This is our last night here in Gettysburg. Tomorrow we will leave about 10 to go to Staunton Virginia. It will also be raining all the way there. Oh well.
A few pictures from the battlefield.
The campground, which is on the Taneytown road. This area was used as a vast supply area, with thousands of wagons and artillery pieces in reserve during the battle.
IamonLittleroundtop,aunionposition.LookingdowntowardtheDevil’sdenandHouck’sridge.The confederates overtook this area from the union. There is a little stream in the valley called Plum run, but after the battle it was called Bloody run. Between the trees and the rocky area, on the left side is called the Slaughter pen as there was over 100 dead confederates found there after the battle. The confederates had about 3500 men on this ridge and tried 3 times to take Little round Top but failed.
This view is from the Devil’s Den looking up to Little Round top. The union had cannons and about 1500 men on this hill. To the far right where the hill drops is where the 20th Maine Regiment after running out of ammunition mad a bayonet charge down the hill, and taking the confederates by surprise stopped there charge
This picture is looking out toward the area of Pickett’s charge. I am on the union center, where there is about 100 cannon and about 5000 men. Out in the distance about 1 mile in the tree line is the confederate line. At about 1pm on the third day of battle about 140 confederate cannons opened up on the union center, it lasted for about 2 hours. After it was over 12,500 confederates came out of the woods and formed there lines and started to attack. It took them about 20 minutes to get to the union lines, all the while the union guns were firing long range exploding shells. Then as they got close they fired canister rounds, which is like a big shotgun with 27 little round balls in it. In less than an hour it was over, only about 200 confederates got to the lines only to become prisoners. Of the 12,500 who made the charge only 6000 returned, the rest were killed, wounded or missing.
This is one of my favorite monuments, I have a number of them but. It is located on Powers hill, which is rarely visited. The hill was a union artillery platform during the battle. It supported other artillery in firing at confederate positions.