Confederate General Alfred Iverson wasn't very respected by his troops. At Gettysburg, for some reason he didn't have the presence of mind to know there was a whole line of enemy troops lying in wait behind a stone wall with flags down. Iverson ordered his North Carolina men to charge blindly... right into a Northern bombardment. When they got close, the Union troops sprang up and... well, executed them. It can't be called anything but an ambush but he kept sending them in! It is said (there are always legends in these types of stories) that after the bloodbath got so bad, Union troops started taking the North Carolinians prisoner so that more wouldn't be "sent to the slaughter" by Iverson. Pretty bad when the "enemy" has to take pity on the troops you're supposed to be commanding! Witnesses (survivors of the war) have stated that the troops fell in straight lines right as they had been while charging. Interesting note is that General Lee removed Iverson from command immediately and sent him to Georgia to lead a cavalry regiment. Good to know the orders that sent those troops into that bloodbath didn't come from the top. This is one of the Gettysburg stories that purely hurts my heart every time I think of it.
