Wildflowers, Barn Owls, and Battlefield Trails

 

Dutchman's Breeches at Culp's Hill

      Those who merely drive through the park in spring are apt to miss more than the stories on the monuments. Spring on the battlefield provides a glimpse of new life where so many Americans fought. Since the battlefield has remained relatively undisturbed, it is home for many native wildflower species as well as a plethora of animals. A meandering walk, reading monuments and checking for position markers can also be a chance to see the flowers that were here in Pennsylvania, and much of the Northeast during the lives of the soldiers. Spring ephemerals are generally shorter plants, with few ranging as high as a foot, so you'll need to look down and be observant. This group of plants takes advantage of the sunlight which streams through leafless forests. Once the trees leaf out and deeper shade takes over, the ephemerals will disappear.

     At Culp's Hill, on the one way road that circles around an area occupied by New Jersey sharpshooters during the battle one can find a profusion of Dutchman's Breeches, Dicentra cucullaria. Lacy gray green leaves characterize this native species. The distinctive leaflets appear first, signalling that the flowers will soon decorate the reddish stems. The leaves have a sheen that makes the grayish green look almost powdery. The common name is derived from the shape of the flowers, which look like pantaloons, or breeches, commonly worn in the 18th century. Flowers are creamy white, hanging from the stalk like breeches hanging on a clothesline. Each flower is really four joined petals, which meet to form the characteristic shape. At Culp's Hill, the plants bloom in April usually, forming lacy green beds on the brown oak leaf covered forest floor. The picture above was taken April 9, 2013. In this area, the flowers were visible from the road, along with bloodroot and cut-leaved toothwart.

bloodroot

cut-leaved toothwort

     Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, is a native wildflower which is almost tropical looking. This plant is native to the Eastern United States in rich forest land. Creamy white blossom arise on stems with a single clasping leaf. There may be between 8-12 petals surrounding the yellow center. The flowers are above were also at Culp's Hill. Appearing on the dull brown crumbling leaves, the flowers of bloodroot are a welcome sign of spring. Their name is based on the red liquid in their stems, which is poisonous. Despite its toxicity when eaten, bloodroot was used by Native Americans as well as European settlers to treat some wounds.

   Cut-leaved toothwort is a showy native with clusters of flowers atop leaves that look like cutwork. Cardamine concatenata was used by various tribes, including Algonquian and Cherokee as a medicinal herb. It can be found from Maine to Florida, and westward to Oklahoma. This plant gained its name because of its appearance, and was used to treat toothache.

Anemone, Anemone on Confederate Avenue and Wright Avenue near Roundtop

     One of the most beloved of the spring anemones is liverleaf,  anemone americana, also known as round-lobed hepatica. Blooming from March to early May, these native flowers range in color from white, to indigo, pink, and purple. Sometimes called tri-lobed hepatica, these plants have attractive leaves with three lobes. Even with their vivid color, they are easy to overlook if you are walking along. 

     Although there are usually 6 sepals that look like petals, there may be from 5-10 on different plants. The flowers above were blooming in early April, although it is not uncommon to find flowers in March.

The Rocks at Gettysburg

Geology and the Battle

    Tourists used to   the vocabulary of battle expect to hear cannons, cavalry, and rifles are not ready to hear a discussion of diabase, shale, and sandstone. However, understanding the geology of Gettysburg is a key to understanding troop movement and activity as well as the famous fishhook line of the Union. The first term to know is diabase, seen here at Devil's Den. Diabase is a term that is confusing because the same composition of rock is called dolerite or black granite in other areas. An igneous rock, diabase is very hard; it is also speckled and is sometimes used for monuments, as at Gettysburg. Diabase is prone to spheroidal weathering, one of the terms that I always remember from my geology classes because it is so easy to spot.
Spheroidal means rounded, or like a sphere, so there aren't sharp corners. Weathering refers to the process of wearing away, by the action of water, cold, or pressure or by chemical actions. The odd rounded shapes that the diabase outcroppings have is a result of these actions. Pictured above is Devil's Den, located on Sickles Avenue, west of Little Round Top. Like other diabase features in Gettysburg National Military Park, Devil's Den was formed 200 million years ago when the molten igneous rock flowed through the sandstone and shale of the plain. The varied shapes at this location are the result of differential weathering. Some of the cracks are actually ancient "cooling fractures" which began millions of years ago; others occurred more recently as the result of weathering.

