Andrew atkinson humphreys a biography of beethoven

On the afternoon of July 2, , a Union general, in charge of troops about 10, strong, decided that he did not like the position of his corps.  Without permission, Dan Sickles moved his men out from the rest of the Union line to the Emmitsburg Road, nearly a half-mile to the west.  The result was disastrous, causing thousands of casualties North and South, but it would have been even worse for the men in blue except for the temerity and valor of one of Sickles’s stubborn subordinate division commanders on that late afternoon in the Peach Orchard.  That commander was Andrew Humphreys.

Andrew Atkinson Humphreys was born to be a soldier.  He was the third child and second son of Samuel and Letitia Atkinson Humphreys of Philadelphia, coming into the world on November 2,   He was “a sympathetic child”, according to his mother, to whom he was particularly close.  He was of average height, “steely” blue eyes and brown hair.