Sharpshooters - Gettysburg

Car tailights bend around the aptly named Loop adjacent to the Wheatfield, scene of fighting on the second day at Gettysburg. Members of the 2nd company Andrews Sharpshooters, whose monument is pictured, would have been used early in the fighting as skirmishers, strung out along the Union line. (Click image for larger view).

Eternal Light Peace Memorial - Gettysburg

The Eternal Light Peace Memorial stands over Oak Ridge on the battlefield of the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. A natural gas-fed flame burns 24 hours a day on the monument dedicated to "Peace Eternal in a Nation United." President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the featured speaker at the grand reunion of the Civil War combatants at Gettysburg when the monument was dedicated. The President acknowledged the aging vets' presence at the ceremony. "All of them we honor," he said, "not asking under which Flag they fought then- thankful that they stand together under one Flag now." (Click image for larger view).

Dawn at The Angle - Gettysburg

Early morning sun stretches to monuments for the 72nd (left) and 71st Pa. monuments at The Angle, scene of the climax of Pickett's Charge on the third day at Gettysburg. Of the 12,000 Rebel men who took part in the charge, a small number of men pierced the Union line here. It was not enough. (Click image for larger view).

Big Round Top - Gettysburg

Big Round Top rises above fog as seen from West Confederate Avenue at Gettysburg. The rocky hill did not achieve great fame during the battle for one simple reason: Its heavy woods made it less strategically important than its partially cleared neighbor and shorter hill, Little Round Top. Confederate forces climbed the then-empty hill before attacking on the second day of fighting. (Click image for larger view).

The Death of Reynolds - Gettysburg

A simple monument marks the spot where Union Major General John Reynolds was killed instantly by a wound to the back of the head on the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. In quick succession his body was taken to Westminster and then by train to Baltimore where it was embalmed. Within 36 hours of his death his body was in Philadelphia, then on another train to his hometown of Lancaster for burial. As the nation celebrated a Union victory at Gettysburg, he was interred in a simple service on the 4th of July. Captain Stephen Weld, with the General from Westminster and witness to the burial, wrote: "Poor General Reynolds disappeared from us for some time to come." Reynolds's standing in the Army is reflected in the number of monuments associated with him on field - including a full equestrian statue, another fall-length bronze in the National Cemetery, plus one on the Pennsylvania State Monument, this marker and a frieze depicting his death on the New York State Monument. (Click image for larger view).