 In Pictures After the Battle

     This famous (or infamous) staged picture shows a Confederate soldier who was killed in the fighting near Devil's Den. After the battle, his body was moved to this site for a picture titled "Confederate sharpshooter at Devil's Den."  This position probably was used by a sharpshooter, but not this man. Iconic photographs of Devil's Den over many years have made this rock outcropping among the most famous of the rock formations in the United States

How Did Diabase Affect the Union Positions?

     Any military strategist or history student knows the importance of the high ground in a battle. Through some planned decisions, and some mere coincidences, the Union came to hold a series of higher points that formed a letter J or a fishhook. These high points are composed of diabase. From Culp's Hill to the east and north to the end of the hook at Little Round Top, the Union positions were on the diabase outcrops -- places where the harder, resistant diabase had not worn down over time. Cemetery Ridge, the center of the Union line which was attacked on July 3, 1863, rises about 570 feet above sea level. At the hook of the Union line, Big Round Top is 785 above sea level and Little Round Top is 650 feet above sea level. These higher places were the positions the Union successfully defended. You might notice differences in color or texture in the rock outcroppings as you walk across parts of the battlefield. These are a result of slight differences in mineral composition in the various rocks and boulders. You will also see the deep tan color of the sandstone and the red of the shale at lower elevations, such as the railroad cut along Reynolds Avenue.

     The diabase bedrock and boulders had several other effects on the soldiers during the three days of battles. First, boulders provided cover from which sharpshooters and others could fire at the enemy. The diabase rocks that lie along the hillside of Little Round Top were used in that way, as were the famous positions at Devil's Den. A problem was created by the diabase, however. Soldiers were in general unable to dig trenches into the hard, resistant diabase that was close to the surface. At many places, you can see the diabase appear almost like a floor of stone.

     Reading the Rocks

    Few witness trees remain at Gettysburg. Many of the field hospitals are private residences. Criss-crossed by avenues which did not exist in 1863, the terrain offers little that remains as the men of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia saw it. But the rocks remain. Time -- even a hundred fifty years--has little effect on the hard diabase born in the molten depths of the earth. The rock outcroppings and weird juxtapositions still are as they saw them. When we touch the rough surface of a boulder, our experience is just as theirs was. Perhaps that is why so many frequent visitors have an affinity for the rocks at Gettysburg. We remember standing in a certain place, beneath a rock or beside a boulder, and thinking about those who fought here. For many of the soldiers who survived and were present at the placement of the monuments, the diabase rocks at Gettysburg served as a guide. They remembered the rocks and used those locations to decide on where the right and left flanks of their line stood, and where the center of the line was in 1863.

     Back along an old trail on Big Round Top is this, the second monument to the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. This monument, placed atop a boulder on the rock strewn hillside of Big Round Top, commemorates the service of the regiment known as the Corn Exchange regiment. The Maltese cross visible on the monument side indicates that it was part of the Fifth Division. In an earlier post, you will find a position marker for an Ohio regiment on Culp's Hill perched atop a huge boulder in the forest. The trees were ripped to shreds on Culp's Hill by days of fierce fighting, but the rocks remained.

For further information:

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/education/es5/es5.pdf




   

When the Monument Tells a Story

The 93rd Pennsylvania Volunteers

    When you walk the battlefield alone or with family and friends, your meandering can bring you to stories that must be told. One August evening, I set out walking along Sedgwick Avenue after parking near the monument to the New Jersey Brigade. I was utterly alone, and suddenly a doe came bounding out of the forest. When she saw me, she stopped and simply stared, as if wondering whether I could be friend or foe. A passing car drove her back into the forest, and as I walked by I was able to catch a glimpse of her through the trees. From this part of Sedgwick Avenue, one can see Devil's Den and Little Round Top in the distance. Sedgwick Avenue is a one way road, and I was walking against the traffic. Of course while I was there, I only saw four or five cars pass by. On one side is the forest, and opposite, a meadow. After reading the markers by the forest, I crossed to a grass covered knoll. In the evening calm, the grasses were still, and I followed a mown path and was soon surrounded by grass that was almost as tall as I. It was in that sea of grass that I found a monument that fascinated me: the second monument to the 93rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment, composed of men from central Pennsylvania.

