d fallen over the battlefield. The muskets over at Culp's Hill had ceased, the firing at the Round Tops and peach orchard had died, and fighting began around where the national cemetery is today. Artillery fire began around the peach orchard. It was the signal Lee's army was waiting for. Every man under Lee's command jumped into action and was ready to fight. 140 cannons fired to begin the most fierce fighting yet. When the Confederate line was established, every musket went off. The loudest noise you ever heard. The bombardment had begun. Yet this was a massive bombardment, it was not what Lee had expected. The Confederate guns shot too high and the Federal infantry suffered little. The cannons stopped after and hour due to lack of ammunition. The great smoke in the valley was lifted and the sight of men appeared again (The Civil War:Catton 222-231, 239-242, 247).Hancock's line was ready when he saw the Confederates attacking from the west. Then there it was. Lee's 15,000 men in perfect double and triple ranks running for a mile from the Round Tops to Culp's Hill, with Picketts division as the head. All guns were silent to watch this grandeur of war. Brigadier General Lewis Aristead was leading Pickett's charge. Their designation was a "little clump of trees" on Cemetery Ridge. When the rebels got within range, the Federal muskets went off. The right end of the assaulting rebels was crushed to pieces before they were even close enough to fire. The same happened to the northern end of Frenzel, 10 the line (Foote 74-83). Then the Union Artillery got into the action filled with canister. Men fell in hundreds. Longstreet remarked to a British observer that the charge would fail. When finally in range around the clump of trees, the Confederates began their fire. The fighting raged furiously. Confederates jumped the stone wall and were fighting hand-to-hand. At this moment it looked as ...
