A significant and critically important use of the Prolong occurred during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Union General Gouverneur Kemble Warren, Army Commander Mead’s Chief Engineer, spotted elements of CSA General John Bell Hood’s command south and a bit west of Little Round Top at the extreme southern end of the Union line. Realizing that Hood’s men were massing in order to attack, he sent out urgent requests for all available troops to occupy and hold Little Round top.
Lt. Hazlett’s artillery was among the first units to arrive and they began the arduous task of pulling and pushing two heavy Parrott 10 Pdr. rifles to the summit. General Warren was a combat engineer in every sense of that term, he even lent his shoulder to the wheel of a Parrott field piece while most artillerymen assigned to the piece pulled hard on the prolong hooked to the lunette ring and two others wrapped the other end around a tree to anchor it as it inched up the steep hill.
Lt. Hazlett died that day trying to hear the last words of his friend, Brigadier General Stephen Weed (Battery Weed was built to defend the narrows from Staten Island across from Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, NY) who was mortally wounded during the bitter fighting that day. Weed’s brigade rushed to the defense of that critical hilltop and helped enormously in the vicious battle that followed. Night brought a close to the fighting and was a relief to those on both sides. The Union line held as Hood’s troops withdrew.
Now you know a historical use of the "rope".
Mike and Tracy
Gen. Warren's bronze statue on the heights of Little Round Top.
