On July 3, 1863, Union forces successfully repulsed a massive Confederate infantry assault known as Pickett’s Charge on the final, bloody day of the Battle of Gettysburg. More than 12,000 Confederate soldiers marched across open fields directly into a wall of Union artillery and musket fire, decimating General Robert E. Lee’s offensive capabilities.
A heartbreaking and poignant detail of this clash is that it featured a rare instance of lifelong best friends fighting directly against one another for the fate of a nation. Union General Winfield Scott Hancock (left), who commanded the Union center, was exceptionally close with Confederate General Lewis Armistead (right), who led the charging brigade. Although Hancock had been severely wounded earlier in the assault and was no longer standing directly at the stone wall, Armistead fell mortally wounded while breaking through the exact sector his old friend was responsible for defending. As he lay dying, Armistead recognized a Union officer on Hancock’s staff, Captain Henry Bingham. He entrusted Bingham with his personal effects and a message, asking that they be delivered safely to his beloved northern friend.
