brigade of New York State, and the East Rail Brigade of New York State is one of the two strongest brigades that the Northern Army can fight, and it just so happens that this East Rail Brigade is under the command of General Meade, stationed on the ridge of the cemetery.

The 14th Militia Regiment, nicknamed the Red Leg Devil, was the most capable regiment in the East Rail Brigade, so it was placed in the third trench defense line by Mead.

The current commander of the 14th Militia Regiment is Edward. Colonel Fowler, after he found that the large forces of the Union Army were charging over with casualties, he had no intention of retreating at all, but drew his Colt pistol and a command knife, and did not say much nonsense, but simply shouted: "Charge!" ”

With his roar, all the soldiers in the third line of defense climbed up from the trench with their rifles already loaded with bayonets. Instead of retreating, they rushed towards the attacking coalition army.

The soldiers in front rushed forward, and those behind hurriedly climbed up the trench and continued to rush forward, and none of them retreated, bursting with great courage.

The charge of this army also surprised the coalition army, plus they were on the back attack, and they had been baptized by the rain of artillery fire and shells before, so their morale was not as high as when they first set off. Now seeing the enemy suddenly rushing over, many people subconsciously shuddered.

However, after all, the attacking coalition army was also battle-hardened, and they quickly reacted and began to fight with the approaching Brooklyn 14th Militia Regiment.

As the two sides charged, the collision soon occurred, and in this regard, due to the combat experience of the 14th Brooklyn Militia Regiment, it was recuperated and condescending. So it quickly gained the upper hand, and it was only a charge that rushed the opposing coalition army down, and then a brutal melee ensued.

Infantry charge in this era. It's usually a bayonet battle, and this kind of large-scale bayonet battle has no skills, the key is to see who is more ruthless and who is faster. Who's more numerous.

Although the offensive strength of the coalition army was large, because it was not easy to deploy troops here on the third line of defense on the cemetery ridge, the number of soldiers accommodated was certain. This can only be a refueling tactic, so whoever is more ruthless and fiercer will generally have a greater chance of winning.

If it were other Union troops, it would be fine, but the people of the Fourteenth Brooklyn Militia Regiment were not ordinary people who could fight, especially in close combat, which made the Union Army even more in awe.

Sure enough, after less than twenty minutes of fighting, the coalition army could not support it, and at first a very small number of people fled, but it soon turned into a rout.

This is the characteristic of white-knuckle warfare in this era, brutal, intense, and short in duration!

Although the results of white-knuckle combat are not necessarily higher than those of shooting at each other, the spiritual oppression of people is quite strong, so generally speaking, unless both sides are tenacious ace troops, as long as one side is slightly worse, it will immediately be a complete collapse, a bit like gambling on the size.

defeated the attack of the coalition army, and I don't know if it was because of the red eye or other reasons, the members of this regiment actually did not stop, and chased after the rout and rushed directly to kill, and actually played a counter-charge.

The commander of the East Rail Brigade, Walter Jr. When General Phelps saw this, he was worried that the regiment had rushed too much, so he hurriedly asked the 22nd and 24th Infantry Regiments to follow, with the intention of letting them take over the crazy 14th Militia Regiment and let them rush back as soon as possible, but he did not know that his order directly set off the climax of this war.

You must know that the alliance army has always been the main attack, so they have done a very loose job in defense, and basically have not done any defensive measures. And the coalition army has long been exhausted after many attacks, and the consumption of both physical energy and morale is not small.

Comparatively speaking, although the infantry of the 14th Militia Regiment had been resisting before, they were far superior to their opponents in terms of physique, energy, and morale.

Therefore, if one loses the other, this counter-charge goes on, and once it wins, chasing the other party's tail and rushing, it will make this rout bigger and bigger, and gradually spread.

As a result, after the attacking team of the coalition army was all dispersed, when they saw that the other party did not stop, they kept running, and soon ran to their rear, and when they saw their own position, they instinctively ran towards their own position.

There is no doubt that in this way, their own positions were quickly dispersed by these routs, and they became a mess, and then, whether they petitioned or reluctantly, they were also coerced by this momentum and joined the rout sequence.

The 14th Militia Regiment that began to pursue at this time was also a little frightened, and the speed of the pursuit began to slow down, after all, their tactics were not very particular about chasing and chasing and killing the rout, but the opportunity was rare, and seeing that their commander did not have the order to stop the army, they had to continue to rush.

