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Gettysburg Battlefield
The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the 4-acre (1.6 ha) site of the first shot at Knoxlyn Ridge on the west of the borough, to East Cavalry Field on the east. A military engagement prior to the battle was conducted at the Gettysburg Railroad trestle over Rock Creek, which was burned on June 27.
Within 10 miles (16 km) of the Maryland/Pennsylvania state line, the Gettysburg battlefield is situated in the Gettysburg-Newark Basin of the Pennsylvania Piedmont entirely within the Potomac River Watershed near the Marsh and Rock creeks' triple point, with the Susquehanna River Watershed (near Oak Hill) occupying an area 3.33 by 5.33 miles (5.4 km × 8.6 km). Military engagements occurred within and around the borough of Gettysburg (1863 pop. 2,400), which remains the population center for the battlefield area at the intersections of roads that connect the borough with 10 nearby Pennsylvania and Maryland towns (e.g., antebellum turnpikes to Chambersburg, York, and Baltimore.)
The battle began on the west at Lohr's, Whistler's, School-House, and Knoxlyn ridges between Cashtown and Gettysburg. Nearer to Gettysburg, dismounted Union cavalry defended McPherson's Ridge and Herr's Ridge, and eventually infantry support arrived to defend Seminary Ridge at the borough's west side. Oak Ridge, a northward extension of both McPherson Ridge and Seminary Ridge, is capped by Oak Hill, a site for artillery that commanded a good area north of the town. Prior to Pickett's Charge, "159 guns stretching in a long line from the Peach Orchard to Oak Hill were to open simultaneously".
Directly south of the town is the gently sloped Cemetery Hill named for the 1854 Evergreen Cemetery on its crest and where the 1863 Gettysburg Address dedicated the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Eastward are Culp's Hill and Steven's Knoll. Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill were subjected to assaults throughout the battle by Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps. Cemetery Ridge extends about 1-mile (1.6 km) south from Cemetery Hill.
Southward from Cemetery Hill is Cemetery Ridge of only about 40 feet (12 m) above the surrounding terrain. The ridge includes The Angle's stone wall and the copse of trees at the High-water mark of the Confederacy during Pickett's Charge. The southern end of Cemetery Ridge is Weikert Hill, north of Little Round Top.
The two highest battlefield points are at Round Top to the south with the higher round summit of Big Round Top, the lower oval summit of Little Round Top, and a saddle between. The Round Tops are rugged and strewn with large boulders; as is Devil's Den to the west. [Big] Round Top, known also to locals of the time as Sugar Loaf, is 116 feet (35 m) higher than its Little companion. Its steep slopes are heavily wooded, which made it unsuitable for siting artillery without a large effort to climb the heights with horse-drawn guns and clear lines of fire; Little Round Top was unwooded, but its steep and rocky form made it difficult to deploy artillery in mass. However, Cemetery Hill was an excellent site for artillery, commanding all of the Union lines on Cemetery Ridge and the approaches to them. Little Round Top and Devil's Den were key locations for General John Bell Hood's division in Longstreet's assault during the second day of battle, July 2, 1863. The Plum Run Valley between Houck's Ridge and the Round Tops earned the name Valley of Death on that day.
The area of the military engagements during the battle included the majority of the 1863 town area and the current borough area. The broadest regions of borough military engagements are the combat area of the Union retreat while being pursued on July 1, as well as the burg's area over which artillery rounds were fired. Confederate artillery fired from Oak Hill southeastward onto the retreated Union line extending east-to-west from Culp's Hill to the west side of Cemetery Hill,[when?] and Union artillery on Cemetery Hill fired on the railway cut (including Wiedrich's battery ~5 pm). Smaller engagements in the town included those with some federals remaining in/near structures after the retreat (e.g., wounded soldiers not willing to surrender). The largest engagement within the current borough was at Coster Avenue (north of the 1863 town) in which Early's division defeated Coster's brigade. The town was generally held by the Confederate provost and used by snipers after the dawn of July 2 (e.g., a brickyard behind the McCreary House, the John Rupp Tannery on Baltimore St, and a church belfry). A Confederate skirmish line at Breckenridge Street faced Federals on Cemetery Hill, and ~7 pm July 1, "the Confederate line of battle had been formed on East and West Middle Streets".
At the close of the battle, some of the ~22,000 wounded remained on the battlefield and were subsequently treated at the outlying Camp Letterman hospital or nearby field hospitals, houses, churches, and other buildings. Dead soldiers on the battlefield totaled 8,900; and contractors such as David Warren were hired to bury men and animals (the majority near where they fell). Samuel Weaver oversaw all of these reburials. The first excursion train arrived with battlefield visitors on July 5.
