Dawn at The Angle - Gettysburg

Early morning sun stretches to monuments for the 72nd (left) and 71st Pa. monuments at The Angle, scene of the climax of Pickett's Charge on the third day at Gettysburg. Of the 12,000 Rebel men who took part in the charge, a small number of men pierced the Union line here. It was not enough. (Click image for larger view).

Big Round Top - Gettysburg

Big Round Top rises above fog as seen from West Confederate Avenue at Gettysburg. The rocky hill did not achieve great fame during the battle for one simple reason: Its heavy woods made it less strategically important than its partially cleared neighbor and shorter hill, Little Round Top. Confederate forces climbed the then-empty hill before attacking on the second day of fighting. (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).

Pennsylvania Monument - Gettysburg

Names of high-ranking Pennsylvanians are carved into arches of the Keystone state's massive monument on Cemetery Ridge. Ten of thousands of soldiers fought for the Union on their home state's soil. Decades before the completion of this monument, a speaker at Gettysburg's "Pennsylvania Day" ceremonies praised the men who fought for the Commonwealth. "Soldiers of Pennsylvania, your valor has been seen in many battle fields, but on none has it been greater or grander, nobler or more heroic than on the July days of 1863." (Click image for larger view).

Trostle farm - Gettysburg

The moon hangs over the Trostle farm at Gettysburg. The scene here would have been chaotic late in the afternoon and early evening on the second day of fighting as Union troops posted at the Peach Orchard were routed and sent streaming back to Cemetery Ridge by Longstreet's assault. To the right of the Trostle barn (center) Union Major General Dan Sickles received the artillery wound that cost him his leg and knocked him out of the battle. (Click image for larger view).

Mozart Regiment in the Valley of Death - Gettysburg

A soldier peers over a protective boulder in the monument to the 40th New York on the floor of the Valley of Death at Gettysburg, site of fighting on the second day at Gettysburg. Nicknamed the Mozart Regiment after the Mozart Hall Committee of the New York City Democratic party which sponsored it, the 40th entered the fight between Devils Den and Little Round Top as the Confederates where taking control of the sector. Despite being credited with "fighting like tigers," the 40th did not last long in the valley. (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).

General Hays - Gettysburg

Late day sun glistens off the gold patina of the Brigadier General Alexander Hays monument on Cemetery Ridge, where units of his Union division were posted during the repulse of Pickett's Charge. Hays is pictured as a commander in motion - and with a stern determination, appropriate for a general who was on the line near Ziegler's Grove as the charge crested, and had two horses shot from under him. "Hurrah! Boys, we're giving them hell!" he yelled from the saddle as he rode among his men. (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."

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).