Dawn at the Sickles Salient - Gettysburg

The rising sun lights up the sky over the Peach Orchard area at Gettysburg. It was late afternoon when Federal troops and artillery here were routed by the en echelon attacks launched by Confederates from Seminary Ridge. (Click image for larger view).

Snow in the Cemetery - Gettysburg

The Soldiers National Cemetery rests under a blanket of snow at Gettysburg. The Soldiers National Monument stands as one of the few markers not covered by the light snow - the grave markers of those killed at Gettysburg are flush to the ground in a simple design, radiating in a half circle from the tall monument at its center. (Click image for larger view).

Opposing Armies - Gettysburg

The monument to the 72nd Pa. Infantry stands on Cemetery Ridge at the Angle, facing the Virginia State Memorial (left background) and the Confederate lines on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg. Confederates in Pickett's Charge crossed this open ground (lined by the shadow of the Copse of Trees) before briefly piercing the Union line here. (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.)

69th Pa. at the Angle - Gettysburg

The low stone wall occupied by Union troops at the Angle at Gettysburg is marked by monuments all along the line, but only one unit, the 69th Pennsylvania Infantry, has separate markers representing each of its companies positions (partially shown at right). Many Union troops fought off Pickett's Charge but few were in as hot a position as the 69th, which found itself at the point of the only Confederate breakthrough. (Click image for larger view).

'Like grain before the reaper' - Gettysburg

The last final charge uphill stands beyond the second of two fences along the Emmitsburg Road crossed by Confederates in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. "We opened on them and they fell like grain before the reaper," wrote a soldier of the 12th New Jersey in a letter home shortly following the Union victory. (Click image for larger view.)

'Limber up and get out' -Gettysburg

The position held by the 9th Massachusetts Battery, the last to leave the Wheatfield Road line of artillery, is marked with a stone monument and a pair of cannon near the Peach Orchard at Gettysburg. It was at a nearby farmhouse, however, where the battery was hardest pressed. Capt. John Bigelow, ordered to 'limber up and get out" as the Confederates collapsed the Union's Peach Orchard salient, feared his gunners would be shot down if they stopped firing the cannons to pull them out. Instead, he ordered firing on the run, moving back with each gun's blast. The battery was finally ready for a more traditional withdrawal when Bigelow was ordered to hold his ground in a tight corner of land at the Trostle House as the Union artillery line was reformed on Cemetery Ridge. Guns were lost as the rebels mixed with the battery before the final chaotic withdrawal. Bigelow reported his battery had fired three tons of ammunition. He also lost 8 killed, 18 wounded and two missing, plus 45 horses, essential sacrifices to buy time. (Click image for larger view.)

Artillery on Powers Hill - Gettysburg

A monument to one of three Union batteries posted on Powers Hill stands in isolation in heavy woods near Granite Schoolhouse Lane at Gettysburg. The hill was a better artillery platform during the battle, when trees did not obscure the sightlines to Culp's Hill. (Click image for larger view.)

The Peach Orchard - Gettysburg

The Peach Orchard, seen in the distance from Brooke Avenue between the Wheatfield and the Rose farmhouse, overlooks much of the battlefield of the second day from its low rise between Cemetery and Seminary Ridges at Gettysburg. (Click image for larger view).

116th Pennsylvania of the Irish Brigade - Gettysburg

The monument to the 116th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry stands on the Loop at the Stony Hill at Gettysburg, where it had been sent into action at the Wheatfield on the second day at Gettysburg. The monument depicts a Irish Brigade member at rest along a stone fence, exactly as described by the unit's commander, Major St. Clair A. Mulholland, who came upon the young faced-casualty and remembered the scene vividly despite the roar and confusion of the fighting. He described the dead man as laying at peace, face turned to the sun, appearing relaxed with only a small bullet wound to the head to give evidence of his fate. (Click image for larger view).