   I was struck by the vivid blue tile, which I knew indicated members of the third division, (see July 26 post) and the Greek cross, the insignia of the Sixth Corps, commanded by Major General John Sedgwick. This monument to the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 93rd Infantry seems very personal to me. It was erected, according to the inscription, by the survivors of the regiment, on October 30, 1864. At about 6 and one half feet tall, this granite shaft is neither imposing nor, well, monumental. It seems heartfelt, and intended to commemorate the bravery of those who survived as well as those who died. I had to learn their story, and find out what brought these men to this place. What I found is that this regiment, like all the Union regiments who fought for union and freedom, had been challenged at Gettysburg, and had risen to meet that challenge. I was spell-bound by the first-person accounts in Red, White, and Blue Badge, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, A History of the 93rd Regiment, written by Penrose G. Mark that tell the tale of all the battles of this regiment, and also of the installment of this monument. Like all first person accounts, they are at times hard to follow, with digressions, time-lapses, and anecdotal side-trips, but they capture the heart of this regiment.
   July 1 found the Sixth Corps at Manchester Maryland, some 37 miles from Gettysburg. Oliver Howard rode in from Gettysburg, bringing orders to Sedgwick that the Sixth Corps was urgently needed at Gettysburg. The men were marching on foot, and were needed by the afternoon of July 2. Here, the account offers what transpired:

Col. McCarter, (who was a minister) though an invalid, the genius of eloquence had touched 
his lips and bade them speak. His rostrum was a war steed ; the silence was 
profound and painful, not a foot rose or fell, breathing seemed suspended, 
and nature appeared as awe-struck at the sublimity of the scene, stood 
silent, solemn, listening. He who was to interpret and give tongue to 
this tremendous silence, began in tones low and tremulous, his voice ac- 
quiring force and volume as he proceeded , rang out on the evening air solemn 
and sepulchral as a trumpet from the skies, as if God had re-commissioned 
the immortal Moses to re-inflame the serried hosts of the Lord God about 
to march to the valley of decision for the dread battle of Armageddon. 

"My countrymen, comrades in arms, Pennsylvanians; The destroyer has come; 
fell treason's foul foot has polluted the soil dedicated forever sacred to freedom. 
Northern hearthstones are threatened; the chains of slavery are clanking and they 
are forging fetters to crush your patriotic spirit — the issue is joined, the stupendous 
conflict has commenced. Interests vast as a world, termless as time, are at a venture. 

                 Catch the spirit of Washington, emulate his illustrious 
 example; he never drew his sword but upon his country's enemy; he never 
sheathed it while his country contained an enemy. Soldiers, we have met before 
in the shock of battle, where destruction reveled and death danced at a festal scene. 
Again we go! should you fall, the spot -will be forever sacred to freedom and a 
monument immortal as the ages shall arise to your memory. A nation will be your 
mourners, the liberty-loving tongue and tribe, class and kindred, will tender you 
the tribute of a tear. "Let US forward then." 

This speech heartened the men who then set off.

"That hot, dry, dusty, moonlit night of July 1 presented a scene of weird, almost 
spectral Impressiveness. The roads to the south and southeast of the town flowed 
with unceasing, unbroken rivers of armed men, marching swiftly, stolidly, silently. 
Their garments were covered with dust, and their gun barrels gleamed with a fierce 
brilliance in the bright moonlight. The striking silence of the march, the dust-gray 
figures, the witchery of the moonbeams, made it seem spectral and awesome. No drum 
beat, no trumpet blared, no harsh command broke the monotonous stillness of the 
steady surge forward, 

"That they were masses of men was lost sight of in the sensation of a mighty 
force rolling forward with the resistless impulse of waves of the ocean. 

"Two years of hard service and the hard pace of 200 miles from the Rappahannock 
had fined the regiments down until they scarcely averaged 200 men apiece. But these 
were the kernel of the 1,000 men first enrolled, and to follow their colors had become 
their chief instinct, The regiment was all their being, and they merely parts of it. 

"From the fields along the road came the soughs and drones of full-fed cattle lying in 
the rich pastures, the tinkle of a bell as a cow moved uneasily, the mournful call 
of the whip-poor-will, the chirp of crickets, the buzz of night-flying insects. Thousands 
of ears heard these sounds of the night that a few hours later would hear nothing more 
until the Last Trump. 

