Gettysburg Civil War Battlefields

Located on the summit of Oak Hill and surrounded by guns that mark Confederate artillery positions, the Eternal Light Peace Memorial overlooks the July 1st battlefield. The memorial was the sentimental brainchild of Union and Confederate veterans who first proposed the monument during the 1913 Anniversary and reunion celebration at Gettysburg. Funds for the project were difficult to find and the Great Depression postponed its construction. Through the personal efforts of governors, veteran groups and several state legislatures, the memorial project was revived and finally came to fruition. read more

Oak Ridge

Union troops from General John C. Robinson's Division of the First Corps were aligned on this ridge during the afternoon of July 1, 1863, and stubbornly held this position against repeated attacks by General Robert Rodes' Division. Brig. General Henry Baxter's Brigade, composed of Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania regiments, was posted at the apex of the ridge where the Mummasburg Road intersects the summit, with a portion of the command in line southward toward the Lutheran Seminary. In the opening phases of the afternoon battle, Baxter's soldiers threw back one determined southern assault and then destroyed General Alfred Iverson's North Carolina Brigade in the field west of this ridge. By 2 o'clock they were running low on ammunition and energy, and General Robinson replaced them with Brig. General Gabriel Paul's Brigade. Within minutes the Confederates reappeared in the Union front, sweeping around the Union position in a more coordinated attack. The pressure grew on Paul's men as the afternoon wore on and General Paul was severely wounded by a musket ball that passed through both eyes.  read more

North Carolina Memorial

The North Carolina monument is located at Seminary Ridge. It represents a group of North Carolina soldiers in "Pickett's Charge", and is accompanied by native dogwoods and a stone monolith that lists the North Carolina commands present at Gettysburg. One in every four Confederate soldiers who fell at Gettysburg was a North Carolinian.

Virginia Memorial

The largest of the Confederate Memorials on the Battlefield, the Virginia Memorial, dedicated "by Virginia, to Her Sons", depicts several Confederate soldiers from differing occupations. Atop the monument is General Robert E. Lee, astride his favorite horse, Traveler. 

Pitzer Woods

Owned at the time of the battle by farmer Samuel Pitzer, this plot of oaks and maples stands at the southern tip of Seminary Ridge and marks its juncture with Warfield Ridge. The woods had no significance at all to the Gettysburg landscape until certain events took place here on July 2. Just prior to midday, the 1st United States Sharpshooters were ordered by Major General Daniel Sickles, commander of the Union Third Corps, to scout this patch of woods. Accompanied by members of the 3rd Maine Infantry, the sharpshooters encountered Alabama soldiers from Brig. General Cadmus Wilcox's Brigade. A brisk fire fight broke out and though it lasted only a few moments, the Union soldiers withdrew with the knowledge that the woods on Seminary Ridge were teeming with Confederates. Returning to Cemetery Ridge, they reported their encounter to General Sickles who realized that the number of Confederates in those woods meant only one thing- a heavy, concentrated attack on his corps from the west. Sickles sent a courier to General Meade with the information, followed by another courier a half hour later. Another hour passed and having received no response from Meade, Sickles decided to advance his corps to the Emmitsburg Road, the only high ground between the two ridges where he would meet teh attack before they'd taken possession of it. This controversial decision separated his corps from the remainder of the Union army, which still lay on Cemetery Ridge. read more

Warfield Ridge

"Warfield Ridge" is actually the southern extension of Seminary Ridge south of Pitzer Woods and the Millerstown Road. The gentle ridge veers in a southeasterly direction where it is intersected by the Emmitsburg Road. This ridge was heavily wooded at the time of the battle and provided excellent concealment for Longstreet's Confederate troops who sheltered here prior to the attack on the afternoon of July 2. The trees screened the southern line of march from any Union vantage point, including that of the signalmen on Little Round Top. The last troops into line were also the first to step off toward the Union left flank from this point- Brig. General Evander Law's Alabama brigade of General John Bell Hood's Division marched over 18 miles to get to this point and then began the attack at 4 o'clock without the benefit of water. Thirsty soldiers handed over their empty canteens to several men who were detailed to find a well and fill them, but they had not returned before the attack began. (The canteen detail never did return; all were captured with the filled canteens while attempting to locate their comrades.) The lack of water would play a major role in fatigue and exhaustion during the ensuing fight. read more

Little Round Top

This rocky hill at the southern end of Cemetery Ridge is a key feature of the battlefield and one of the most heavily visited sites in the park. Unlike the thickly wooded Big Round Top, this smaller hill had been partially cleared of trees a year or more prior to the battle. Strewn with loose rocks and large boulders, it offered a natural position from which to defend this important end of the Union line. Little Round Top had been manned by Union troops as early as the night of July 1. Yet, with the exception of a few soldiers from the Union army's Signal Corps, it remained largely unoccupied until late on the afternoon of July 2. From their signal station on the northern summit of Little Round Top, the flag wavers held a commanding view of the battlefield to the north and west. It was the occupants of this signal station who concerned General Longstreet as he marched his troops into position to attack the Union left that afternoon. read more

The Wheatfield

Charge and counter charge on the afternoon of July 2 left this field and nearby woods strewn with more than 4,000 dead and wounded Union and Confederate soldiers. Thousands of troops fought in this area and veterans compared it to a whirlpool- a stream of eddies and tides that flowed around the 19 acres of wheat owned by farmer George Rose, that changed hands six times. This aerial view of the field is toward the west with the Peach Orchard at the central top. The woods that border the field were not as dense in 1863 as they are today, but they did provide cover for the Confederates as they maneuvered around Union positions here. Fighting began in earnest around 4:30 when a Georgia Brigade commanded by Brig. General George Anderson swept through the woods to the south and ran into Brig. General Regis deTrobriand's Union regiments stationed behind a stone wall on the southern end of the field. Some of deTrobriand's regiments had been peeled off to support the positions at Devil's Den, and though he was outnumbered by Anderson's larger regiments, his remaining soldiers kept the Confederates at bay for nearly an hour. read more

