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).

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).

Rhode Island at Pickett's Charge - Gettysburg

Leaden clouds hang over the monument to Arnold's Battery at the Angle at Gettysburg, where its Rhode Islanders helped repel Pickett's Charge - but not before first surviving action on the second day, as well. From its spot on the low crest of Cemetery Ridge, the battery's gunners countered the bombardment preceding the Charge, then those who remained witnessed the awful effectiveness of the Union artillery on the advancing rebels. "Men, or fragments of men, were being thrown in the air every moment," one of them wrote. (Click image for larger view).

Gibbon at Gettysburg

The Pennsylvania Monument emerges from fog beyond the monument to Union Brigadier General John Gibbon, who commanded men in the Second Corps along Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg. During the cannonade preceding Pickett's Charge Gibbon and his aide, Lt. Frank Haskell, found the fire less daunting in front of his lines because of the Confederate's high aim. Spending some time observing the scene from the front, they returned to the ridge's crest but not before coming across a soldier hugging the ground on his way back to the line, laden with freshly filled canteens. "Look out, my man, you might get hit!" Gibbon jokingly called out, having some fun with the fears of the soldier where he and Haskell stood the fire in relative safety. "At the sound of my voice, he turned his head, still keeping it as close to the ground as possible, to look at me and then, as if inspired by a new idea, rose to his feet and walked deliberately back to his regiment; no doubt arguing with himself that if two could walk erect there was little danger to a third." (Click image for larger view).

111th NY at the Brian Farm - Gettysburg

The 111th New York Infantry monument stands on Cemetery Ridge in front of the Brian House at Gettysburg, behind the stone wall the men used as shelter first from the cannonade preceding Pickett's Charge, then during the infantry assault. The 111th NY and its neighboring units had the better of the action on the north end of the charge, punishing its attackers. "As the effect of each volley could be seen, the cheers and the confusion were wild," reported the 111th's colonel. (Click image for larger view).

The Brian Farmhouse - Gettysburg

The simple farmhouse of Abraham Brian sits on Cemetery Ridge, right on what became the main Union line on the second and third days of fighting at Gettysburg. Brian's family lived here from 1857 to 1869, when he sold the house and took up a job in the town. The house had significant post-war additions before being renovated and returned to its appearance during the battle. (Click image for larger view).

Federal firepower - Gettysburg

Guns mark Union positions at the Angle, with fog obscuring the Copse of Trees in the background, along Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg. Artillery and infantry here stood up to the brunt of Pickett's Charge, and though the line was briefly pierced, it held in the climax of the battle. (Click image for larger view).

Opposing Armies - Gettysburg

The monument to the 72nd Pa. Infantry stands on Cemetery Ridge at the Angle, facing the Virginia State Memorial (left background) and the Confederate lines on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg. Confederates in Pickett's Charge crossed this open ground (lined by the shadow of the Copse of Trees) before briefly piercing the Union line here. (Click image for larger view).

'Like grain before the reaper' - Gettysburg

The last final charge uphill stands beyond the second of two fences along the Emmitsburg Road crossed by Confederates in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. "We opened on them and they fell like grain before the reaper," wrote a soldier of the 12th New Jersey in a letter home shortly following the Union victory. (Click image for larger view.)

Weikert House - Gettysburg

The George Wiekert house stands on Cemetery Ridge, about halfway between the Angle and Little Round Top on what was Union ground throughout the battle at Gettysburg. The simple stone house, typical of many farmhouses during the battle, did not see battle rage directly around it, but it was witness to heavy fighting just outside its fences. Union troops were funneled around it on the second day of battle, and artillery unlimbered and thundered across its fields. (Click image for larger view).

High Tide - Gettysburg

Cannon surround the High Water Mark monument at the Angle on Cemetery Ridge in Gettysburg. The monument, created by early park superintendent and historian John Bachelder, depicts an open "book of history" resting on cannon shot at the Copse of Trees, the supposed target of Lee's grand assault - Pickett Charge. Pickett's attack briefly punched through the Union line here, marking the Confederate high tide at Gettysburg, and perhaps the war. (Click image for larger view).