"Reaching their assigned places, the weary men stacked their guns, and with a 
brief glance at the sanguinary field of the day's fight threw themselves upon the 
hot ground and were soon asleep. Their minds were as weary as their bodies. Every 
day since they had left the Rappahannock had been tense with expectations of battle. 
They were ready for It whenever It should come, and they cared not how soon it 
did come. 

Sedgwick complained that his men were so dispersed that he had no one left to command. Various brigades and regiments of the Sixth Corps were pressed into service as reinforcements and replacements, and were in place all along the fishhook line of the Union troops. But they has arrived just in time to help repel a new attack by the Army of Northern Virginia, according to some accounts. Samuel Bates, who also wrote a history of the 93rd regiment, described the fighting on the afternoon of July 2.

At two P. M. the regiment arrived at Rock Creek, by the Baltimore Pike, just in rear of the line of battle at the Cemetery. At three, General Sedgwick was ordered to send a brigade to the support of the Third and Fifth Corps, then hard pressed on the left. Wheaton's Brigade was ordered to the Ninety-third being in advance, (the first regiment of the Sixth Corps to get into action,) Major Nevin in command. General Sedgwick in person led the brigade, and formed it on the brow of a low, rocky knoll, covered with scattering trees, just to the right of Little Round Top, the left of the brigade joining with the Pennsylvania Reserves. It got into position just as the troops which had been contesting the ground in the open fields along the Emittsburg Pike, broken, and almost annihilated, were coming back in disorder, followed by the exultant enemy. The command was ordered to lie down, and to withhold its fire until the enemy was close upon it. Had this command been heeded the whole rebel line could easily have been captured. But impatience got the better of obedience and discretion, and a premature fire was opened from a part of the line, which checked his advance, and caused him to be wary. Further attempts at concealment being useless, the whole brigade advanced, and after a short contest the rebel line was driven in tumult. In this charge the Ninety-third took twenty-five prisoners.

Just before nightfall the Ninety-third was ordered forward in conjunction with a regiment of the Reserve Corps, to re-take a battery which had been lost in the early part of the day. But it was soon discovered that the guns had been removed, and it returned to its place on the right of the brigade. At night the men slept for a few hours in line of battle, but spent the greater part in removing the wounded who strewed the fields in front. Since eight pm. of the evening previous it had marched thirty-nine miles, had fought three hours, and passed an almost sleepless night without food.

The 4th of July was celebrated at the front, the regiment being ordered upon the skirmish line on the extreme left, where it suffered some loss. At two in the afternoon it was relieved, and thus ended its part in the battle. The loss was eight killed and twenty-one wounded. 

So this modest monument, blazing the blue cross of the Third Division, Sixth

Corps, reminds us of their role in the battle.  Writing about Gettysburg, Penrose Marks stated:

Centuries may pass and new generations populate our land ; yet the name 
of Gettysburg will not fail to call before memory the heroic deeds enacted 
there. Its deeds of valor are not chanted in undying epic or immortal 
poems, yet beside Thermopylae and Marathon, Waterloo and Balaclava, 
stands the name of Gettysburg. 

And I tell myself that it is the vibrant simplicity of the monument that
compelled me to research the story of the Pennsylvania 93rd. It was. It was that alone, and not the
inexplicable rustling behind me in that sea of grass. That rustling that made
me turn to comment to someone, a person just behind me, moving in the grass,
only to find that there was no one there.

If you go: 

Sedgwick Avenue is located in the same section of the battlefield as Devil's Den and Little Round Top, an area south of Gettysburg which can be accessed from the Emittsburg Road or the Baltimore Pike. If you are driving in on Wheatfield Road from the Emittsburg Road (Steinwehr Avenue in town), turn left onto Sedgwick Avenue, which is a one way road. However, if you are also visiting Little Round Top, then follow Sykes Avenue which becomes Sedgwick Avenue. Along the avenue, you will also find Sedgwick's statue, monuments to the Fifth Maine Infantry, the First New York Light Artillery, the 37th Massachusetts Infantry, and the New Jersey Brigade. The George Weikert Farm is at the point where Sedgwick Avenue meets United States Avenue and Slocum Avenue. This farm, which was used as a field hospital during the battle,  lies at the end of the rocky meadow in which the monument to the 93rd Pennsylvania is located.

