The Gruesome Reality of Pickett’s Charge Gettysburg

On July 3, 1863, Confederate officer James Francis “Frank” Crocker of the 9th Virginia Infantry stepped out onto the fields of Gettysburg with Armistead’s Brigade and began the deadly march remembered as Pickett’s Charge. He had been to Gettysburg before. But the first time, he wasn’t carrying a rifle. Thirteen years earlier, Crocker had been a student here. In 1850, he graduated as valedictorian from what is today Gettysburg College. He knew the town. He knew its streets. He knew its people. Now he was returning in a Confederate uniform. In this episode of History with Waffles, we walk Crocker’s route across the Gettysburg battlefield—from the Confederate position near Spangler’s Woods, across the open fields and Emmitsburg Road, and toward the stone wall at The Angle. Crocker later remembered the men around him falling like pins as the survivors closed their ranks and continued forward. Near The Angle, he watched Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead push toward the Union position. Then Crocker was hit. A bullet struck him in the right hip and sent him to the ground. Pickett’s Charge collapsed around him, the surviving Confederates retreated across the field, and Crocker was left behind. He was wounded, captured and now a prisoner of war. But Crocker’s Gettysburg story was about to become even stranger. Taken to the Bushman Farm with other Confederate wounded, Crocker looked up to see a familiar man standing over him: Professor Stover, one of the professors from the college Crocker had attended before the war. The Confederate officer had returned to the town where he once built his future—and after surviving one of the most famous attacks of the Civil War, the people he once knew were waiting for him. Walk the ground with us as we retrace the route of the 9th Virginia Infantry during Pickett’s Charge, cross Emmitsburg Road, approach The Angle, visit the 71st Pennsylvania position, and finally travel to the Bushman Farm to uncover one of Gettysburg’s most remarkable personal stories. This isn’t simply the story of Pickett’s Charge. It’s the story of a man who came to Gettysburg twice—once as a student preparing for his future, and once as an enemy soldier who nearly died in its fields. We stand where it happened. Subscribe to History with Waffles for more forgotten stories from Gettysburg, Antietam, Petersburg, Fredericksburg and America’s historic battlefields. #Gettysburg #PickettsCharge #CivilWar #GettysburgBattlefield #HistoryWithWaffles 00:00 He Fell During Pickett’s Charge—Then Came the Surprise 02:18 The Confederate Who Already Knew Gettysburg 03:11 Who Was James Francis Crocker? 05:10 He Nearly Died Before Gettysburg 06:33 The 9th Virginia’s Final Night Before Pickett’s Charge 08:14 Robert E. Lee’s Plan for July 3, 1863 11:29 Where the 9th Virginia Began Pickett’s Charge 14:15 Walking the Path of the 9th Virginia 17:03 Men Began Falling Like Pins 22:40 The Final Approach to the Union Line 25:44 Crossing Emmitsburg Road Under Fire 29:40 Crocker Reaches The Angle—and Goes Down 31:31 The 71st Pennsylvania Captures the 9th Virginia Flag 33:17 A Confederate Prisoner Who Knew Gettysburg 35:17 The Familiar Face Waiting at Bushman Farm 38:36 From Gettysburg to a Civil War Prison Camp 40:48 He Came to Gettysburg Twice