'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).

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).

Fog on East Cemetery Hill

Fog envelopes East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg, including the monument to the 7th West Virginia (center), which rushed to help repel Rebels from this ground late on the second day of battle. (Click image for larger image).

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).

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."

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).

Meade rises to the occasion

Thick, low fog at dawn fills the low ground at the base of Cemetery Ridge, where the Codori barn (rebuilt since the war) sits in front of the Union line and the monument to Major General George Meade. The new commanding general - only days before the battle began he rose from corps to army control - deftly countered Lee's moves at Gettysburg. His handling of the pursuit of Lee's retreat, however, has been unfairly criticized since President Lincoln lamented, upon learning of the rebel army's escape across the Potomac 11 days later: "We had only to stretch forth our hands and they were ours." (Click image for larger view).

The High Water Mark

Morning fog lifts over the High Water Mark monument at The Angle and Copse of Trees on Cemetery Ridge, where memorials to the Union soldiers that defended the long, gentle rise are spaced along the line. Pickett's Charge on the third day of battle at Gettysburg crested here before receding in defeat. Debate continues as to if this is truly the "high water mark" of the Rebellion - but there is no doubt that the men who fought here were forever proud of their efforts. (Click image for larger view).