 

The 16th Maine Volunteers

Gallant Union Troops on July 1, 1863

     Day 1 at Gettysburg was a day filled with suspense, confusion, and advantages lost and gained. All day long, Union and Confederate troops battled to gain and hold ground. It was on Day 1 that John Reynolds died, Archer's North Carolina Brigade was cut down almost in a perfect line, and many men died in the railroad cut.  Union General George Meade was still almost ten miles away in Taneytown, Maryland, and troops were still scattered along the Mason Dixon line. The first encounters occurred to the north and west of the town of Gettysburg; the two important roads to remember are the Chambersburg Pike and the Mummasburg Road. Visitors often visit the eternal flame on Oak Hill, site of one of the artillery batteries. This is one of the important examples of "high ground" early in the fighting. Across the Mummasburg Road lies Oak Ridge, site of the stand of the 16th Maine Volunteers, who were ordered to hold the ridge, ensuring that other Union troops could safely retreat through the town to Cemetery Ridge on the south side of the town. Their story exemplifies the resolve and sacrifice of troops who followed the orders given, knowing that the cost would be dear. Theirs is a moving story, and standing where they stood, imagining the Confederate troops storming toward them highlights an understanding of their courage.

     Oak Ridge is perpendicular to the Mummasburg Road, about a mile and a half north and slightly west of Cemetery Ridge. Here, troops from New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maine were fighting together. Toward the end of the afternoon, General Robinson, commander of the 1st Corps, rode up to Colonel Tilden, of the 16th Maine, and ordered him to hold the ridge "at any cost." Tilden knew that with less than 300 men outnumbered and outgunned, the task would be a hard one.
Major Abner Small recounted the tale after the war.

"You know what that means," said Colonel Tilden, turning to us, and in the same breath he gave the commands that sent us hurrying back towards the Mummasburg road again. The stone wall came along on the left, and bent sharply ahead of us to face the road. We made a dash for the corner and planted our colors in the angle. We got there just as a flag and a line of battle showed up across the way; we heard distinctly the commands of a rebel officer directing his men to fire; and a volley crashed, and we saw some of our men fall. Our line blazed away in reply, and the rebel flag went down, and the officer pitched headlong in the stubble.  But the attacking line came on, and following behind it was another, and we knew that our little regiment could not withstand the onset. With anxious hope we looked again to the rear for support - and saw that the other regiments of our brigade, our division, were falling back rapidly towards the town. The ridge could be held no longer. We were sacrificed to steady the retreat.

How much more time was passing, I can’t say; it was only a matter of minutes before the grey lines threatened to crush us. They came on, firing from behind the wall, from fences, from the road; they forced us, fighting back along the ridge; and Captain Lowell fell, and some of our men. We were caught between two fires. It was the end. For a few last moments our little regiment defended angrily its hopeless challenge, but it was useless to fight longer. We looked at our colors, and our faces burned. We must not surrender those symbols of our pride and our faith. Our color bearers appealed to the colonel, and with his consent they tore the flags from the staves and ripped the silk to shreds; and our officers and men that were near took each a shred. 

     

      Fewer than forty of the men the the regiment eventually made their way to Cemetery Ridge, where they rejoined the 1st Corps. Others, including Colonel Tilden, were captured and sent to prisons in the south. Colonel Tilden, sent to Libby prison in Richmond, escaped and returned to his regiment. The little pieces of the United States flag and the regimental flag that together were termed "the colors" were never captured. Instead, they were put in pockets or otherwise secured by the men.  Four of those pieces are now in the Maine State Museum. Others have been passed down in families to preserve the memory of the gallantry of those troops. 

     There is no doubt that the fifteen thousand men who set off across the field Pickett's Charge made an impressive picture, and for many symbolize the resolve of troops in the Civil War. But for me, the less than 300 soldiers of the 16th Maine standing on Oak Ridge outnumbered, but resolute, will forever symbolize the gallantry of troops who follow orders and resolve to be brave in the attempt. 

If you go: 

    There is an observation tower on Oak Ridge, and monuments to the Union troops who fought there on July 1, 1863. From the Mummasburg Road, turn onto Doubleday Avenue, where there is a parking lot. The monument to the 16th Maine Volunteers is about 100 yards farther along Doubleday Avenue on the side of the road opposite the tower. 

