5th Michigan - Gettysburg

The 5th Michigan Infantry monument stands among the jumble of rocks - and many other markers - on the Union line at the Stony Hill at Gettysburg. The 5th Michigan was one of the first Union regiments to take residence in the Wheatfield area on the second day of fighting. (Click image for larger view).

Maine at the wall - Gettysburg

The monument to the 17th Maine Infantry rests behind the stone wall in the Wheatfield among a swirl of fall color at Gettysburg. The marker depicts a soldier crouching behind the stone wall, alert and ready. The 17th was among a handful of regiments holding the wall bordering the Wheatfield against Confederate attacks that eventually took the field, but not without a sharp fight. One officer in the Maine regiment reported: "Never was loading and firing of muzzle-loaders done more rapidly than by the 17th at the time." (Click image for larger view).

116th Pennsylvania of the Irish Brigade - Gettysburg

The monument to the 116th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry stands on the Loop at the Stony Hill at Gettysburg, where it had been sent into action at the Wheatfield on the second day at Gettysburg. The monument depicts a Irish Brigade member at rest along a stone fence, exactly as described by the unit's commander, Major St. Clair A. Mulholland, who came upon the young faced-casualty and remembered the scene vividly despite the roar and confusion of the fighting. He described the dead man as laying at peace, face turned to the sun, appearing relaxed with only a small bullet wound to the head to give evidence of his fate. (Click image for larger view).

The Fall of Zook - Gettysburg

An unadorned monument marks where Union Brigadier General Samuel Kozciuszko Zook was mortally wounded leading his men into the Wheatfield during the second day at Gettysburg.He survived long enough to learn of the Rebels' repulse the following day.  "Then I am satisfied," Zook said, "and am ready to die." (Click image for larger view).

In the Wheatfield - Gettysburg

Wildflowers bloom where wheat was ripening on the second day of fighting at Gettysburg in the "Bloody Wheatfield." 4000 soldiers of both armies fell in or near the Wheatfield as back-and-forth fighting drew soldiers into battle during Confederate attacks on the Union left. (Click image for larger view).

Artillery of The Wheatfield - Gettysburg

The position held by Captain George Winslow's Battery D, First New York Light Artillery, is marked in The Wheatfield at Gettysburg. Operating in the restricted space of a farmer's field hemmed in by trees, Winslow's guns helped slow the Confederate attacks on the second day. But in the back-and-forth fighting of The Wheatfield they were forced back. "All of my pieces could not have been brought off had my men been less brave," Winslow reported. (Click image for larger view).

Brooke Avenue - Gettysburg

Monuments -including one for the 27th Connecticut (left)- line Brooke Avenue at Gettysburg, where Union forces briefly held a slight ridge after sweeping the Wheatfield on the second day of fighting. The gains would be held for a short time only in the back-and-forth struggle for the Wheatfield. Col. John Brooke's brigade was soon hard pressed, with Confederates coming up on both flanks. In fifteen minutes they were pushed from the position before the Wheatfield fell finally into Rebel hands for good. One soldier wrote that the position on the ridge was the "hottest place we came across that day." Low on ammunition and without support, Brooke's exposed men were forced to withdraw. (Click image for larger view).

4th Michigan in the Wheatfield - Gettysburg

The monument to the 4th Michigan in the Wheatfield depicts a soldier holding the colors, inspired by the stand taken by Col. Harrison Jeffords after the flag was dropped in the wheat as the Confederates took the field for good on the second day at Gettysburg. He died in the hand-to-hand combat that resulted as he led the effort to recapture the prized flag. The marker notes of his death: "From his bosom that heaved, the last torrent that was streaming, and pale was his visage, deep marked with a scar. And dim was that eye, once expressively beaming, that melted in love, and that kindled in war." (Click image for larger view.)