After lunch, the weather had improved significantly. We drove back through the town of Gettysburg onto Seminary Ridge, just south of the Lutheran Seminary, then turned south along West Confederate Avenue. This essentially brought us along the confederate lines for much of the 2nd and 3rd days of the battle.
The artillery pieces here mark the Salem Battery positions, one of the confederate batteries that bombarded the union lines on Cemetary Ridge in the distance, attempting a "softening up" ahead of Picket's/Longstreet's assault.
11th Mississippi Infantry memorial close to the North Carolina monument on Seminary Ridge. The fields behind the monument are some of those in which the assault forces formed up prior to Picket's charge.
The North Carolina monument, interesting to take on board that one in four confederate casualties at Gettysburg where from North Carolina.
The North Carolina Monument.
The view of the open ground in front of the North Carolina monument. This is the ground that Picket's charge covered, advancing from the position of the camera towards the ridgeline in front. The two Roundtops are visible to the right in the distance. On the ridgeline, monuments along the ridgeline are just visible, giving an idea of the distance the confederates had to cover and how open the terrain is. The Codori Farm and Copse of Trees (the "Highwater mark of the confederacy" are visible on the skyline.
The fields behind the North Carolina monument, where troops formed up for the assault.
Cemetry Ridge from the tree-line along Seminary Ridge - some pretty open terrain. The Copse of Trees in the Angle, the point where Picket's charge broke into the union lines, is on the skyline beyong the visitors standing to the right of the statue.
The Tennessee monument, slightly further south of the North Carolina monument.
The Appallachians (Blue Ridge Mountains?) with the forming up fields in the foregound.
The Codori Farm on the right and Copse of Trees on the left from the treeline on Seminary Ridge.
Hill's memorial on Seminary Ridge.
Another view of the North Carolina memorial.
The Virginia memorial on Seminary Ridge.
Robert E Lee surveying the battlefield.
The area of Picket's charge from the Virginia monument. The copse of trees is on the skyline in the centre of the image.
A footpath leads from the Virginia monument to a viewpoint about 1/3rd of the way towards the union lines. This is the plaque that is mounted at the viewpoint at the end of the path.
The Copse of Trees from the open area Picket's forces had to cross. I must admit, it's very open terrain with little cover from artillery and minnie balls flying about.
More artillery south of the Virginia monument.
The memorial to the Army of Northern Virginia.
Longstreet's statue by the "Amphitheatre".
The south end of Cemetary Ridge from the Mississippi memorial.
The Mississippi memorial.
The Alabama memorial.
The Big, on the right, and little Round Tops, with the wooded Devil's Den in front of them, from the southern end of the confederate line on Seminary Ridge.
The rocky outcrops of Little Round Top from Seminary Ridge. Devil's Den is to the right at the base of the slope.
Rowan's battery on the southern end of the confederate lines.
The Round Tops, looking across Devil's Den.
At the southern edge of the confederate lines is this memorial to the soldiers and sailors of the confederacy. The figure seems to be beckoning reinforcements from the south.
Next up, Little Round Top. Thanks for looking.
No comments:
Post a Comment