Gettysburg - July 3, 2019

"WE ARE MET ON A GREAT BATTLEFIELD OF THAT WAR"

Sunset on McPherson's Ridge

"I don't want to impugn the veracity, nor would I curtail the pleasure, of those old soldiers who speak and write so enthusiastically of the duty of patriotism and the glory of war...I have few pleasant recollections of the war. To my mind come only sad and grim and gloomy memories..." Henry T. Bahnson, Salem, NC - 2nd NC Infantry

Faces of North Carolina Soldiers

For most of my adult life, I have read accounts of the battle of Gettysburg. But until July 3, 2019, I never set foot on the battlefield. My Faithful Hiking Companion joined me as we spent a day hiking the battlefield, 156 years to the day that the famous battle was fought. It was a profoundly moving experience.  My constant thoughts were of the young men who fought and died among the verdant hills of Pennsylvania farmland in 1863. It is not just a remarkably preserved battlefield, it is hallowed ground, consecrated by the blood of Americans.

The Gettysburg National Military Park almost completely surrounds the town of Gettysburg Pennsylvania.  It is a historically accurate, remarkably maintained relic of one of the most important events in American history.  It should take days to explore, but we allotted a day and a half.  Nevertheless, we got to see and learn a lot about the battle.

After winning a number of stunning victories against the Union Army of the Potomac, Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia north in hopes of winning a decisive battle which would spur a settlement of the war, leading to the disunion of the nation and the preservation of slavery in southern states.

Sidewalk Portrait outside Visitor's Center 

He met Union troops led by recently appointed commander Major General George Gordon Meade in the hills surrounding Gettysburg Pennsylvania.  The battle was fought over three days culminating in the famous Picketts Charge on July 3, 1863.

We began our visit the afternoon of July 2 at the Museum and Visitor's Center. Constructed six years ago, the facility is a state of the art museum. After attending an introductory movie, we then experienced the famous cyclorama presentation.  An incredibly historically accurate presentation prepared us for our visit to the battlefield.

In 1879, French artist Paul Philippoteaux was commissioned to create a 360-degree painting of the Battle of Gettysburg.  Completed in 1883, the painting was acclaimed by veterans of the battle as a remarkable rendition of what they experienced in real life.  The painting is one of the largest in the world, spanning 377 feet in length, 42 feet wide and weighing over 12 tons! It is displayed in a specially designed raised studio and is accompanied by lights and sounds.  It is an emotionally realistic visage of the battle.  Painted from the perspective of the "high water mark" of Pickett's charge, it provided me with a better understanding of the battlefield and the incredible carnage of that day.

The museum is a well-displayed history of the civil war in general and the battle in particular. Many rare pieces of equipment, clothing, and accouterments of the time are displayed along with multimedia presentations. One could spend hours in the museum. My favorite display was the faces of the soldiers.  These were the men who bled and died. 

The battlefield can be easily accessed by automobile. The map above is an auto tour map that we followed on July 2.  It oriented us to the battlefield preparing us for our epic July 3rd hike.  We ended the tour at McPherson's ridge, the site of the first day's battle on July 1, 1863.  

The battle was fought at the end of the day when forward elements of Lee's army ran into a brigade of Union Cavalry.  A pitched battle ensued in which infantry elements of both army's clashed on a ridgeline just west of the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg. Markers memorialize the battle on the roadside atop the ridge.

It was at this spot the 26th North Carolina faced the Blackhats of the Iron Brigade of the 24th Michigan in a ferocious battle.   On that day the North Carolinians forced the Iron Brigade from McPherson's ridge at a great loss of life. Fifteen members of the regiment who hoisted the battle flag that afternoon died including their youthful commander Henry Burgwyn, the "Boy Colonel of the Confederacy". He was 21 years old when he died beneath McPherson Ridge on July 1, 1863.  Watching the battle, General James Johnston Pettigrew penned a note to the Boy Colonel that Burgwyn never received wherein he declared that the 26th North Carolina was "covered with glory". The 26th North Carolina began the day with 800 officers and men and ended the day with 212 soldiers fit for duty, a casualty rate of 73%.

Throughout the battlefield are monuments and statues to notable combatants.  My favorite is of General John Buford located on the Chambersburg Pike, just north of McPherson Ridge. He stands, looking west toward the gathering Confederate Army.

