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).

'Screaming shells and shot' - Gettysburg

Fog surrounds a Union cannon on Cemetery Ridge where the cannonade preceding Pickett's Charge on the third day at Gettysburg was directed. Both lines were soon clouded by smoke at the onset of the barrage. "The air is darkened with sulphurous clouds. The whole valley is enveloped," declared one participant, recounting decades later. "The sun, lately so glaring, is itself obscured. Nothing can be seen but the flashing light leaping from the cannon's mouth amidst the surrounding smoke. The air which was so silent and serene is now full of exploding and screaming shells and shot..." (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).

Coster Ave. Mural - Gettysburg

The 154th New York Infantry monument stands in front of the Coster Avenue mural on the battlefield of the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. The mural depicts the fighting that took place at this location as members of Coster's brigade - forming a rear guard as the Union line collapsed north of town - were routed by superior numbers of Confederates. Ten-year-old Charles McCurdy, watching the stream of soldiers in Gettysburg, remembered later: "If there is a more thrilling spectacle than an army in frenzied retreat through the narrow streets of a town, I cannot imagine it." (Click image for larger view).

North Carolina Monument - Gettysburg

Four of the five figures on the North Carolina Monument push toward Cemetery Ridge from their position on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg. One in four Confederate casualties during the battle was a North Carolinian. (Click image for larger view).

Pennsylvania Monument - Gettysburg

The Pennsylvania Monument stands on Cemetery Ridge in Gettysburg. The massive monument, the largest on the field, memorializes the Keystone State soldiers who fought in the battle - and lists the names of more than 34,000 present at the battle. 

'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).

'You all remember that afternoon' - Gettysburg

The 68th Pennsylvania Infantry monument stands in the last light at the Peach Orchard, scene of fighting on the second day at Gettysburg. The 68th was one of many Union regiments and artillery units forced back under heavy attacks at the salient. "You all remember that afternoon," one speaker commented at the monument dedication exactly 25 years later, "and out of the small band of us that went into that orchard few of us came safely out, but you did your duty bravely while there." (Click image for larger view).

Cemetery Ridge - Gettysburg

Union cannon rests on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg, scene of fighting during both the second and third day of battle. Confederate artillery officer E.P. Alexander later wrote about the cannonade that targeted the Northern guns such as these, as well as the men on Cemetery Ridge before Pickett's Charge: "It was not meant simply to make a noise, but to try and cripple him - to tear him limbless, as it were, if possible." (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).