For further reading:

http://civilwarlibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/12/other-voices-portion-of-16th-maines.html

 

http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/edu/turner/tcw.htm

Renfrew Mansion

History & Nature in Franklin County

     Just 24 miles from Gettysburg via Route 116 and Route 16 lies the Renfrew Museum and Park in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. For history buffs looking for a place that has been preserved for 200 years, the museum tour offers a glimpse into farm life in the early 19th century. For those who are nature enthusiasts, there is a park of over 100 acres with Antietam Creek flowing through the fields and forests. For those interested in American artistry, there is the Bell collection of pottery. This beautiful historical property is just off of Route 16, along which Lee's forces traveled as they retreated from Gettysburg.

  Oddly enough, the name Renfrew does not commemorate the early and later owners of the property whose houses and barns are on the tour. Instead, the name is based on the story of two little girls who lived on the property in the 1700's and were slain  in a raid during the French and Indian War in the 1700's. When she gave the house and surrounding land to the town of Waynesboro, Emma Geiser Nicodemus, the last private owner specified that she wanted the name to honor those little sisters who were killed so long ago. The property includes two houses, barns, and outbuildings that have been preserved and restored. In the Museum House, is the collection of antiques that belonged to Mrs. Nicodemus. Touring the museum house requires a fee which you may pay at the visitor center. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday, noon - 4 pm and weekends from 1 - 4 pm from April to mid-October. The grounds are open year round and are free.

    
 
      The Royer barn which was rebuilt in the early 1900's on the site of the  barn dating back to the late 1700's houses a visitor center and gift shop. In the visitor center is a collection of Bell's pottery. The Bell family were well-known potters who lived and worked in Waynesboro. John Bell, the elder, had two brothers who also became famous as potters, working in Virginia. The younger John Bell ran the Waynesboro pottery after the death of his father. Their work is both rare and sought after; the chance to see the collection is a rare glimpse into these American treasures.You can find out more about the Bell family of potters here:
http://antiquesandthearts.com/2008-10-07__10-22-23.html&page=2
 Privately owned Bell work, when it comes up for auction, brings prices in the thousands to tens of thousands range, with one unique style selling for over $59,000. 
The weather vane that once adorned the pottery now is in the visitor center at the Renfrew Museum. Also in the barn is the gift shop, which is open the same hours as the museum.

      Pictured above is the Royer smokehouse, built in the 1815. Like the museum house, it is constructed of limestone, quarried locally. This two story smokehouse was used for butchering and curing meat and is constructed like a bank barn, with two floors. In the visitor center you can view a collection of old farming implements as well as tools used at the Royer tannery which once stood across the creek from the house.

      The rolling fields invite exploration. Nature trails are in the back of the museum house and offer hikers several different possibilities along and above the creek. In the picture above is the Fahnestock barn which is an easy walk from the museum house. The barn has been the site of various activities including Halloween storytelling sessions. Also on the property is the Edmajoda Trail, adjacent to the parking lot off Welty Road.There are no fees for use of the trails. However, ONLY pets that have been registered with the museum are allowed on the grounds. Those pets must be leashed at all times when at the park. The information about becoming a ParkPal is posted near the Welty Road parking lot.
Next weekend, August 11 to August 12, a Civil War encampment will be held on the museum grounds. The event is free and open to the public. You can discover more information about the museum here:

 http://www.renfrewmuseum.org/index.html

Menchey's Spring

At the foot of East Cemetery Hill

       One of the overlooked but important places at Gettysburg National Military Park is Wainwright Avenue, named for Charles Wainwright, commander of the 1st Corps Artillery, who was instrumental in the Union defense of East Cemetery Hill. If you have the time, walk down the hill  from the crest of East Cemetery Hill and walk along Wainwright Avenue. This is a road, so you'll have to watch out for the occasional car. Along this road stand  monuments to the soldiers who defended this hill when Jubal Early's troops attacked from the northeast on July 2, 1863. Here, regiments from New York, Massachusetts and Ohio confronted their attackers. The Union troops were driven back and the Confederates took over the hill for a time, but Union reinforcements arrived in time to regain the hill. General Winfield Scott Hancock, whose statue is on the crest of the hill, sent Carroll's Brigade from Cemetery Ridge to the embattled Union position.