General John Buford is the Union cavalry commander depicted by Sam Elliott in the movie Gettysburg who held off the initial Confederate advance ensuring that the Union held the high ground on the first day of the battle.  I captured this statue at sunset. "We held the high ground".

Not far from the Buford statue is Oak Ridge, a knoll that rises above Seminary Ridge. At its northernmost point is a peak known as Oak Hill.  It was also the scene of a ferocious battle in which Confederate troops drove the Union troops off the ridgeline through the town of Gettysburg. From this point you can see, rising behind the town of Gettysburg, the entire Cemetary Ridge from Culp's Hill all the way to Big Round Top. Along this line, the Union troops retreated. At the base of Oak Hill now stands a memorial dedicated to eternal peace.

July 3, 2019
"...we can not hallow this ground - The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we said here; while it can never forget what they did here."   

- Abraham Lincoln - Gettysburg Address

Setting out at 7:30 on July 3rd, we begin our battlefield hike at the Museum and Visitor's center reading the Gettysburg Address and posing with Old Abe

We set out to hike the Billy Yank trail which was billed as a battlefield trail established by the Boy Scouts.  There is a map in the bookstore, but since it did not open until 8:30, I opted to access the trail with my Alltrails app.  The trail begins behind the visitor's center.   After a brief walk through woods on a paved path, you cross the Baltimore Pike and enter the battleground near the Cemetary.  We took the right fork per our AllTrails app and walked along the edge of the Cemetary until we got to the front of the Union line as evidenced by a low rock wall.

The low rock wall extended from the Cemetary south along a low ridge known to history as Cemetary Ridge.  Looking to the west the next low ridge, marked by a tree line, is Seminary Ridge upon which the Confederate Army was arrayed.  Across this grassy vale, the grande Army of Northern Virginia crossed on the afternoon of July 3, 1863.

We walked along the rock wall until it turned westwardly and formed the infamous Angle in the wall.  It was at this point, the cyclorama depicted the epic conclusion of the Battle of Gettysburg. It is easy to see how strong the position of the Union was and why one Confederate soldier described it as a "slaughter pen".  A thousand or more Americans wearing both Blue and Gray died on these grounds. My eyes confounded my mind for the setting is truly one of pastoral beauty not of desperate tragedy.  It was first of many such confusing scenes I was to see that day.

Leaving this place early in the morning I knew it was my intent to return at 3 pm in the afternoon to walk the Picketts Charge.  The Union line extends a couple of miles along this ridgeline from the Cemetary to a small mountain famously known as Little Round Top.  The Billy Yank Trail appeared to follow the front line of the Union Army.  We set off for Little Round Top.

We soon passed by one of the battlefield's two most iconic statues that rises above all the others.  General George Gordon Meade had been the commander of the Army of the Potomac for just a few days when he commanded Union troops at Gettysburg.  His statue stands near his headquarters on that day and faces west toward another statue, that of General Robert E. Lee that faces east.

Each state whose soldiers participated in the battle has erected monuments memorializing the various units in which their native sons fought.  None of these monuments are as elaborate as the 143rd Pennsylvania Memorial.  This greek revival style temple is located near the Meade statue and also serves as a notable landmark and a nice shady place to take a break from the morning sun and eat a breakfast bar.  Exploring inside while my Faithful Hiking Companion sat on a bench in the shade I found an unlocked stairway that led to the second-story balcony.  It provided some of the best views of the day!

Looking North along the Union Line toward Cemetary

This memorial is about midpoint along the Union line.  I first photographed the line looking north, then I took a shot of Little Round Top toward the south. 

Little Round Top in distance

But the best photograph was looking west toward the Confederate lines. You can see the Longstreet observation tower in the distance.

The Confederate Line was in the tree line of Seminary Ridge

From this point, we ditched the Billy Yank Trail App and followed our own instincts to tour the battlefield.  I would not recommend this type of hike to others but it worked for us. We walked about 3/4 of a mile along the road and decided to follow a trail marked for horse/hiking which I thought would lead us to the top of Little Round Top.   The famed 20th Maine could have walked this same path taking their positions on July 2, 1863.  The trail did not lead to the top of Little Round Top but rather looped around the hill.  As I was getting concerned about where it would lead us, I looked to the right and immediately recognized that the position of the 20th Maine was right above us. And after scampering across some boulders we found ourselves in the middle of the place on Little Round Top that Jeff Daniel's portrayal of Colonel Joshua Chamberlin made famous.

