Barlow's Knoll - Gettysburg

Cannons mark the line held by Union gunners under Lt. Bayard Wilkeson on Barlow's Knoll on the field of the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. Wilkeson put his battery in place and was just under way engaging Confederates when he was mortally struck in the leg. The Union line would not hold much longer against the overpowering rebels, who stormed through this position before sweeping the Federals through the town.

Four-legged soldiers - Gettysburg

Horses relax in a green field in front of Union monuments to New Yorkers of the Third Corps that fought in vain to repel attacks at the Peach Orchard on the second day of fighting at Gettysburg. An estimated 72,000 horses were in service with both armies at Gettysburg, with 3000 to 5000 killed during the fighting. Many had names we know today and served high-placed riders, such as Old Baldy, Hero or Lucy Long. The majority were anonymous and toiled at the back-breaking work of moving armies. (Click image for larger view.)

Robert E. Lee - Gettysburg

Confederate General Robert E. Lee's image in bronze, astride his trusted Traveller, stands on top of the Virginia State Memorial on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg. He regally gazes over the field of Pickett's Charge, back straight and shoulders held high. It does not match the picture described by rebel General John Imboden, who waited for Lee at his headquarters the evening following the charge:
"When he arrived there was not even a sentinel on duty at his tent, and no one of his staff was awake. The moon was high in the clear sky and the silent scene was unusually vivid. As he approached and saw us lying on the grass under a tree, he spoke, reined in his jaded horse, and essayed to dismount. The effort to do so betrayed so much physical exhaustion that I hurriedly rose and stepped forward to assist him, but before I reached his side he had succeeded in alighting, and threw his arm across the saddle to rest, and fixing his eyes upon the ground leaned in silence and almost motionless upon his equally weary horse, - the two forming a striking and never-to-be-forgotten group. The moon shone full upon his massive features and revealed an expression of sadness that I had never before seen upon his face." (Click image for larger view).

The First Massachusetts - Gettysburg

The monument to the First Massachusetts stands on the Union line temporarily held along the Emmitsburg Road during the fighting of the second day. The men here skirmished most of the day with their Confederate counterparts before the massive rebel attacks broke the thinly held line and sent the survivors of Union Major General Daniel Sickles' Third Corps in retreat to safety on a bolstered line on Cemetery Ridge. (Click image for larger view).

44th and 12th New York, Little Round Top - Gettysburg

The towering monument to the 44th and 12th New York stands out on Little Round Top, seen above a screen of trees. The castle-like monument is one of several for Union units that defended the hill on the second day of fighting at Gettysburg. The virtually unguarded hill - "the key of the whole position" - nearly fell into rebel hands save for troops rushed to its summit before Confederate attackers. (Click image for larger view).

15th Massachusetts - Gettysburg

The 15th Massachusetts Infantry monument sits among dozens of others along Hancock Avenue at Gettysburg. The men of the 15th Massachusetts entered the fight here on the second day, bringing resistance to the Confederate attacks that finally stalled at the Union center.

Steven's Knoll - Gettysburg

Union artillery on this hill, now topped by a monument to Major General Henry Slocum, defended against the Confederate attack on East Cemetery Hill as darkness fell over the battlefield on the second day. Before the rebels began their charge the bloody day seemed to be ending peacefully, until a shout of "Look! Look at those men!" turned the artillerists to their guns as a rare night attack began. (Click image for larger view).

Smith's Battery - Devil's Den, Gettysburg

The monument to Captain James Smith's 4th New York battery of Parrott rifles stands above Devil's Den, in a precarious position that only allowed four of his six guns to be posted before the fight on the second day at Gettysburg. The cannoneers soon went from dueling with Confederate batteries on the opposite Seminary Ridge and long-range fire against infantry to fighting for their lives and their guns at close range. A different fight continues today. Incidents of vandalism in the area were first recorded more than one hundred years ago and in 1995 the artillerist on the Smith battery monument was wrenched from its base. More recently the statue was dragged down and decapitated, damage that has yet to be repaired. (Click image for larger view).

4th Michigan in the Wheatfield - Gettysburg

The monument to the 4th Michigan in the Wheatfield depicts a soldier holding the colors, inspired by the stand taken by Col. Harrison Jeffords after the flag was dropped in the wheat as the Confederates took the field for good on the second day at Gettysburg. He died in the hand-to-hand combat that resulted as he led the effort to recapture the prized flag. The marker notes of his death: "From his bosom that heaved, the last torrent that was streaming, and pale was his visage, deep marked with a scar. And dim was that eye, once expressively beaming, that melted in love, and that kindled in war." (Click image for larger view.)

North Carolina in Pickett's Charge - Gettysburg

A monument meant to mark the point reached by rebel troops of the 26th North Carolina Infantry during Pickett's Charge stands just yards from the low stone wall and Union artillery at the Angle at Gettysburg. The positioning of the monument - just further toward the crest of Cemetery Ridge than the marker of the site of Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Armistead's mortal wounding (and penetration of the Union line by his Virginians) - buttresses one third of the long held claim by the North Carolinians: "First at Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg, Last at Appomattox." (Click image for larger view).