This rush, they suddenly found that the opposite side had no resistance and then collapsed, and as a result, they easily regained the previously lost position.

It seemed that victory came too easily, and the troops of the whole regiment also lost their temperament, and seeing that the other side was still running, they continued to roar angrily, and rushed after the rout again.

The 22nd and 24th Infantry Regiments were originally rushing over to meet them, but they were shocked to see that the 14th Militia Regiment was so violent, and more than 1,000 people actually ran away with four or five thousand enemy troops. also hurried to keep up, for fear that his comrades-in-arms would make a mistake, which would make it seem like a large army counterattack.

The rout of the Union Army ran and ran, and found that the rear still did not stop, there was no way, so keep running, and as a result, the original first line of defense of the Union Army, that is, the second line of defense of the Union Army, was broken.

On the side of the original first line of defense of the Federation Army, it is already the rear of the Union Army, so there are a large number of reinforcements and logistics troops here. General Pixar's headquarters was also here, which was meant to show his bravery and facilitate the command of his troops.

However, this time, in the face of the rout of more than 5,000 people, the Alliance Army without this experience was also stunned, and it was too late to let them stop, and without paying attention, they let the rout of the Alliance Army rush over.

The result can be imagined, these routs are panicked and no longer know why they are running. I only know how to run, especially when I see my own people, I run there hard, once I rush into the barracks. Immediately disrupted your own defensive formation.

It is especially important to mention here that when the Coalition Army first attacked the third line of defense, it was already close to ten minutes of dusk, which went through a series of battles. By the time the 14th Militia Regiment of the Federal Army rushed over, the sky was already very dark, and the guide's vision was unclear. This also makes it difficult for the defending troops to figure out how many enemies there are.

The troops of the 14th Militia Regiment pursued them in this way, and did not shoot much, but kept chasing the tail of the deserters with bayonets, driving the routs to continue running.

General Pixar originally wanted to come out and reorganize the troops, but in fact, with his prestige, it was not difficult to reorganize the troops in time.

However, I don't know if it was bad luck or what, not long after he showed up, a stray bullet hit him in the head, ending his life in one fell swoop. The funniest thing is that this bullet was not fired by the enemy, but by his own people.

In other words, General Pixar died at the hands of his own men.

The sudden death of General Pixar directly paralyzed the command structure, if this unit was still General Pixar's old unit, if it was still daytime, it might be better, but the reality is that this unit is a mixed force with the Sharps infantry brigade, and the command itself has not been run in well, so it suddenly fell into a chaos.

There was no backbone, no timely and effective orders, and the onslaught of the rout, so the coalition forces here put up a slight resistance, and after firing a row of guns at the enemy, they found that they could not stop the wave of the other party's charge, and in fear, they also turned back and ran away with the large army.

At this time, the number of soldiers who fled from less than 5,000 nearly doubled at once, and more than 8,000 people ran backwards together.

These more than 8,000 people are still those who can escape, and there are many injured and unable to run, most of them stayed in the local area and surrendered, so if we add those dead and wounded and those who surrendered, it can be said that an army of more than 10,000 people was completely defeated by a regiment of more than 1,000 people.

Although there are such and such reasons for this result, such as the alliance army is too careless, too tired, it is getting late, and the other side is not expected to be so bold, but no matter what the reason, failure is failure.

"Colonel!" A big pant major finds his commander Edward. Fowler, "All our positions have been regained, and everyone can't run anymore, do you see, don't you stop?" ”

"No way!" Edward, who was also panting. Fowler wiped the sweat and blood from his face, and said with a fanatical expression, "The enemy has collapsed, how can you let go of such a good opportunity?" Order the troops, keep chasing me, and don't let them have a chance to breathe! We don't need to care about anything else, we just need to chase and chase, just chase hard! ”

"But, if you chase any further, you'll run into their big army." The major hesitated, "After all, we are only a thousand people, what if one of us is not careful, they react and we are surrounded?" ”

"Afraid of what?" Edward. Fowler gritted his teeth and said, "It's so dark, who knows how many of us there are?" Besides, don't we have reinforcements behind us? Anyway, leave it alone, carry out the order, and continue the pursuit! ”

Finding that his commander was resolute, the major was still a little worried, but he obeyed the order and continued to rush forward with his troops.

