153rd Pa. at Barlow's Knoll - Gettysburg

As the 153rd Pennsylvania, nine month men from Bethlehem, Pa., got set to head into battle on the first day at Gettysburg, an officer addressed them, telling the men their enlistments had expired. "If there was a man in [the] ranks who did not wish to go into battle; he should step out, that it was no disgrace;" a soldier wrote, retelling the officer's words, "but that the enemy was in our native state, and that the people of Pennsylvania looked to us for relief, and that it was our duty to protect our homes... we gave three cheers and not a man stepped out of the ranks." Their officer must have been mistaken, misjudging the enlistment terms by a month. The regiment's survivors mustered out July 24, three weeks after the battle. (Click image for larger view).

The Unknowns - Gettysburg

One of several stones marking the unknown burials at Gettysburg National Cemetery marks a large group of anonymous graves. Of the 3512 Union battle dead buried there, nearly one quarter were interred without identification. (Click image for larger view).

New York at Gettysburg

The New York State Monument stands over graves in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Only Pennsylvania supplied more troops at the battle, but the New Yorkers suffered the greatest number of casualties: 6,700 killed, wounded or missing out of 23,000 soldiers on hand. (Click image for larger view).

Sunset from Little Round Top - Gettysburg

A cannon points at Confederate positions from the Union-held crest of Little Round Top, scene of fighting on the second day at Gettysburg. Gun crews struggled to push their weapons to the top of the hill as both sides met at what had been just a short time before a virtually unoccupied position. The next day, the artillery here would be put to use before and during the distant Pickett's Charge. (Click image for larger view).

Lee and Traveller - Gettysburg

Robert E. Lee looks out over the field of Pickett's Charge from his favorite mount, Traveller, in their depiction atop the Virginia State Memorial at Gettysburg. Its sculptor, Frederick William Sievers, must have considered his commission to create the largest Confederate monument at Gettysburg to be a high point of his career. But it was by no means his last Rebel effort: Sievers was responsible for crafting numerous Confederate memorials throughout the South. And though the Virginia State Memorial was dedicated in 1917, its sculptor lived to see the centennial of the battle before dying at age 93 in 1966. (Click image for larger view).

Humphreys and the 11th Massachusetts - Gettysburg

Monuments to Union Brigadier General Andrew Humphreys and the 11th Massachusetts Infantry stand on the Emmitsburg Road at Gettysburg. The stone sword-wielding arm of the 11th Massachusetts still awaits repair at the time of this posting after being ripped down and broken by vandals on a spree that left two others monuments heavily damaged in early 2006. (Click image for larger view).

The 7th at the Salient - Gettysburg

The unusual monument to the 7th New Jersey Infantry rests at the Peach Orchard salient where the Jersey men engaged in fighting on the second day. It depicts in massive scale a minie ball -the principal bullet of the Civil War era - on the site of the mortal wounding of Col. Louis Raymond Francine during the unit's withdrawal as the Union line collapsed. Francine survived two more weeks, dying on July 16th before being buried in his native Philadelphia's Laurel Hill Cemetery. (Click image for larger view).

Old Glory over Gettysburg

The US flag flies over the Soldiers' National Cemetery and the New York State Monument at Gettysburg. (Click image for larger view).

Cannonade from the Cornfield- Gettysburg

Corn grows around a Confederate battery position on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg. In the massive artillery barrage that preceded Pickett's Charge the guns planted in farmers' fields unleashed a storm on the Union center. But replying artillery took its toll, too. "For more than an hour it went on. Nearly every minute the cry of mortal agony was heard above the roar and rumble of the guns..." wrote Colonel Joseph Mayo of the 3rd Virginia Infantry, whose men waited inside the ridge's tree line for their attack. "Doubtless there would have been some consolation to know, as we afterwards learned, that our blue-coated friends over the way were in the same, if not worse predicament." (Click image for larger view).

Longstreet - Gettysburg

The monument to Confederate Lt. General James Longstreet stands in fog among Pitzer Woods at Gettysburg. The monument, placed on the battlefield in 1998, is unusual for at least three reasons: First, it stands flush to the ground, no high pedestal. Second, it took nearly a century to reach completion after first being proposed. Lastly, it breaks with the Gettysburg tradition, or at least the coincidence, that the position of the horse's legs reveal the fate of its rider in battle. Four legs on the ground: no battle injury. One hoof raised: the rider suffered a wound. Two legs off the ground: the rider was mortally wounded. Longstreet, whose horse (Hero) is depicted raising a front hoof, suffered no wounding at Gettysburg. It can be argued, perhaps, that his reputation was a lingering casualty following the Confederate loss. (Click image for larger view).