20th Maine Position

The 20th Maine was the last unit of the Union Line.  Contrary to the notion given in the movie Gettysburg, the position is not on the top of the hill but on a small ridgeline on the southern face of the knoll.  Other units occupied the peak. The 20th Maine guarded their left flank and endured a brutal charge by the 15th Alabama which was crucial to the defense of Little Round Top. 

End of the Union Line at Little Round Top

The real hero of Little Round Top to many was Colonel Strong Vincent of Pennsylvania.  He commanded the 3rd Brigade and was responsible for placing the 20th Maine in the key position on the left flank of Little Round Top.  Then he led the defense of the knob from a position closer to its peak.  During the battle on July 2, 1863, Colonel Strong Vincent was killed and his body was placed on a rock where is now a small monument.

In the background of this picture is a small temple erected on the peak of Little Round Top to honor the 44th New York.  It also has a stairway to a balcony.  From that location, the southern part of the battlefield can best be seen.

The Pennsylvania Memorial can be seen in the upper right of this picture

Looking north up the Union line, you can see from a top of the 44th New York memorial the full length of the Union position.  And in so doing you understand why this small peak was so crucial to the battle.

The rocks in the middle left of the picture show the beginning the part of the battlefield known as "Devil's Den"

Looking westward, I could see why General Dan Sickles wanted to move his troops forward in defiance of the orders of General Meade.  Sickles was supposed to occupy the ridge leading up to and including Little Round Top. Instead, he moved his Corps a quarter of a mile or more forward of his assigned position to a smaller high ground that can be seen marked by a grove of trees in the middle right of the photograph above. His line was an inverted "V" extending well beyond the grove of trees into a Peach Orchard and ending to the left in the rocky mound known as "Devil's Den"

The Peach Orchard is just beyond the trees in the middle of the picture

Dan Sickles was a politician with a reputation for dishonesty and womanizing.  He was a political general, who to some, made a serious military blunder. His move caused General Meade to move his reserves in position to backfill Sickles's Corps.  Neither Meade nor Sickles knew that it was at this point that Confederate General Longstreet would launch his attack on July 2, 1863. The effect of Sickles' move was to deny Longstreet the low ridge below Little Round Top from whence he could have brought artillery unopposed.  Second, Sickles's line became a very effective skirmish line that essentially bled out the Confederate attack on day 2 of the battle.  Third, Longstreet attacked not the weakest point in the Union Line, but the reinforced strongest part of the line. Some of the best troops General Lee had in Gettysburg were lost in the "Peach Orchard", "The Wheat Field", "Devil's Den", "The Stony Hill", all of which were part of the Rose Farm. Exploring this area of the battlefield was our next destination.

On the rock behind the Kershaw Monument was a large stone adorned with a freshly picked red rose

We were sorta lost.  Just beyond the "Devil's Den", we climbed "Stony Hill" and I kept trying to find a shortcut to Wheatfield Road and every trail seemed to be a dead end. So when I doubled back we mistakenly walked the wrong way up a loop road and ascended a small rocky hill.  Near the top, we stopped to read a memorial dedicated to Kershaw's Brigade. My Faithful Hiking Companion spied a freshly cut long stem rose lying on top of a round boulder.  It certainly meant something to someone. 

Rose Farm by David Henderson

 I followed a path through an open gate in the fence into a large pasture seeking a route to Wheatfield Road. The Kershaw Monument is located in a stand of woods next to a large pasture near a farmhouse. The area is known as Rose Woods. On the other side of the fence, in the pasture where I was standing, is the location of the famous pictures by Alexander Gardner taken just days after the battle of dead soldiers.  The horror of the battle was now visualized. 

A colorized version of Alexander Gardner's "v" formation photograph of casualties of the Irish Brigade.

The Irish Brigade Monument 

The famed Irish Brigade was one of the units summoned by General Meade to support General Sickles.  The Brigade made up of soldiers from New York and Massachusetts were hurled into Rose Woods to help stop the Confederate advance.  Their monuments drew my attention for at the foot of an ornate Celtic cross was a full-size statue of an Irish Wolfhound.