In this way, all the officers and men of the 14th Brooklyn Militia Regiment did not stop at all, and after recovering all the lost territory, they actually took the initiative to chase them out and continued to charge behind the rout.

In fact, at this time, it can't be said that it is chasing after the rout. Because there are still many routs that fall behind this 14th militia regiment, after all, the environment is too chaotic.

However, as mentioned earlier, the characteristics of the 14th Brooklyn Militia Regiment are quite obvious, red hats and red pants, it is difficult to admit mistakes, and the Union Army is now completely dizzy, and they can't raise any interest in counterattacking at all, so they will only keep running and running, trying to avoid this group of evil stars. This leads to a situation where the chaotic situation has not stopped.

"Oh God, what's this for?" The commander of the 22nd Infantry Regiment in the back was also terrified, "They, they actually regained all the lost ground with one regiment?" And, and looking at it like this, it seems that they are going to continue to fight? Chased out? ”

"Who knows." An adjutant next to him shrugged his shoulders, "Colonel, what do we do now?" Do you want to chase them out? ”

"Damn it!" The colonel twisted his hat hard. "Send a few men back to report the situation here to General Meade, and as for us...... Pursue! Let's chase it too! Hmph, the group of red-legged soldiers of the 84th Regiment dared to do this. Why wouldn't we? Pass the order, leave those prisoners alone, gather the whole army, and rush out! ”

It was not only the 22nd Infantry Regiment that made this decision. The other 24th Infantry Regiment made almost the same decision, that is, regardless of it, followed the 84th Regiment. That is, behind the Fourteenth Militia Regiment in Brooklyn, continue to charge.

In this way, the three volunteer regiments of the Union Army, with a total of more than 3,000 people, ran out after more than 8,000 people, and chased them all the way to the rear of the Union Army. Lee's main position, that is, the artillery position, was in front of it.

However, to Robert. After Lee's main position, maybe those Confederate troops were tired of running, or maybe it was Robert. Lee's camp was heavily guarded, and instead of running any further, the routs scattered and fled.

This is also related to the change of terrain, after all, they were attacking the cemetery ridge before, the terrain was narrow, the sky was unknown, and it was not easy to scatter and escape, so they ran backwards together, but after they ran out of the cemetery ridge position, the terrain immediately became empty, so that the rout had more escape routes and more choices.

Once the rout is not large-scale, it is difficult to disrupt its own position. Lee has always been more cautious, at least in the defense of the camp, so after discovering the rout in time, although they still don't quite understand what is happening in front of them, in order to avoid being impulsive, they all shoot out decisively, regardless of whether you are wearing Union clothes or not.

The sound of gunfire and artillery soon shook the routed soldiers of the Union army, and they also came to their senses, and changed the direction of their flight, no longer running towards their own camp, but running in both directions.

As soon as the rout dispersed, the soldiers of the Fourteenth Brooklyn Militia Regiment, who were pursuing in the rear, soon discovered the brightly lit camp in front of them, and they slowly stopped without giving orders.

The Fourteenth Brooklyn Militia Regiment here stopped for a while, and the 22nd and 24th Regiments followed one after another, and at the same time discovered that the situation was not good, so they also began to stop the prospect and began to reorganize the troops.

By this time, the three regiments had found themselves a little reckless, so they planned to retreat, but unfortunately they had delayed too long, giving the Union troops sufficient time to react, so when they were about to retreat, suddenly there was the sound of horses' hooves shaking the mountains.

"Cavalry, it's cavalry!" The Union Army was quick to react.

That's right, it was the cavalry, this cavalry, one of the aces of the Confederate Northern Virginia Regiment - James. Stewart's Independent Cavalry Division!

It turned out that Robert. After Li found out about the chaos in front of him, he immediately grabbed a rout and asked about the situation, but unfortunately the rout couldn't say it clearly, only saying that the other party launched a counterattack and they failed.

In the absence of definite news, and the fact that it was dark, Robert . . . Lee simply ordered to hold his position tightly, and at the same time ordered James to keep his position. Stewart's independent cavalry division attacked for nothing but to find out what was true to the enemy.

In order to avoid losses, the separate cavalry division dispatched a whole regiment of cavalry and began a large-scale reconnaissance operation.

Using a regiment of cavalry to do reconnaissance is also a big deal, but there is no way, now that the sky is dark and the enemy situation is unknown, it is indeed safer to have a little more people.

