Fall Sunday Afternoon Program – October 12, 2025

“The Pettigrew – Trimble Charge of July 3”.

LBG Jim Hessler

Although General George Pickett’s division has received the majority of historical attention in Robert E. Lee’s failed July 3 assault, the partial divisions under Johnston Pettigrew and Isaac Trimble played equally critical roles during the attack. Our battle walk will focus on many of the July 3 debates and controversies such as Lee’s objectives for the attack, what troops participated on the Confederate left and why, James Longstreet’s role in managing A.P. Hill’s troops, the Federal defense by Alexander Hays’s division and regiments such as the 8th Ohio, and the post-war debates between Virginia and North Carolina veterans over who deserved the greatest “credit”. After attending, you will have a better appreciation for the true size and scale of Lee’s July 3 attack and Meade’s defense.

Meeting Place: We will meet near the North Carolina Monument on West Confederate Avenue. This will be a walking tour of approximately one mile (one way) on the NPS-mowed path leading from the Tennessee Monument through the Bliss farm and eventually end near the Brian farm on Cemetery Ridge.

Acknowledgement of Risks