In the woods not far from the Irish Brigade Monument is the unusually shaped monument of the  5th  New Hampshire.  The monument is a combination of Gettysburg Battlefield boulders and New Hampshire granite.

The commander of the New Hampshire Regiment was Colonel Edward Cross.  A fiery and inspirational leader, Colonel Cross always rode into battle sporting a bright red bandana. On July 2, 1863, while ordering Cross to move his troops to support General Sickles in the Rose Farm,  Major General Winfield Scott Hancock shouted to Colonel Cross:  "Today you will earn a star!"  To which Cross replied: "No, General this is my last battle."  Cross was mortally wounded not far behind where the New Hampshire monument now stands.  The place is marked with a square-shaped granite boulder.  When he was shot,  his troops noticed that his trademark red bandana had been replaced that day with a black one.

William Schmeil print of Father Wm Corby

No other place on the battlefield can the confusion and brutality of this conflict be seen and at times felt as the hills and vales of the Rose Farm. Ever mindful was I that this is a place where there was no victory...it is a place of horror, misery, and death.

photo by Getttysburg Press

Prior to entry into battle on the afternoon of July 2nd, Father William Corby, chaplain of the Irish Brigade, offered a prayer of absolution to his soldiers. Of the over 1,000 statues and monuments at Gettysburg, this is the only one dedicated to a chaplain.  

"At its best, a study of American history can be a conversation with the dead about what we should value and how we should live"- David Harlan

Michael Houmula recounts a story in his blog told by a Georgia soldier. During the night of July 2, 1863, the sounds echoing in the dark were that of the frightful anguish of the wounded and dying who had been left lying where they fell. Then a single voice came from a cacophony of misery singing:
  Come, ye disconsolate, where'er ye languish;       
  Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel; 
  Here bring your wounded hearts,
  Here tell your anguish; 
 Earth has no sorrow that heav'n can't heal"
 (https://worldviewwarriors.blogspot.com/2014/06/conversations-with-dead-in-wheatfield.html)

Backtracking across the Stony Hill we finally found Wheatfield Road and began a long hot trek across the width of the battlefield.  During this slog,  little was said, but on occasion, My Faithful Hiking Companion pointed out the many other ways to visit the Gettysburg Battlefield other than by hiking in the 90-degree heat. As usual, she was right.  The self-guided auto tour with a private guide would be my suggestion for the most efficient and comfortable way, but there are other interesting alternatives.  You can rent a bike, join a segway tour, jump on a bus tour, and even ride horseback.  My favorite would be the horse-drawn carriage on a cool day.  My Faithful Hiking Companion likes scooter cars!

Victorian Carriage Company is recommended by Destination Gettysburg

Wheatfield Road terminates at Seminary Ridge.  There Confederate Avenue runs the entire length of the lines of the Army of Northern Virginia.  Cannons are stationed all along the line and memorials of all sorts dot the landscape.  Near the intersection is the Longstreet Tower, a five-story observation platform from which the entire battlefield can be seen.

Looking north along Seminary Ridge, the monument to Eternal Peace can be seen at the foot of the Oak Hill Knoll.

Looking southward, in the distance are the Round Tops and in between the battlefields of July 2nd in the Rose Farm.

Looking northeast, in the distance is Culp's Hill.  You can see Meade's statue and get an idea that this entire plain was the site of the Pickett-Pettigrew charge on July 3, 1863. Looking westwardly is the white buildings of the Eisenhour Homeplace.

Leaving the Longstreet Tower, we trudged northward along Confederate Avenue hoping to make it to the Virginia Monument in time for two Ranger talks about the July 3rd battle. Along the way, we paused at several monuments of interest.

Louisiana erected a macabre statue featuring the angel of death and a dead cajun soldier, depicted with the ugliest feet imaginable.

The Mississippi Monument depicted a desperate struggle for survival. In the woods nearby, we found JEB Stuart hiding from the wrath of Bobby Lee!

The North Carolina Monument is located north of the Virginia Monument. We had visited there the night before.  It features Tarheels in Pickett-Pettigrew charge engaged in a struggle to attack an unseen enemy. Positioned facing the Union lines on Cemetary Ridge, it is the creation of famed sculptor Gutzon Borglum, erected in 1929, and refurbished in 1999. 