The monument to the 41st NY Infantry and the position markers for the 68th and 54th NY Infantry stand at the bottom of the hill indicating the positions of these regiments. Just across Wainwright Avenue, which was called Brickyard Lane, and at times Winebrenner Lane, is a spring which is still bubbling with water. This spring, Menchey's Spring, provided cool refreshment to the embattled Union troops, but was also the site at which Confederate sharpshooters picked off members of the 54th NY Infantry. Lined by fences, the spring still offers a place to pause, look out across the field to Culp's Hill and remember the troops who fought here. As late as 1915, the remains of a Union soldier were found near Menchey's Spring. With only the USA buckle, buttons, and a "cap box" as identifying characteristics, it was assumed that the soldier might be a member of the 41st NY; he was buried at the National Cemetery.

Steuart's Brigade

First Maryland C.S.A.

     One of the few regimental monuments of Confederate troops is located on Culp's Hill. This marker to the 2nd Maryland Infantry C.S.A. is located on lower Culp's Hill. It is actually a monument to the regiment known during the battle as the 1st Maryland Infantry C.S.A., but in order to avoid confusion with Union forces known as the 1st Maryland, this monument has "2nd" and is also inscribed "Formerly known as the 1st Maryland." Part of Steuart's Brigade, this regiment crossed Rock Creek and moved up the hill through the thick forest. In the account of a lieutenant in the Brigade, the First Maryland CSA was named the Second Maryland CSA at the time of the battle, but this narrative written in 1910 may not be accurate. They actually advanced farther than any of the other Confederate forces on July 3, 1863.

Maryland was a state divided, and stories abound of families and communities split, with brothers and neighbors literally fighting against one another. Also on Culp's Hill on July 2 & 3 were members of the Federal 1st Maryland Unit, from the Eastern Shore, led by James Wallace. On the morning of July 3, troops from North Carolina and Virginia and this Maryland troop attempted to advance toward the Baltimore Pike. The Marylanders advanced to a position that is marked by a small marker that many drive past.

     This marker is on the farthest point reached by the members of the Maryland CSA forces of Steuart's Brigade, at the edge of Pardee Field. At this point, USA Marylanders were firing upon the CSA Marylanders.  In fact, according to several sources, the Color Sergeant Robert Ross of the Union regiment was a cousin to Color Sergeant P.M. Moore of the Confederate battalion. Of the confrontation, Wallace said,
"The 1st Maryland Confederate Regiment met us and were cut to pieces.  We sorrowfully gathered up many of our old friends and acquaintances and had them carefully and tenderly cared for."
Approximately 50% of the Maryland Confederate troops in Steuart's brigade were killed or mortally wounded. Observing the battle, Steuart  said to have cried out, "My boys! My poor boys!" If you are standing at the point of this position marker, then you can visualize fire coming from the Union forces down the slope of Pardee Field, and also from the right, the upper part of Culp's Hill. The Pennsylvania regiment commanded by Thomas Kane, had been removed from the fighting by Geary's ill-timed move of July 2, 1863, when he moved his forces to join the line at Little Round Top but never got there.
   The fierce fighting on Culp's Hill tore branches from trees and cut whole tree trunks in half. Although both sides lost many men during the fighting of July 2 and 3, regiments from the Confederate forces lost one-third to one-half of their men, according to accounts by Lt. Randolph McKim of Steuart's Brigade. In 1910, he wrote his recollection of the battle and included an account of the death of Private Iglehart of Company A of the 1st Maryland Infantry, CSA.
  "The next time I heard his voice was in that last terrible charge on Culp's Hill, when our column had been dashed back like a wave breaking in spray against a rock. McKim he cried, McKim, for God's sake, help me! I turned and saw him prostrate on the ground, shot through both thighs. I went back a few yards, and putting my arm around him dragged him to the shelter of a great rock and laid him down to die.

There are two things that raise in my thought when I think of this incident. One is that if he hadn't come to me two days before and relieved his mind as he did, the gallant fellow would not have asked for my help. And the other is that the men in blue in that breastwork must have been touched with pity when they saw me trying to help poor Iglehart. It took some minutes to go back and get him behind that rock, and they could have shot us both down with perfect ease if they had chosen to do it."


     Steuart's Brigade, driven back on July 3, 1863, under the cover of night in the early hours of July 4, 1863, rejoined the other CSA forces at Seminary Ridge. Eventually they joined in the long retreat through Williamsport, Maryland and across the Potomac.  Various reports placed the losses of the First (or second) Maryland CSA at from 206 to 250 men.