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.' "

'The Only Position' - Howard at Gettysburg

The monument to Union Major General Oliver Otis Howard stands atop Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg, on the location where Howard placed his reserve during the first day of fighting. Howard understood the hill, which commanded the landscape south of Gettysburg, would be a critical fall back position should the hard-pressed First and Eleventh Corps need to retreat. "This looks like a good position," Howard, speaking of Cemetery Hill, told an aide. "It is the only position, general," was the t0-the-point reply. Obvious or not, the hill became an anchor of the Union line for the next two days of fighting along Cemetery Ridge. (Click image for larger view).

Dawn at East Cemetery Hill - Gettysburg

Early morning light shows over East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg, where closely placed Union monuments indicate the importance of the position. It was at dusk and not dawn, however, when events at the hill were most critical. A Confederate charge on the second day crested and faltered on the top of the hill in failing dusk light. But on the first day the hill loomed large for what didn't happen: an attack by rebels against the retreating Union army, which was reconstituting itself south of Gettysburg after being pushed from north and west of the town. Would a Confederate assault late on the first day have changed the history of the battle? Almost certainly, but in exactly what fashion will forever remain in the shadows of history. (Click image for larger view).

View from the cupola - Gettysburg

A foggy morning negates the view from the cupola of Schmucker Hall, but it made a fine lookout from the Lutheran Theological Seminary during the first day of battle at Gettysburg. Union cavalry commander Brigadier General John Buford famously told Major General John Reynolds from the cupola's platform (since rebuilt after a 1913 fire) "The Devil's to pay!" as the battle of Gettysburg was just beginning. (Click image for larger view).

153rd Pa. at Barlow's Knoll - Gettysburg

As the 153rd Pennsylvania, nine month men from Bethlehem, Pa., got set to head into battle on the first day at Gettysburg, an officer addressed them, telling the men their enlistments had expired. "If there was a man in [the] ranks who did not wish to go into battle; he should step out, that it was no disgrace;" a soldier wrote, retelling the officer's words, "but that the enemy was in our native state, and that the people of Pennsylvania looked to us for relief, and that it was our duty to protect our homes... we gave three cheers and not a man stepped out of the ranks." Their officer must have been mistaken, misjudging the enlistment terms by a month. The regiment's survivors mustered out July 24, three weeks after the battle. (Click image for larger view).

A restored warrior - Gettysburg

The 74th Pa. monument on the first day's battlefield is in line with other markers for Union regiments on the 11th Corps position outside Gettysburg. Like the fallen color bearer it depicts, the monument was itself struck down - victim of an errant driver that left it in pieces in 2004. Careful restoration has returned it to its spot on the line, but not without scars. (Click image for larger view).

Wadsworth - Gettysburg

The monument to Union Brigadier General James S. Wadsworth looks out over the battlefield of the first day at Gettysburg. Wadsworth, a division commander of the First Corps, was respected by his peers though he was not a career soldier. "A braver man never lived," wrote one. He would later die in the Battle of the Wilderness less than a year later. (Click image for larger view).

Coster Ave. Mural - Gettysburg

The 154th New York Infantry monument stands in front of the Coster Avenue mural on the battlefield of the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. The mural depicts the fighting that took place at this location as members of Coster's brigade - forming a rear guard as the Union line collapsed north of town - were routed by superior numbers of Confederates. Ten-year-old Charles McCurdy, watching the stream of soldiers in Gettysburg, remembered later: "If there is a more thrilling spectacle than an army in frenzied retreat through the narrow streets of a town, I cannot imagine it." (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).

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).

Barlow's Knoll - Gettysburg

Cannons mark the line held by Union gunners under Lt. Bayard Wilkeson on Barlow's Knoll on the field of the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. Wilkeson put his battery in place and was just under way engaging Confederates when he was mortally struck in the leg. The Union line would not hold much longer against the overpowering rebels, who stormed through this position before sweeping the Federals through the town.

Hold at Any Cost - Gettysburg

Dawn sun traces the delicately carved state seal on the 16th Maine infantry monument on Oak Ridge on the battlefield of the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. 275 men and officers went into the battle, only three dozen or so would arrive in retreat on Cemetery Hill as the fighting concluded. The bulk of the regiment was captured, not on Oak Ridge but nearby, making a stand under orders to "hold the position at any cost" - allowing countless comrades to escape the rebels as the Confederates won the first day of fighting and swept into the town. (Click image for larger view).

The Seminary Cupola

The Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary cupola - atop Old Dorm, now Schmucker Hall - rises above the field of the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. It served Union cavalry Brigadier General John Buford well as an excellent platform to observe what would become the field were the battle would begin in earnest. The building, as many in and around Gettysburg, was quickly transformed for another purpose - use as a hospital as the fighting began raging. (Click image for larger view).

First Brigade, First Division, First Corps, First Day of Fighting

The 24th Michigan Volunteer Infantry monument in McPherson's Woods marks part of the line where the Iron Brigade fought 145 years ago today as the battle turned from limited engagement to major conflict. With both armies stretched out over the Pennsylvania and Maryland countryside, the battle began as a meeting encounter that grew as men were rushed to the field and funneled into the fighting. By the end of the day both armies were nearly completely concentrated in or near Gettysburg. It was now virtually inevitable that a decisive battle would be concluded on this ground were neither side intended to push for a fight just days before. (Click image for larger view).