'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).

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).

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).

'Don't give up your guns' - Rickett's Battery, Gettysburg

The monument to Rickett's Battery on East Cemetery Hill belies the chaos that swirled around his and other batteries on the hill at nightfall on the second day at Gettysburg. A Confederate attack briefly overran the hill, including a section of Rickett's guns. As his gunners fought off the attackers in hand-to-hand combat on his left, his right continued to fire cannister at other rebels less successful at gaining the crest. The order: "Die on the soil of your State, but don't give up your guns," was carried out to the extreme by three cannoneers among the battery's casualties that night. (Click image for larger view).

'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).

West Virginia at Gettysburg

The monument to Union Major General O.O. Howard shares space with the 7th West Virginia Infantry monument on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg. The 7th was part of the brigade sent to the hill as darkness fell and a Confederate attack crested there on the second day of fighting. Carroll's Brigade swept lingering rebels from Cemetery Hill in the confusion of night and smoke, the attack having almost reached its goal but unable to hold its gains. (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).

O.O. Howard - Gettysburg

Union Major General Oliver Otis Howard is honored in a statue on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg. His XI Corps did not fare well on the first day of fighting, driven back to the hill and remaining there for the rest of the battle as part of the main Union line. His corps had already suffered an embarrassing setback in allowing a surprise attack at Chancellorsville, but Howard, who lost an arm earlier in the war, survived to continue a long and varied career in and out of the military. He found more success in the army following Gettysburg while fighting in the West, and went on to a number of high-profile post-war positions, including heading West Point and presiding over the Washington, D.C. university he helped found and to which he lent his name. (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).

Longstreet - Gettysburg

The monument to Confederate Lt. General James Longstreet stands in fog among Pitzer Woods at Gettysburg. The monument, placed on the battlefield in 1998, is unusual for at least three reasons: First, it stands flush to the ground, no high pedestal. Second, it took nearly a century to reach completion after first being proposed. Lastly, it breaks with the Gettysburg tradition, or at least the coincidence, that the position of the horse's legs reveal the fate of its rider in battle. Four legs on the ground: no battle injury. One hoof raised: the rider suffered a wound. Two legs off the ground: the rider was mortally wounded. Longstreet, whose horse (Hero) is depicted raising a front hoof, suffered no wounding at Gettysburg. It can be argued, perhaps, that his reputation was a lingering casualty following the Confederate loss. (Click image for larger view).

14th Indiana - Gettysburg

Monuments to the 14th Indiana Infantry (left) and Major General Winfield Scott Hancock stand among other Union markers on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg. As dusk fell at the end of the second day day of fighting, a Confederate attack reached the top of the artillery stronghold. The 14th was part of the brigade ordered in to the defense of the hill by the Hancock. Upon arriving at the action, the 14th's Colonel John Coons found rebels mixing with the cannons at the crest. "I immediately formed my regiment into line and advanced upon them with fixed bayonets, driving them from the gun they had taken down the hill over a stone fence in front of the battery. At this point we gave them two or three volleys, when they fell back." (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).

Dusk on East Cemetery Hill - Gettysburg

Last light shines on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg and the monuments to the 7th West Virginia Infantry and Union corps commander Major General Winfield Scott Hancock. It was at dusk on the second day of fighting that a Confederate charge crested here, with a repulse coming in virtual darkness on the prominent, cannon-covered hill. As reinforcements sent by Hancock, including the 7th West Virginia, passed the busy artillery one of the cannoneers expressed his joy with a shout: "Glory to God! We are saved!" (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).

'It is all my fault' - Gettysburg

The Virginia State Memorial stands on Seminary Ridge, topped by an equestrian figure of Robert E. Lee and not far from where he both watched Pickett's Charge and moved among its survivors returning to the ridge. Lee accepted blame for the failed attack as he tried to make sure his army was in position to respond to a counter attack. "It was not your fault this time. It was all my fault," Lee said. (Click image for larger view).

The "Fiery Inferno" - Gettysburg

The monument to the 2nd Pa. Cavalry stands on the back side of Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg near the headquarters to Union Major General George Meade - and his equestrian monument at the crest. The 2nd Pa. was assigned to his headquarters, a place that suddenly became one of the most dangerous on the field during the cannonade preceding Pickett's Charge as artillery rounds intended for the main Union line found the immediate rear instead. Meade was forced from his location as his headquarters "seemed to be the point of all others where the rebels' fire converged all around us." (Click image for larger view).

Two Generals on East Cemetery Hill - Gettysburg

Equestrian monuments to Union Major Generals and corps commanders Oliver Otis Howard (left) and Winfield Scott Hancock stand within shouting distance of each other among a handful of other markers on East Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg. When the pair first met at Gettysburg, on this hill commanding the town, Howard was in charge of an army that was scrambling to get to the rise after rough handling on the first day of battle. Hancock arrived with orders to take command, despite Howard's seniority. The awkward result was remembered differently by the two generals. Howard later claimed the two split command, Hancock felt and acted as in charge. "General," Hancock rebuked a subordinate who didn't jump to his orders, "I want you to understand I am in command here." (Click image for larger view).

Meade and Moonrise - Gettysburg

A full moon rises above the statue to Union Major General George Gordon Meade on Cemetery Ridge in Gettysburg. Among the Union monuments and cannon of Arnold's Battery marking the ground near The Angle is the 26th North Carolina monument (lower left). The marker to the Confederate unit is likely hundreds of feet misplaced - it pressed close to wall in Pickett's Charge, but not before Arnold's Battery (which had withdrawn and left only one operational gun during the Charge). The monument's 1986 placement was likely influenced by a desire to place it closer to the prestigious site of the breakthrough at the Angle (and further up the ridge). Regardless, the 26th NC suffered a staggering 81 percent casualty rate in fighting on the first and third days at Gettysburg. (Click image for larger view).