Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to episode 318 of our Civil War Podcast.

I'm Rich.

And I'm Tracy.

Hello y'all.

Welcome to the podcast.

As you guys will recall in the last episode, we looked at the beginning of the fighting

at Gettysburg on the morning of Wednesday, July 1st, 1863, between the Confederate Infantry

of Harry Heath's division and John Buford's Union Cavalry men, there along the Chambersburg

Pike, just northwest of town.

The first contact between Heath's men and Buford's troopers came about 730 AM.

Archers Brigade at the head of the Confederate column, after making contact with the enemy,

shook out skirmishers and before long, both sides were popping away at each other, while

a Confederate cannon deployed and added its booming voice to the mix.

Heath had around 7,500 men in his division, supported by about that same number in Dorsey

Pender's division, which was coming up behind him.

But a few pesky Yankee cavalry pickets weren't a problem that required shaking out a major

battle line, so Heath kept his division in column of March, there on the Chambersburg

Pike.

It was just ahead the Confederate skirmishers, slowly but steadily, worked their way forward,

firing their muzzle-loading muskets.

The dismounted federal cavalry troopers stubbornly resisted the advance of the rebel skirmishers,

firing back with their single-shot breech-loading carbines.

...