Maine at the wall - Gettysburg

The monument to the 17th Maine Infantry rests behind the stone wall in the Wheatfield among a swirl of fall color at Gettysburg. The marker depicts a soldier crouching behind the stone wall, alert and ready. The 17th was among a handful of regiments holding the wall bordering the Wheatfield against Confederate attacks that eventually took the field, but not without a sharp fight. One officer in the Maine regiment reported: "Never was loading and firing of muzzle-loaders done more rapidly than by the 17th at the time." (Click image for larger view).