The Peach Orchard

The advanced Union line arranged by General Sickles stretched from Devil's Den to this point- the Peach Orchard, then angled northward on the Emmitsburg Road. This orchard at the intersection of Wheatfield Road and the Emmitsburg Road was owned by Joseph Sherfy whose house sat on the west side of the Emmitsburg Road. Mr. Sherfy maintained a substantial orchard of peach and apple trees and operated a small fruit canning business from his home. Not only were Mr. Sherfy's orchards ruined during the battle, but his house was ransacked, his fences torn apart by Union troops and then Confederate artillerymen, his fields were covered with the dead, and his barn burned to the ground at the height of the fighting. To make the Peach Orchard a strong position, four Union batteries were initially posted here. These guns bombarded southern forces on Warfield Ridge and fired on Kershaw's men crossing the Rose Farm to attack the Wheatfield. The batteries continued firing until about 6:30 P.M. when a final Confederate charge by General William Barksdale's Mississippi brigade shattered the position. read more

Plum Run

Just west of a narrow, slow moving stream called Plum Run is the Abraham Trostle Farm, one of the larger and more prosperous farms on the battlefield. Trostle owned most of the land bordering Plum Run to the east, the Emmitsburg Road to the west, and Wheatfield Road to the south, the two roads along which General Sickles had formed his Third Corps on the afternoon of July 2, 1863. Prosperity of Trostle's farm was reflected in the buildings he owned which included a large Pennsylvania-style bank barn with a wagon shed addition, and a new, wood frame house. In the summer of 1863, Trostle was busy dismantling an earlier log house and constructing a large brick summer kitchen. An expansive apple orchard adjacent to the house provided the family with an abundance of fruit and Trostle's rich fields yielded an excellent harvest of corn, rye and wheat. Like most battlefield families, the Trostle's lives were forever changed by the battle and most of their property was lost or destroyed. read more

Pennsylvania Memorial

The Pennsylvania Memorial is located on the battlefield at Gettysburg. It features bronze tablets of all Pennsylvania infantry, cavalry and artillery units who fought there July 1-2-3, 1863. The tablets list the names of all unit members documented to have been present and who participated in the battle.

Spangler's Spring

A natural spring that flows at the southern end of Culp's Hill, Spangler's Spring is one of the battlefield's most prominent landmarks and for many years prior to the battle it had provided water to quench the thirst of man and animal alike. Union troops of the Twelfth Corps occupied this area and constructed earthworks on the knoll north of the spring site. When these troops temporarily left the area on the afternoon of July 2, General Greene was forced to leave much of it unoccupied as his thin line of troops could not reach the section of works above the spring. Adjacent to the spring was a large meadow, bordered on one end by Rock Creek and at its western edge by the Baltimore Pike and Powers Hill where General Henry Slocum had established a headquarters. From this hill, Union officers and artillerymen could overlook the meadow to Rock Creek, which was effective for Union guns during the daytime, but Confederates from General Edward Johnson's Division decided to arrive in this area long after nightfall. read more

Cemetery Hill

Cemetery Hill is one of the premier landmarks of the battlefield, situated on the southern edge of Gettysburg overlooking the town and immediate area south of it. Originally known as "Raffensberger's Hill", its more well known name began in 1858 when Evergreen Cemetery was established on the summit. Both Union and Confederate commanders referred to this height as Cemetery Hill during the battle. The first troops on the hill were those of General O.O. Howard's Eleventh Corps, who arrived on the battlefield around noon of July 1st. Later that afternoon, General Winfield Scott Hancock, sent to the battlefield by General Meade, rallied Union troops here and re-organized the intermingled regiments after the fighting west and north of town. Hancock and Howard both realized the strength of this position. The hill was divided into small pastures, bordered on all sides with stone walls. General Howard placed his Eleventh Corps troops behind these man-made defenses while artillerymen constructed earthen barricades or "lunettes", for protection around their cannons, which were placed behind the infantrymen. By the morning of July 2nd, East Cemetery Hill was one of the most heavily fortified positions on the field, its base ringed with infantry and three artillery batteries crowning the summit. The western slope of Cemetery Hill, where the Soldiers National Cemetery is today, was also heavily fortified with infantry and artillery.  read more

High Water Mark

This small grove or "copse" of trees had little or no significance prior to the Battle of Gettysburg, but on July 3, 1863, it was the focal point around which swept vicious hand-to-hand combat during the climax of "Pickett's Charge". The trees grow within a confined area known as "The Angle", named for the stone fence that bends to the west and then southward to border the small pasture where the original trees stood. It was behind this stonewall that Union troops were positioned during the battle. The title of "High Water Mark of the Rebellion" was bestowed upon the copse by John B. Bachelder, the first government historian of the Gettysburg battlefield, who realized its significance during a visit to the site with a veteran of General Pickett's Division. It was through Bachelder's influence that the "High Water Mark of the Rebellion Monument" was placed here and dedicated in 1892. The monument lists the commands of both armies that participated in Pickett's Charge. This grouping of trees marked a Confederate crest of the battle and the war. After Gettysburg, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia would never reach such a high point again. 
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