Dilger on Day One - Gettysburg

Guns mark one of the positions held by Capt. Hubert Dilger's battery of Ohio men on the first day at Gettysburg. Dilger's efforts were one of the few success stories for the Union army fighting north of the town. He held several positions, taking on both enemy artillery and infantry with great effect. His opening shots against a Confederate battery provided a memorable, if unlikely, sequence of events as reported by one witness:

"The first shot from the Ohio Battery flew over the Confederate Battery. At this time the rebels yelled in derision. Capt. Dilger now sighted the gun himself and fired it. The shot dismounted a rebel gun and killed the horses. Capt. Dilger tried it a second time, sighting and firing the gun. No effect being visible with the naked eye, Col. Brown who was near, asked, 'what effect, Capt. Dilger?' Capt. Dilger, after looking through his glass, replied. 'I have spiked a gun for them plugging it at the muzzle.' "

Guns of the Wheatfield Road - Gettysburg

Union artillery lines the Wheatfield Road at the Peach Orchard, scene of massed Union cannon the second day at Gettysburg. The Confederates won the day on this ground, but not before the artillerists exacted a cost, according to one witness: "Masses of Kershaw's and Wofford's brigades had been swept from the muzzles of the guns, which had been loaded either with double-shotted, or spherical case, with fuses cut to one second, to explode near the muzzles. They were literally blown to atoms. Corpses strewed the ground at every step." (Click image for larger view).

Citizen Soldiers - Gettysburg

The grouping of soldiers on the base of the Virginia State Monument at Gettysburg represents the various walks of life that contributed to the Confederate cause from the Old Dominion-a professional man, mechanic, artist, a boy, a business man, farmer, and a youth. The Seminary Ridge monument, better known for its depiction of Lee and Traveller at its top, is the largest grouping of figures on the battlefield. (Click image for larger view).

East Cavalry Field - Gettysburg

The monument to the 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th Michigan Cavalry of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade stands in the always-quiet East Cavalry Field at Gettysburg. Isolated from the rest of the battlefield, the site of horse soldier fighting on the third day has not changed much from when Brig. General George Armstrong Custer led his men into battle with the cry "Come on, you Wolverines!" (Click image for larger view).

Hampton's Battery at the Peach Orchard - Gettysburg

The sun sets beyond the monument to Hampton's Battery at the Peach Orchard at Gettysburg. Because of earlier losses, Hampton's gunners were incorporated with another battery during the fight at Gettysburg, when they were placed at the center of the ferocious artillery fight at the Sickles salient. (Click image for larger view).

New Yorkers on Culp's Hill - Gettysburg

The 123rd NY Infantry monument rests among other Union markers on Culp's Hill at Gettysburg. The 123rd was one of several units dispatched from its works on the hill to support the Union left on the second day of fighting, only to return to find Confederates had taken their position in their absence. They later retook their works, then were sent off again to support the defense of Pickett's Charge. (Click image for larger view).

Reynolds in the Cemetery - Gettysburg

The Union's Major General John Reynolds, the highest ranking officer killed in the battle, is memorialized with a statue in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Reynolds is depicted in two other full size bronze statues elsewhere on the field. At right is the New York State Monument. (Click image for larger view).

The last survivor - Gettysburg

The monument to the Grand Army of the Republic and Albert Woolson, 'the last survivor,' stands near the Cyclorama at Gettysburg. Woolson did not fight at Gettysburg - he entered the war as a drummer boy in the West - but was the last remaining Union soldier from the war at the time of his death in 1956. (Click image for larger view).

'Don't give up your guns' - Rickett's Battery, Gettysburg

The monument to Rickett's Battery on East Cemetery Hill belies the chaos that swirled around his and other batteries on the hill at nightfall on the second day at Gettysburg. A Confederate attack briefly overran the hill, including a section of Rickett's guns. As his gunners fought off the attackers in hand-to-hand combat on his left, his right continued to fire cannister at other rebels less successful at gaining the crest. The order: "Die on the soil of your State, but don't give up your guns," was carried out to the extreme by three cannoneers among the battery's casualties that night. (Click image for larger view).

Right of the Army of the Potomac - Gettysburg

The right flank marker of the 61st Pennsylvania Infantry monument stands next to a marker for the right of the Army of the Potomac on 'Lost Avenue' on Wolf Hill at Gettysburg. (Click image for larger view).