This Cannon Was Civil War Game Changer

Teams of horses from four Confederate batteries churned the ground with their hooves as they pulled artillery onto the southern crest of Benner’s Hill just east of Gettysburg at 4 pm, July 2, 1863. Once the Southern artillerymen had dropped their guns, they began loading and firing against the Union lines more than three-quarters of a mile away. The batteries belonged to Andrews’ Artillery Battalion of Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson’s Division of Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell’s II Corps. The crews were under orders to make a strong show of force against the Union units opposite them. The purpose of the demonstration was to pin down Yankees units that might otherwise have been sent to reinforce the Union left, which was at the time under heavy assault by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s I Corps.