It was from this place that the Pettigrew Division formed up on the afternoon of July 3, 1863.  They looked across the field that has changed little in 156 years. The day before 1500 Georgia troops under Ambrose Wright briefly broke through and held a portion of Cemetary Ridge. General Lee was putting over 10,000 troops at a point he believed was weak.  North Carolina and Virginia troops separated by 100 yards stepped off together and were at the center of the assault.  

About a quarter-mile south of the North Carolina monument is Virginia Monument featuring the grande statue of General Robert E. Lee.  We arrived there on July 3, 2019, about 1:30 pm.  We were mindful that 156 years ago, the pastoral setting we sat in the shade to enjoy was a killing field.  

Two Ranger Talks were featured, the first being about the cannonade.  The second, starting at 3 pm consisted of a guided walk along the path of the ill-fated Pickett's Charge.  During the wait, a few re-enactors arrived.  The first were two members of a Tennessee Infantry Unit.  Dressed in authentic butternut uniforms, these two young men looked the part.

On the front line of Pickett's division was the brigade of General James Kemper.  Kemper was a former Congressman turned General.  He was a portly man who had just turned 40 years old.  He was one of six men to ride horses during the engagement making him an easy target for Union sharpshooters. Somewhere past the Emmitsburg Road, he was severely wounded. 

Union Troops thinking they had shot General Longstreet tried to capture him but he was rescued by his own men and returned to Seminary Ridge where doctors pronounced his wounds mortal.  Turns out the doctors were wrong.  Left behind with a coffin, Union Troops captured him and their doctors kept him alive.  He was eventually exchanged and went on post-war

to serve as Governor of the State of Virginia... why do I tell you this?  You see I got to meet a re-enactor portraying him who was proud to tell me the story.

At 3 pm, three Confederate Soldiers shouldered their rifles and stepped off towards Cemetary Ridge a silent tribute to the young men who braved this assault 156 years ago.  Watching them I offered a silent prayer of thanksgiving that their march will be made in peace.

We were not far behind.  A detailed explanation of the assault was provided by the Ranger set the stage for a memorable trek.  It was hot just like it was 156 years ago.  I was tired having logged over 10 miles hiking the battlefield.  I paused and contemplated this field...nearly a mile across and several miles in length. A gentle slope ended about 25 yards from the Emmitsburg Road. 

It was an easy mark for every cannon the Union Army had. I am sure every shell fired into that field killed or wounded some brave soldier. It was simply a killing field upon which young men died in senseless grandeur. 

At the Emmitsburg Road, the precise lines of the  Confederate Divisions had to break and climb a fence, cross the road and climb another fence.  Then they had to re-form ranks before they could charge Union Troops at a rock wall south of the Angle.  All of which was in the range of Union Rifles.

The Army of Northern Virginia was defeated. A nation conceived on the principle that all men were created equal has long endured...A new birth of freedom was insured ... but the war continued for another year and a half...600,000 Americans died fighting each other...slaves were freed, but it took another 100 years of discrimination until their rights as Americans were assured.

This is what we learned.

...to my mind come only sad and grim and gloomy memories: the forms of comrades and friends hurried to an untimely death by disease and wounds, left prey to the birds of the air and beasts of the field, at best hastily and unceremoniously shoveled into a shallow trench; if haply surviving, maimed and crippled, and marred in health and usefulness; the privations and sufferings from fatigue and hunger, and heat and cold, and filth and nakedness, and comfortless camps, on toilsome march, in ruthless conflict,  in loathsome hospitals, in pitiless prison; fields deserted, homesteads and towns pillaged and burned, graves violated, sanctuaries defiled, Sabbaths desecrated; the havoc and ruin, the wanton waste and destruction, the merciless carnage; the unutterable agony of heartrending grief that hung like smoke of torment over tens of thousands of blasted homes; the abomination of desolation!

...May justice and righteousness dwell in this land; may mutual tolerance and forbearance take the place of sectional jealousy and bitterness; may the God of love so completely fill the hearts and minds of this people that the god of battles can nevermore find room in their thoughts; may the reign of the Prince of Peace speedily begin and his blessed dominion extend over all God's beautiful earth 

-  Dr. Henry Theodore Bahnson, Veteran of Gettysburg

AMEN!