rps, had climbed into the steeple of the seminary
to obtain a view of the surrounding country. At 11.30 A.M. he
learned that General Reynolds was killed, and that the command of
the three corps (the First, Eleventh, and Third) constituting the
Left Wing of the army devolved upon him by virtue of his rank. He
saw that the First Corps was contending against large odds and sent
back for the Eleventh Corps to come up at double-quick. Upon
assuming command of the Left Wing he turned over his own corps to
Major-General Carl Schurz, who then gave up the command of his
division to General Barlow. Howard notified General Meade of
Reynolds' death, but forgot to take back or modify the false
statement he had made about the First Corps, now engaged before
his eyes, in a most desperate contest with a largely superior force;
so that General Meade was still left under the impression that the
First Corps had fled from the field.

Howard also sent a request to Slocum, who was at Two Taverns, only
about five miles from Gettysburg, to come forward, but Slocum
declined, without orders from Meade. He probably thought if any
one commander could assume the direction of other corps, he might
antagonize the plans of the General-in-Chief.

Upon receiving the news of the death of General Reynolds and the
disorder which it was supposed had been created by that event,
General Meade superseded Howard by sending his junior officer,
General Hancock, to assume command of the field, with directions
to notify him of the condition of affairs at the front. He also
ordered General John Newton of the Sixth Corps to take command of
the First Corps.

The head of the Eleventh Corps reached Gettysburg at 12.45 P.M.,
and the rear at 1.45 P.M. Schimmelpfennig's division led the way,
followed by that of Barlow. The two were directed to prolong the
line of the First Corps to the right along Seminary Ridge. The
remaining division, that of Steinwehr, with the reserve artillery
under Major Osborne, were ordered to occupy Cemetery Hill, in rear
of Gettysburg, as a reserve to the entire line. Before this
disposition could be carried out, however, Buford rode up to me
with the information that his scouts reported the advance of Ewell's
corps from Heidlersburg directly on my right flank. I sent a staff
officer to communicate this intelligence to General Howard, with
a message that I would endeavor to hold my ground against A. P.
Hill's corps if he could, by