Old Glory over Gettysburg

The US flag flies over the Soldiers' National Cemetery and the New York State Monument at Gettysburg. (Click image for larger view).

Cannonade from the Cornfield- Gettysburg

Corn grows around a Confederate battery position on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg. In the massive artillery barrage that preceded Pickett's Charge the guns planted in farmers' fields unleashed a storm on the Union center. But replying artillery took its toll, too. "For more than an hour it went on. Nearly every minute the cry of mortal agony was heard above the roar and rumble of the guns..." wrote Colonel Joseph Mayo of the 3rd Virginia Infantry, whose men waited inside the ridge's tree line for their attack. "Doubtless there would have been some consolation to know, as we afterwards learned, that our blue-coated friends over the way were in the same, if not worse predicament." (Click image for larger view).

Longstreet - Gettysburg

The monument to Confederate Lt. General James Longstreet stands in fog among Pitzer Woods at Gettysburg. The monument, placed on the battlefield in 1998, is unusual for at least three reasons: First, it stands flush to the ground, no high pedestal. Second, it took nearly a century to reach completion after first being proposed. Lastly, it breaks with the Gettysburg tradition, or at least the coincidence, that the position of the horse's legs reveal the fate of its rider in battle. Four legs on the ground: no battle injury. One hoof raised: the rider suffered a wound. Two legs off the ground: the rider was mortally wounded. Longstreet, whose horse (Hero) is depicted raising a front hoof, suffered no wounding at Gettysburg. It can be argued, perhaps, that his reputation was a lingering casualty following the Confederate loss. (Click image for larger view).