'Will you hold it?' - Gettysburg

The monument to Union General Winfield Scott Hancock on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg pictures the Second Corps commander in an active pose, reaching out a steadying hand. His arrival there late on the opening day of battle helped assure the Union would secure its position after being soundly beaten back by Confederates. Taking command of the field, he rode the lines, making preparation for defense of the gathering army's newest position. "My corps is on the way, but will not be here in time. This position should be held at all hazards. Now, Colonel, can you hold it?" he asked of Col. Orland Smith, a brigade commander. "I think I can," was his reply. This did not satisfy Hancock. "Will you hold it?" he asked again, his tone doubtlessly changing. "I will," Smith replied. (Click image for larger view).

Snowy dawn, East Cemetery Hill - Gettysburg

Snow coats the many monuments, including equestrian depictions of Union Generals Howard (left) and Hancock, at dawn on East Cemetery Hill. (Click image for larger view).

Grave blanket - Gettysburg

A coating of snow, sculpted by wind, hides graves in the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Lt. Frank Haskell wrote of the final resting place of the Gettysburg Union dead: "Another spring shall green these trampled slopes, and flowers, planted by unseen hands, shall bloom upon these graves; another autumn and the yellow harvest shall ripen there—all not in less, but in higher perfection for this poured out blood. In another decade of years, in another century, or age, we hope that the Union, by the same means, may repose in a securer peace and bloom in a higher civilization." (Click image for larger view).

A relic of the battlefield - Gettysburg

Neill Avenue - also known as the "Lost Avenue" because its remote location has left it cut off from easy access - appears much like it did when the veterans returned to place their monuments here at Gettysburg. The short stretch marking the right of the Union infantry has never been paved, and even lacks the wagon ruts and wear that would have existed on the more popular Gettysburg routes before they were modernized. (Click image for larger view).

Dawn on Cemetery Hill - Gettysburg

The monument to Union Major General Winfield Scott Hancock stands over East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg. (Click image for larger view).

8th Pennsylvania Cavalry at Gettysburg

The monument to the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry stands on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg. The 8th was active in the campaign, but did not hold the ground where its marker is located near the center of action during the repulse of Pickett's Charge. (Click image for larger view).

Fight over the Angle - Gettysburg

The monument to the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry stands before of a lone weathered tree at the Angle at Gettysburg, scene of the repulse of Pickett's Charge. Placement of the monument only took place after a legal fight carried out by the survivors of the 72nd Pa., who wanted to place their monument at the stone wall they eventually regained from surging Confederates at the height of the fight. Park rules would have had the 72nd place its marker on its main battle line to the rear of this monument, not the more prestigious forward position. (Click image for larger view).

Fog on East Cemetery Hill

Fog envelopes East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg, including the monument to the 7th West Virginia (center), which rushed to help repel Rebels from this ground late on the second day of battle. (Click image for larger image).

Maine at Gettysburg - Lost Avenue

The 7th Maine Infantry monument stands on Neill (Lost) Avenue at Gettysburg. The 7th was part of the brigade holding the extreme right of the infantry line of the Union army's 'fishhook' position during the battle. (Click image for larger view).

Meade and the Moon - Gettysburg

A full moon rises beyond the monument to Army of the Potomac leader Major General George G. Meade on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg. (Click image for larger view).

These honored dead - Gettysburg

Work on the National Cemetery was still in progress when President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg for its dedication. The fresh graves before him, Lincoln's words took on an importance rivaling that of the battle as he reaffirmed the task facing the Union: "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." (Click image for larger view).

Minnesota in the National Cemetery - Gettysburg

A memorial urn to the First Minnesota Infantry, the first permanent monument on the battlefield, stands among graves in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. 52 dead of the First Minnesota rest nearby, part of the 82 percent casualty rate suffered by the regiment in the three days of fighting. (Click image for larger view).

Firepower in the Cemetery - Gettysburg

What is today the peaceful National Cemetery at Gettysburg was crowded with artillery during the battle. Cemetery Hill, prominently situated overlooking Gettysburg, became home to dozens of artillery pieces that anchored the center of the Union line and were splayed in nearly all directions. Among them was Taft's New York battery, outfitted with 20-pounder Parrots, the largest artillery carried in the army. A diminutive rendering of one of the large guns now tops the monument to Taft's men and their Cemetery Hill position. (Click image for larger view).

Dilger on Day One - Gettysburg

Guns mark one of the positions held by Capt. Hubert Dilger's battery of Ohio men on the first day at Gettysburg. Dilger's efforts were one of the few success stories for the Union army fighting north of the town. He held several positions, taking on both enemy artillery and infantry with great effect. His opening shots against a Confederate battery provided a memorable, if unlikely, sequence of events as reported by one witness:

"The first shot from the Ohio Battery flew over the Confederate Battery. At this time the rebels yelled in derision. Capt. Dilger now sighted the gun himself and fired it. The shot dismounted a rebel gun and killed the horses. Capt. Dilger tried it a second time, sighting and firing the gun. No effect being visible with the naked eye, Col. Brown who was near, asked, 'what effect, Capt. Dilger?' Capt. Dilger, after looking through his glass, replied. 'I have spiked a gun for them plugging it at the muzzle.' "

Guns of the Wheatfield Road - Gettysburg

Union artillery lines the Wheatfield Road at the Peach Orchard, scene of massed Union cannon the second day at Gettysburg. The Confederates won the day on this ground, but not before the artillerists exacted a cost, according to one witness: "Masses of Kershaw's and Wofford's brigades had been swept from the muzzles of the guns, which had been loaded either with double-shotted, or spherical case, with fuses cut to one second, to explode near the muzzles. They were literally blown to atoms. Corpses strewed the ground at every step." (Click image for larger view).

Citizen Soldiers - Gettysburg

The grouping of soldiers on the base of the Virginia State Monument at Gettysburg represents the various walks of life that contributed to the Confederate cause from the Old Dominion-a professional man, mechanic, artist, a boy, a business man, farmer, and a youth. The Seminary Ridge monument, better known for its depiction of Lee and Traveller at its top, is the largest grouping of figures on the battlefield. (Click image for larger view).

East Cavalry Field - Gettysburg

The monument to the 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th Michigan Cavalry of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade stands in the always-quiet East Cavalry Field at Gettysburg. Isolated from the rest of the battlefield, the site of horse soldier fighting on the third day has not changed much from when Brig. General George Armstrong Custer led his men into battle with the cry "Come on, you Wolverines!" (Click image for larger view).

Hampton's Battery at the Peach Orchard - Gettysburg

The sun sets beyond the monument to Hampton's Battery at the Peach Orchard at Gettysburg. Because of earlier losses, Hampton's gunners were incorporated with another battery during the fight at Gettysburg, when they were placed at the center of the ferocious artillery fight at the Sickles salient. (Click image for larger view).

New Yorkers on Culp's Hill - Gettysburg

The 123rd NY Infantry monument rests among other Union markers on Culp's Hill at Gettysburg. The 123rd was one of several units dispatched from its works on the hill to support the Union left on the second day of fighting, only to return to find Confederates had taken their position in their absence. They later retook their works, then were sent off again to support the defense of Pickett's Charge. (Click image for larger view).

Reynolds in the Cemetery - Gettysburg

The Union's Major General John Reynolds, the highest ranking officer killed in the battle, is memorialized with a statue in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Reynolds is depicted in two other full size bronze statues elsewhere on the field. At right is the New York State Monument. (Click image for larger view).