Farnsworth's Cavalry Charge
July 3, 1863 - Third Day
"...each man felt, as he tightened his saber belt, that he was summoned to ride to death."
Capt. H.C. Parsons, U.S.A.
1st Vermont Cavalry, Farnsworth's Brigade
One of the last, and most futile, engagements at Gettysburg occurred here at the end of the third day. Union cavalry commanded by Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick had moved into this area to harass the rear and right of the Confederate line. To the north, the Confederates in Pickett's Charge had been badly beaten, but the Southern position here remained strong.
About 5:00 p.m., Kilpatrick ordered Brig. Gen. Elon J. Farnsworth to lead a cavalry charge against a line of Confederate infantry in the fields and woods surrounding the Slyder Farm in front of you. Farnsworth protested, believing it would be suicidal for cavalry to attack foot soldiers over ground obstructed by fences, boulders, ditches, and timber.
Kilpatrick, who boasted cavalry could "fight anywhere except at sea," would not reconsider. Farnsworth obeyed and rode off with some 300 troopers. Encountering deadly fire on all sides, horsemen were shot from their saddles like ducks in a shooting gallery. General Farnsworth fell on the rugged hillside to your right with five mortal wounds, and, it is said, with his saber raised.
Marker is on South Confederate Avenue, on the left when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