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Gettysburg Battlefield
The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the 4-acre (1.6 ha) site of the first shot at Knoxlyn Ridge on the west of the borough, to East Cavalry Field on the east. A military engagement prior to the battle was conducted at the Gettysburg Railroad trestle over Rock Creek, which was burned on June 27.
Within 10 miles (16 km) of the Maryland/Pennsylvania state line, the Gettysburg battlefield is situated in the Gettysburg-Newark Basin of the Pennsylvania Piedmont entirely within the Potomac River Watershed near the Marsh and Rock creeks' triple point, with the Susquehanna River Watershed (near Oak Hill) occupying an area 3.33 by 5.33 miles (5.4 km × 8.6 km). Military engagements occurred within and around the borough of Gettysburg (1863 pop. 2,400), which remains the population center for the battlefield area at the intersections of roads that connect the borough with 10 nearby Pennsylvania and Maryland towns (e.g., antebellum turnpikes to Chambersburg, York, and Baltimore.)
The battle began on the west at Lohr's, Whistler's, School-House, and Knoxlyn ridges between Cashtown and Gettysburg. Nearer to Gettysburg, dismounted Union cavalry defended McPherson's Ridge and Herr's Ridge, and eventually infantry support arrived to defend Seminary Ridge at the borough's west side. Oak Ridge, a northward extension of both McPherson Ridge and Seminary Ridge, is capped by Oak Hill, a site for artillery that commanded a good area north of the town. Prior to Pickett's Charge, "159 guns stretching in a long line from the Peach Orchard to Oak Hill were to open simultaneously".
Directly south of the town is the gently sloped Cemetery Hill named for the 1854 Evergreen Cemetery on its crest and where the 1863 Gettysburg Address dedicated the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Eastward are Culp's Hill and Steven's Knoll. Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill were subjected to assaults throughout the battle by Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps. Cemetery Ridge extends about 1-mile (1.6 km) south from Cemetery Hill.
Southward from Cemetery Hill is Cemetery Ridge of only about 40 feet (12 m) above the surrounding terrain. The ridge includes The Angle's stone wall and the copse of trees at the High-water mark of the Confederacy during Pickett's Charge. The southern end of Cemetery Ridge is Weikert Hill, north of Little Round Top.
The two highest battlefield points are at Round Top to the south with the higher round summit of Big Round Top, the lower oval summit of Little Round Top, and a saddle between. The Round Tops are rugged and strewn with large boulders; as is Devil's Den to the west. [Big] Round Top, known also to locals of the time as Sugar Loaf, is 116 feet (35 m) higher than its Little companion. Its steep slopes are heavily wooded, which made it unsuitable for siting artillery without a large effort to climb the heights with horse-drawn guns and clear lines of fire; Little Round Top was unwooded, but its steep and rocky form made it difficult to deploy artillery in mass. However, Cemetery Hill was an excellent site for artillery, commanding all of the Union lines on Cemetery Ridge and the approaches to them. Little Round Top and Devil's Den were key locations for General John Bell Hood's division in Longstreet's assault during the second day of battle, July 2, 1863. The Plum Run Valley between Houck's Ridge and the Round Tops earned the name Valley of Death on that day.
The area of the military engagements during the battle included the majority of the 1863 town area and the current borough area. The broadest regions of borough military engagements are the combat area of the Union retreat while being pursued on July 1, as well as the burg's area over which artillery rounds were fired. Confederate artillery fired from Oak Hill southeastward onto the retreated Union line extending east-to-west from Culp's Hill to the west side of Cemetery Hill,[when?] and Union artillery on Cemetery Hill fired on the railway cut (including Wiedrich's battery ~5 pm). Smaller engagements in the town included those with some federals remaining in/near structures after the retreat (e.g., wounded soldiers not willing to surrender). The largest engagement within the current borough was at Coster Avenue (north of the 1863 town) in which Early's division defeated Coster's brigade. The town was generally held by the Confederate provost and used by snipers after the dawn of July 2 (e.g., a brickyard behind the McCreary House, the John Rupp Tannery on Baltimore St, and a church belfry). A Confederate skirmish line at Breckenridge Street faced Federals on Cemetery Hill, and ~7 pm July 1, "the Confederate line of battle had been formed on East and West Middle Streets".
At the close of the battle, some of the ~22,000 wounded remained on the battlefield and were subsequently treated at the outlying Camp Letterman hospital or nearby field hospitals, houses, churches, and other buildings. Dead soldiers on the battlefield totaled 8,900; and contractors such as David Warren were hired to bury men and animals (the majority near where they fell). Samuel Weaver oversaw all of these reburials. The first excursion train arrived with battlefield visitors on July 5.