The arrival of the cavalry made the three regiments of the Federation Army a little uneasy, and they immediately instinctively formed a quadrangular hollow array. to prevent the cavalry from charging into formation.

In the mainstream military thought of this era, the quadripartite hollow array is the only means for infantry to defend against cavalry, and it is also the most effective means for infantry troops to learn, so they quickly arranged a quadripartite hollow phalanx to deal with the arrival of cavalry.

The cavalry came quickly, they all carried torches, and soon found out about the current situation, after which they began to circle along these phalanxes. It didn't take long to get a rough idea of the approximate number of the current enemy.

When the cavalry found that there were only about three regiments here, they did not stop and continued to run to the rear, apparently they did not think that there were only three regiments here.

Waiting for the cavalry immediately, these troops carefully maintained the formation of the hollow phalanx and retreated cautiously, hoping to leave here as soon as possible and return to their defensive positions.

However, the cavalry soon came again. Circling around the periphery of these phalanxes, it was obvious that there were only more than 3,000 people here.

"Damn it!" Colonel Henry, the commander of the 24th Regiment, cursed loudly, "It's good to stay in the position honestly, you have to come out." Well, now let's all be unlucky! ”

Hearing the colonel say this, the adjutant next to him pursed his lips and thought to himself. It's not that you're greedy for merit, or else people wouldn't have forced you out.

In short, now the shape shì suddenly reversed. The three regiments ran out of their positions and into an open area, with Robert in front of them. Lee's camp was surrounded by cavalry eyeing him, and if he wanted to return to his own position, he would have to walk at least two kilometers, that is, four miles.

Two kilometers usually doesn't look far, but if you walk, it will take more than half an hour, but the problem is that there is a regiment of cavalry around them, which makes it impossible for them to go back safely.

Because in such an open area, especially at night, if one is not careful, there is not any scum left that can be eaten by one cavalry regiment in the position of three infantry regiments.

In 1862, although cavalry had become an auxiliary arm and could not compete head-on with infantry, it depended.

Frontal hard charge, in today's development of strong artillery, it is indeed looking for death, but if it is to deter and delay an infantry unit, the role of cavalry is quite prominent.

This is because, although the infantry is stronger than the cavalry in terms of firepower, they must form a formation, and once they are charged by the cavalry during the march, those are useless.

The three regiments that the Federation Army rushed out of were all experienced in combat, so they naturally knew the current situation, so they were cautious, and later saw that the cavalry kept wandering around, so they simply did not leave.

In other words, they had given up relying on their own strength to return to their positions, but asked the three regiments to rely on each other and hold on to the place in the form of a hollow phalanx.

Edward. Fowler and the others are quite confident in this, after all, they have just rushed out, and I believe that the people in the rear will definitely know the situation on their side, and they will definitely send reinforcements, and when the reinforcements come over, they will be much safer.

Their idea was very good, but alas, they were far from Robert. Lee's camp was closer, so in terms of the speed of information transfer, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Virginia Legion, Robert Brown. Lee's response was quicker.

After understanding in general what was happening ahead, and especially after knowing that there were only three regiments in front, Robert . Li didn't get angry, didn't get angry, just gloomy for a moment, and then quickly made arrangements.

His arrangement was simple, that is, two brigades were dispatched at once, and the three trapped regiments were captured from two sides, and two brigades were also sent between the Union Army and the three Union Army infantry regiments, which were counted as frontal offensive troops.

That is to say, Robert. Lee dispatched four infantry brigades at once to encircle and suppress the current three daring Union infantry regiments, among which there was also an elite Sharps rifle brigade.

Relatively speaking, although General Mead also got the news, after all, the distance is far away, and he is still in the mountains, so the reaction is not as good as that of Robert. Lee, so after clarifying what was going on ahead, Robert. Lee's transfer was done long ago.

In other words, by the time General Mead received more definite information, four brigades of the Union Army had already surrounded the three regiments that had just made a big move.

Now, General Mead had only two options before him: to send troops to the rescue quickly, or to stand still and let the three regiments be eaten by the four brigades of the Northern Virginia Legion, so as to delay himself so that he could reorganize his defensive position.

However, it seems to be two choices, but in fact there is only one choice, because if he lets the three regiments be eaten and does not go to the rescue, then even if he can hold his position in the end, he will face accusations after the war, no way, who let this be the United States.

Therefore, General Mead can only choose to send troops to the rescue, even if he loses the victory because of this! (To be continued......)