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).

Longstreet at Gettysburg

Confederate Lt. General James Longstreet's monument gazes from the Pitzer Woods at Gettysburg. (Click image for larger view).

Louisiana and Mississippi at Gettysburg

The Louisiana and Mississippi state monuments stand on Seminary Ridge on land best known as the starting off point for the Mississippians under Bigadier General William Barksdale as they stepped off in their crushing assault on the Peach Orchard on the second day of fighting at Gettysburg. Barksdale had been impatiently waiting for his chance to bring his brigade against the Federal salient, and finally got his chance after watching hours of fighting sap Union strength in the sector. His charge crushed the Union's Peach Orchard position, touching off the collapse of the rest of the Emmitsburg Road line. "The most magnificent charge of the war," one witness claimed. (Click image for larger view).

North Carolina - Gettysburg

The North Carolina Monument pushes forward toward Cemetery Ridge from its position on Seminary Ridge, the stepping-off point for North Carolina troops in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. 42 regiments and batteries from North Carolina served at Gettysburg, among them, 15 regiments participated in Pickett's Charge. (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).

Lee and Traveller - Gettysburg

Robert E. Lee looks out over the field of Pickett's Charge from his favorite mount, Traveller, in their depiction atop the Virginia State Memorial at Gettysburg. Its sculptor, Frederick William Sievers, must have considered his commission to create the largest Confederate monument at Gettysburg to be a high point of his career. But it was by no means his last Rebel effort: Sievers was responsible for crafting numerous Confederate memorials throughout the South. And though the Virginia State Memorial was dedicated in 1917, its sculptor lived to see the centennial of the battle before dying at age 93 in 1966. (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).

Moonlit Lee - Gettysburg

Confederate General Robert E. Lee rests on Traveller atop the Virginia State Memorial on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg, lit by a bright moon. The Confederate Avenue monument depicts Lee looking out over the field of Pickett's Charge, looking at the Union position he failed to take. (Click image for larger view).

North Carolina Monument - Gettysburg

Four of the five figures on the North Carolina Monument push toward Cemetery Ridge from their position on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg. One in four Confederate casualties during the battle was a North Carolinian. (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).

Robert E. Lee - Gettysburg

Confederate General Robert E. Lee's image in bronze, astride his trusted Traveller, stands on top of the Virginia State Memorial on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg. He regally gazes over the field of Pickett's Charge, back straight and shoulders held high. It does not match the picture described by rebel General John Imboden, who waited for Lee at his headquarters the evening following the charge:
"When he arrived there was not even a sentinel on duty at his tent, and no one of his staff was awake. The moon was high in the clear sky and the silent scene was unusually vivid. As he approached and saw us lying on the grass under a tree, he spoke, reined in his jaded horse, and essayed to dismount. The effort to do so betrayed so much physical exhaustion that I hurriedly rose and stepped forward to assist him, but before I reached his side he had succeeded in alighting, and threw his arm across the saddle to rest, and fixing his eyes upon the ground leaned in silence and almost motionless upon his equally weary horse, - the two forming a striking and never-to-be-forgotten group. The moon shone full upon his massive features and revealed an expression of sadness that I had never before seen upon his face." (Click image for larger view).

Confederate Cannonade - Gettysburg

Cannons stand where a Confederate line of artillery took position along Seminary Ridge. Here, shortly after noon on July 3, 1863 and following two days of intense fighting at Gettysburg, a line of cannon opened fire a the Union center. For more than an hour the artillery fired in the barage that rebel artillerists hoped would weaken the Union position before Pickett's Charge stepped off. With Union guns answering back, Brigadier General Alexander Webb was one of thousands of Northern soldiers holding the targeted line. "I have been through many battles, in all sorts of places, under all fires but never have I heard such cannonading as they opened on our lines," Webb wrote. (Click image for larger view).

Two of seven - The Virginia State Memorial, Gettysburg

Two of the seven figures at the base of the Virginia State Memorial peer out over the field from Seminary Ridge, where attacks on the second and third day of fighting at Gettysburg began. The monument was erected as the United States was entering another massive war in 1917, 54 years following the battle. It remains the largest of the Confederate memorials on the battlefield. (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).

Moonset

A full moon sets as the sun rises over The Angle and the monument to the 72nd PA. Infantry, one of several units to defend the Union line where it was pierced briefly by Pickett's Charge. Across the open farmland pictured, some 12,000 Confederate soldiers started the attack from the Seminary Ridge treeline, where the Virginia State Memorial can be seen in close inspection. Only a few hundred, or less, made it into Union lines and only briefly in the failed climax of the battle. (Click image for larger view).

The Fence on the Emmitsburg Road

A simple, stout wood fence along the Emmitsburg Road marks a transition point faced by Confederates in the ill-fated Pickett's Charge. Once pushing past the road, there was nothing between the onrushing rebels and the waiting Yankees at the low crest save for open terrain and deadly close-range fire. 145 years ago today thousands of Confederates crossed this point in the Charge. The lucky ones would pass over or around the fence again in retreat to safety on Seminary Ridge (at rear). The Rebel invasion of Pennsylvania was over. Escaping back South with his remaining army intact was now the goal of Lee's plans. There would be no further large scale invasions of the North, and the long path to Appomattox continued. (Click image for larger view).