Shadows on Cemetery Ridge - Gettysburg

Federal artillery stands on Cemetery Ridge, marking the Union line near the Angle at Gettysburg. (Click image for larger view).

'Thank God!' - Meade of Gettysburg

The monument to Major General George Gordon Meade, commander of the Union army at Gettysburg, stands on Cemetery Ridge, site of the general's greatest victory. Meade did not personally witness the climax of his army's victory, arriving at the scene as Pickett's Charge was receding. "What, is the enemy entirely repulsed?" he asked as he took in the view of the retreating Rebels and the carnage before him. Assured the Southerners were, in fact, defeated, Meade checked a desire to celebrate and instead uttered: "Thank God!" (Click image for larger view).

Towering over the Angle - Gettysburg

The National Tower (top right) stands over the battlefield as seen from the Angle at Gettysburg. The commercial sight-seeing attraction was demolished in 2000 as the spearhead of a wave of change and restoration at the park this decade. Next up: removal of the Cyclorama Center and old Visitor Center. (Click image for larger view).

'Screaming shells and shot' - Gettysburg

Fog surrounds a Union cannon on Cemetery Ridge where the cannonade preceding Pickett's Charge on the third day at Gettysburg was directed. Both lines were soon clouded by smoke at the onset of the barrage. "The air is darkened with sulphurous clouds. The whole valley is enveloped," declared one participant, recounting decades later. "The sun, lately so glaring, is itself obscured. Nothing can be seen but the flashing light leaping from the cannon's mouth amidst the surrounding smoke. The air which was so silent and serene is now full of exploding and screaming shells and shot..." (Click image for larger view).

Cemetery Ridge - Gettysburg

Union cannon rests on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg, scene of fighting during both the second and third day of battle. Confederate artillery officer E.P. Alexander later wrote about the cannonade that targeted the Northern guns such as these, as well as the men on Cemetery Ridge before Pickett's Charge: "It was not meant simply to make a noise, but to try and cripple him - to tear him limbless, as it were, if possible." (Click image for larger view).

Pennsylvania Monument - Gettysburg

Names of high-ranking Pennsylvanians are carved into arches of the Keystone state's massive monument on Cemetery Ridge. Ten of thousands of soldiers fought for the Union on their home state's soil. Decades before the completion of this monument, a speaker at Gettysburg's "Pennsylvania Day" ceremonies praised the men who fought for the Commonwealth. "Soldiers of Pennsylvania, your valor has been seen in many battle fields, but on none has it been greater or grander, nobler or more heroic than on the July days of 1863." (Click image for larger view).

North Carolina - Gettysburg

The North Carolina Monument faces the moon and Cemetery Ridge from Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg. Gutzon Borglum - the same sculptor who created Mount Rushmore - created a grouping of five figures pushing forward toward the distant ridge to honor the service of all North Carolinians in the battle. (Click image for larger view).

General Hays - Gettysburg

Late day sun glistens off the gold patina of the Brigadier General Alexander Hays monument on Cemetery Ridge, where units of his Union division were posted during the repulse of Pickett's Charge. Hays is pictured as a commander in motion - and with a stern determination, appropriate for a general who was on the line near Ziegler's Grove as the charge crested, and had two horses shot from under him. "Hurrah! Boys, we're giving them hell!" he yelled from the saddle as he rode among his men. (Click image for larger view).

Guns of the Cannonade - Gettysburg

Union cannon on Cemetery Ridge near The Angle at Gettysburg rest under lifting fog and a blazing sun. Smoke from the dozens of batteries lining the North's main battle line and the South's Seminary Ridge position quickly veiled both lines after the Rebel guns opened fire preceding Pickett's Charge, limiting the effectiveness of efforts to soften up the Union position. Despite the smokescreen, neither position was a safe place in the hour or more before the Charge. "Nothing you have ever heard or read of can give you an idea of the terrific fire Lee opened on their heights," recalled one Confederate. Near where the fire was focused, the display was less admired. "My God it was terrible," Colonel Richard Penn Smith of the 71st Pa. said. "The field was a grave. Such a sight you never saw."