On the right in McPherson's Grove arrived the famed "Iron" Brigade under Solomon Meredith. Seeing the threat of Archer's men seizing the key wooded position, Reynolds himself urged two regiments in to push the Confederates back. While riding with them into the woods, Reynolds shouted, "Forward! men, forward! for God's sake, and drive those fellows out of the woods!" (Hassler, 1970, p. 40). Turning around to observe the other regiments coming up, the Union Left-Wing commander was killed by a stray minie-ball that entered the back of the head and exited under the eye. At approximately 10:15 a.m. the 43-year-old famed Union general was killed instantly. Major General Abner Doubleday would assume command of the entire I Corps, with Brigadier General Thomas Rowley succeeding Doubleday in command of his division (Coddington, 1968).
(It is important here to note that Reynolds, upon surveying the ground, took note of the importance of the eminence immediately south of town known as Cemetery Hill. His strategy was to continue to hold Buford's line of battle for as long as possible and then retreat to Cemetery Hill for another defense. Doubleday was also well aware of the strategic importance of the hill and did very well to live up to Reynolds' strategy by holding the positions west of town until late afternoon. However, it would be the arrival of Howard, who would assume full command because he outranked Doubleday, on East Cemetery Hill that would dictate Union success; he independently realized the hill's significance and placed an entire brigade on the heights for the purpose of reforming later in the day. Thus, all three generals were fully aware that they could not hold the present line all day and the army needed a centralized position on which to reform. It was this strategy that would ultimately lead to the Union army's success at Gettysburg. For if these generals believed for a moment that they could hold their present ground and therefore had not planned for retreat, it can be easily surmised that a Union rout would have occurred by 4:30 in the afternoon on July 1.)
The fighting on the morning of July 1 between the two brigades of the I Corps and those of Heth's division can be described as two separate battles, even though they were fought concurrently. On the Union left in McPherson's Grove was Meredith's Iron Brigade, rushing forward while loading their muskets on the run to stop the advance of Archer's embattled troops. Meredith had a slight numerical advantage of about 800 men, but more important was the advantage of not having been in battle for two hours. Though certainly not fresh (having come straight off of a forced march), the men with black hats were in a good position to beat back Archer's growingly weary soldiers.
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