Pickett’s Charge – Today In Southern History
3 July 1863
3 July 1863
On this date in 1863…
Confederate generals George Pickett and John Pettigrew launched their divisions on a doomed charge up Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. After ineffective artillery fire began the battle, Pickets Division was practically destroyed by massed federal rifle and artillery fire, but even still managed to reach and briefly take a small part of the federal line before being repulsed by a counter attack.
Other Years:
1724 – Frenchman Etienne Veniard de Bourgmont left Fort Orleans to meet with the Padoucas tribe in an effort to establish peace and trade with them. He is accompanied by 100 Missouri and 64 Osage warriors.
1775 – Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army.
1861 – Colonel Thomas J. Jackson received his commission as brigadier general in the Confederate Army
1913 – Confederate veterans at the Great Gettysburg Reunion of 1913 reenacted Pickett’s Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they were met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors
1962 – Jackie Robinson of Cairo, Georgia became the first black player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
1966 – The Atlanta Braves’ Tony Cloninger, became the first National League player and only pitcher to hit 2 grand slams in a MLB game beating the San Fransisco Giants
1970 – The Atlanta International Pop Festival opened with 200,000 attendance, performers included the Allman Brothers, Grand Funk Railroad, and Jimi Hendrix
1983 – Calvin Smith of Bolton, MS set new a world record of 9.93 seconds for the 100m Dash in Colorado Springs
1990 – The members of the 2 Live Crew rap group were formally charged with obscenity in Florida.
1994 – According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, This is the deadliest day in Texas traffic history, with forty-six people were killed in crashes on the state’s highways.
1997 – Mississippi became the first state to settle the tobacco lawsuit.
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