Artillery on Little Round Top - Gettysburg

Cannons of Battery L, First Ohio Artillery, point toward Confederate positions from the rocky north end of Little Round Top at Gettysburg. Artillery hastily brought by hand to the rough ground here helped solidify the crumbling Union line on the second day of fighting. "So rapidly were the guns worked that they became too hot to lay the hand on," reported Capt. Frank C. Gibbs. He continued: "But for the position of the battery, and the gallantry with which it was handled by the men, I have no doubt the enemy would have accomplished his purpose of breaking our lines at this point, and possibly changed the fortunes of the day." (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).

Artillery at the Peach Orchard - Gettysburg

The monument to Hampton's Battery, 1st Pennsylvania Artillery, stands over the Peach Orchard in one of the more prominent monuments in that sector, where fighting raged on the second day. The unit was actually combined with cannoneers and guns from Thompson's Battery, both having been depleted in earlier campaigns, and operating at Gettysburg under the command of Captain James Thompson. Both Pittsburgh-based units placed monuments at the Peach Orchard despite their combined arrangement. (Click image for larger view).

3rd Michigan - the Peach Orchard

The 3rd Michigan Infantry monument depicts two soldiers at work where they skirmished near The Peach Orchard on the second day. Later, as the fight thickened, they formed a regular line before being forced back among the other troops trying in vain to hold the salient on the Emmitsburg road. (Click image for larger view).

Peach Orchard - Gettysburg

The Peach Orchard salient, as seen from where Confederates stepped off during attacks along the Union line on the second day at Gettysburg, rests under a misty sun. Confederate Brigadier General William Barksdale led one brigade of Mississippi troops from this point, smashing the Union line. A Union officer was impressed by the Rebels, remembering later how they came on "firing and shrieking like Indians." (Click image for larger view).

Alabamians! - Gettysburg

The Alabama state memorial on West Confederate Avenue at Gettysburg stands near where troops from that state stepped off on attacks on the second day of fighting. Three figures are the focus of the memorial, dedicated in 1933. A female personification of Alabama urges an older soldier forward as he takes a cartridge box from a younger, wounded comrade who has dropped his weapon. The monument reads: "Alabamians! Your names are inscribed on fame's immortal scroll." (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).

The Cold Steel - Gettysburg

A simple monument marks the location where Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Armistead was shot down leading rebels in a breakthrough at The Angle during Pickett's Charge. Moments before his wounding, Armistead stepped over the low stone wall defining the Union line, exhorting his men in now immortal words: "Come forward, Virginians! Come on, boys, we must give them the cold steel! Who will follow me?" (Click image for larger view).

Sharpshooters - Gettysburg

Car tailights bend around the aptly named Loop adjacent to the Wheatfield, scene of fighting on the second day at Gettysburg. Members of the 2nd company Andrews Sharpshooters, whose monument is pictured, would have been used early in the fighting as skirmishers, strung out along the Union line. (Click image for larger view).

Eternal Light Peace Memorial - Gettysburg

The Eternal Light Peace Memorial stands over Oak Ridge on the battlefield of the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. A natural gas-fed flame burns 24 hours a day on the monument dedicated to "Peace Eternal in a Nation United." President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the featured speaker at the grand reunion of the Civil War combatants at Gettysburg when the monument was dedicated. The President acknowledged the aging vets' presence at the ceremony. "All of them we honor," he said, "not asking under which Flag they fought then- thankful that they stand together under one Flag now." (Click image for larger view).