As the fighting on the afternoon of July 1st progressed, the Union's 1st Corps found itself facing almost two-thirds of General Lee's army. Lt. General A. P. Hill's men threatened the blue coats from the west and Lt. General Richard Stoddert Ewell's Corps came in from the north. Brigadier General Henry Baxter of the 1st Corps did what he could to maneuver his men as he noted the Union 11th Corps coming onto the field. The Federals' hopes of creating one unified, coordinated line of men fell short as the left of the 11th Corps could not link with right of Baxter's men. A gap remained between the two Corps. General Baxter  hinted of this gap when he mentioned the movement of his troops in relation to General Howard's Corps. "I at once changed front by filing to the right and forming forward on first battalion, a division of the Eleventh Corps being on our right at least 400 yards."

With the death of General Reynolds earlier in the day, the 11th Corps' Major General Oliver Otis Howard assumed command as the ranking Union officer on the field. Union General Carl Schurz would take his place in directing the 11th Corps. "I ordered General Schimmelfennig, to whom I turned over the command of the Third Division, to advance briskly through the town, and to deploy on the right of the First Corps in two lines. This order was executed with promptness and spirit", said Schurz.

He continued, "It was about 2 p.m. when the deployment of the two divisions was accomplished. The Second Division arriving shortly after; the First remained with you in the position above indicated. The engagement between the First Corps and the enemy had during that time continued briskly, the enemy being apparently driven to the crest of the ridge upon which the college building stands.

Hardly were the two divisions deployed a few hundred yards north of the town, when I received an order from you to remain in the position I then occupied, and to push my skirmishers forward as far as possible. This was done, and our skirmishers, who became soon engaged, especially those of the Third Division, took a considerable number of prisoners.

While this was going on, two of the enemy's batteries, placed on a hillside opposite the Third Division, one above the other, opened upon us, flanking the First Corps. Captain Dilger, whose battery was attached to the Third Division, replied promptly, dismounting in a short time four of the enemy pieces, and driving away two regiments which were on a line with the enemy's artillery at the foot of the hill.

With the Confederates pushing back the first Corps on General Schurz' left and General Jubal Early coming in on his right, the 11th Corps position became much less tenable. As General Schurz mentioned, "The enemy was evidently stronger than he had been at the commencement of the battle, and the probability was that re-enforcements were still arriving."

Along with the gap between his men and the 1st Corps on the left, General Schurz would soon find that then men of his own Corps were not connected with each other. "After having taken the necessary observations on my extreme left, I returned to the Mummasburg road, where I discovered that General Barlow had moved forward his whole line, thus losing on his left the connection with the Third Division...Suddenly the enemy opened upon the First Division from two batteries placed near the Harrisburg road, completely enfilading General Barlow's line. This fire, replied to by our batteries, produced but little effect upon our men. Soon afterward, however, about 3 o'clock, before the forward movement of the First Division could be arrested by my orders, the enemy appeared in our front with heavy masses of infantry, his line extending far beyond our right. It was now clear that the two small divisions under my command, numbering hardly over 6,000 effective men when going into battle, had a whole corps of the rebel army to contend against."

The assault of the men in gray rained down on the men of the 11th Corps. "My whole line was engaged, and the Second Brigade, First Division, whose flank had been most exposed in consequence of the advance, fell back in considerable disorder. Unfortunately, General Barlow, who had been directing the movements of his troops with the most praiseworthy coolness and intrepidity, unmindful of the shower of bullets around, was severely wounded, and had to be carried off the battle-field. ...The enemy, however, pressing on with great vigor, that brigade could be rallied only in part, and the First Brigade, of the First Division, finding its right flank uncovered, was forced back also, not, however, without hotly contesting every inch of ground."

The 11th Corps now hopelessly outnumber and flanked moved back to the Union stronghold of Cemetery Hill. [5]