"Who Was First at Gettysburg?" Topic

"When one thinks of the red corps badge of the First Division, First Corps of the Army of the Potomac, the mind immediately jumps to everyone's favorite black hat wearing westerners, the First Brigade, the Iron Brigade. However, another group of men wore that same badge – the Second Brigade, First Division. These men served under the same corps badge but lacked the distinctive reputation. Though they were almost all hard-fought veteran regiments, they were only recently placed in the same brigade together by the time of Gettysburg. This brigade, under the command of Brigadier General Lysander Cutler, was comprised of the 76th New York, 56th Pennsylvania, 147th New York, 95th New York, 7th Indiana, and the 84th New York, better known as the 14th Brooklyn. The 7th Indiana was temporarily detached from the brigade to guard the wagon train and did not rejoin the others until after the fateful fighting on the first day, but the rest of the brigade faced hell on July 1 and never received the acclaim their sister brigade did. They led the division into combat at Gettysburg, but receive much less coverage in the historiography of the battle. Naturally, cavalry under Brigadier General John Buford were clearly the first Union troops engaged, but that didn't keep (infantry) commanders and veterans from insisting the "real" battle didn't start until infantry arrived. As such, arguments began about which element of the First Division arrived first and "opened" the battle…"
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Amicalement
Armand

"When one thinks of the red corps badge of the First Division, First Corps of the Army of the Potomac, the mind immediately jumps to everyone's favorite black hat wearing westerners.."

This is rather silly. If you know anything about the battle you DON'T think it.

The reason they didn't get the acclaim their sister brigade did is because they didn't perform as well as their sister brigade did. Its as simple as that. That's not to disparage Cutler's brigade or the men in it. They just didn't fight as well given their circumstances.

Thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand