Question of the Week: What’s your favorite part of the Gettysburg battlefield?
Devil’s Den? Cemetery Hill? Culp’s Hill? What is your favorite place to visit at the Gettysburg battlefield?
Devil’s Den? Cemetery Hill? Culp’s Hill? What is your favorite place to visit at the Gettysburg battlefield?
Two places: The Wheatfield and Culp’s Hill
Peach Orchard at Dawn.
I love sitting by the Virginia Memorial at the close of day, looking across the famous field to where Meade sits astride his horse.
My favorite spot is East Cavalry Battlefield where Stuart and Custer clashed.
I always make a point when visiting Gettysburg to stop at Willoughby Run and pay my respects to the men of the Iron Brigade. This is my favorite spot to reflect upon the events of those three July days.
Pickett’s Charge. Years ago, you were able to ride a horse from the Confederate line up to the Copse/Angle The field is closed now. Even on horseback, I could experience what the soldiers were facing on that day.
While it is hard to beat Little Round Top’s view and background drama, the little-visited monument to Colonel George L. Willard is special. It is south of Gettysburg about 340 yards west of Hancock Avenue at the State of Pennsylvania Monument. Willard was killed shortly after leading a counterattack against Barkdale’s Brigade.
To me , there are two areas of the Battlefield that I love to visit and ruminate while there. One is Devil’s Den, not for the military significance of the action fought there(though extremely important), but on a personal level, while they were very young, my three grandsons loved to go there and run among the rocks. And the second part of the Battlefield is Little Round Top. And this is for military reasons. I consider one of the most significant events of the engagement occurred on the early morning of the second day, and that is the ill fated reconnaissance mission of Captain Samuel Johnston. His report to Lee on what he saw there triggered the entire battle plan for July 2nd.
The Saddle at Culp’s Hill. An example of how the terrain affected the battle.