Early
morning union attack is longest sustained action at Gettysburg ... it is determined by the Union
hierarchy that the Confederates are way too close to the
Union flank—within yards of George Greene’s
position on top of the hill. It is decided that when these
Union soldiers return, they will “press the envelope”
the following morning with an artillery barrage to start
as early as 4:00 AM, at a place called Power’s Hill
(high ground on the other side of the Baltimore Pike). That
attack will be the longest sustained action at Gettysburg.
Union soldiers now start attacking the base of this hill,
trying to regain what they gave away the night before...
Day
3
Tour
2
East Cavalry Battlefield
Jeb
Stuart’s Confederate Cavalry meets General George
Armstrong Custer ...The action here takes place about
the same time as Pickett’s Charge but it has nothing
to do with Pickett’s Charge. The only order that Lee
gives Stuart is to guard the Confederate left flank—Richard
Ewell’s forces. However, Jeb Stuart, to “press
the envelope,” has been pushing farther and farther
away from the Confederate left flank, looking to run into
something. He knows the Union cavalry screen is out here
somewhere. In my opinion, he keeps looking until he finds
it; and he finds it on this position...
Day
3
Tour
3
South Cavalry Battlefield
Ill
fated union cavalry charge against Confederate right flank ...As early as one o’clock in
the afternoon, 1,900 men with four cannons are ordered up
this valley on our right to get as close to the Confederate-occupied
portions of Big Round Top as possible. They are under the
command of a brigadier general by the name of Elon Farnsworth,
who is under the orders of Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick.
These men push the Confederate skirmishers back through
the valley on our right to a hill called Bushman Hill...
Day
3
Tour
4
Point Of Woods
Confederates
array for attack as cannonade precedes epic charge ...This key event should really be
called Longstreet’s Assault. After the Confederate
defeats on July 2nd, it is Robert E. Lee’s idea to
push his center forward against the Union center, hoping
to amass enough firepower at the Union center to break through
and expand the gap in the line, thereby cutting the Union
battle line in half. Lee gives that order to James Longstreet,
who commands a third of Lee’s army and is Lee’s
most trusted lieutenant—especially after the death
of Stonewall Jackson in May of 1863. It is Longstreet who
puts this plan together. He places 13,000 men in battle
line to assault the Union center. He also arranges for 152
Confederate cannons to fire at the Union center and weaken
it prior to the Confederate assault...
Day
3
Tour
5
Emmitsburg Road
Blood
pools by roadside fences as union cannons fire on Pickett’s
stalled men ...Coming down the Emmitsburg Road
is a portion of Barksdale’s Brigade, which has broken
the Union position at The Peach Orchard. Not only do the
Confederates push through the gap that they create, but
they also try to expand the gap laterally, with the help
of an Alabama brigade on their left flank under the command
of Brigadier General Cadmus Wilcox. Cadmus Wilcox’s
brigade advances from the west and goes right through that
farmhouse (the Klingle farm). Their advance comes through
there, with Barksdale’s Brigade to their right (closer
to the Round Tops). This is the gap the Confederates create—almost
a quarter of a mile here—as they drive the Union soldiers
back through the woods to our front. Those woods (the Trostle
Wood Lot) were here at the time of the battle, but they
were a lot thinner than they are today. That’s pretty
much where the Confederate advance stalls, to some extent...
Day
3
Tour
6
The Angle
Pickett’s
charge culminates at the bloody angle ...What you see in the distance—the
monument of Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveler—is
the position where Lee viewed the action on that July 3rd
(in that little wooded cul-de-sac). The Confederates fire
from this position for nearly two hours (1:00-3:00 PM) with
152 Confederate cannons that are pushed out of the tree
line that you see in front of you. From the Union side,
122 cannons answer. That’s 274 cannons firing at each
other for nearly two hours. At three o’clock the guns
grow silent. Ten minutes later, 13,000-15,000 Confederates
emerge from the tree line in front of you. Their battle
line stretches well over a mile (literally from horizon
to horizon, from right to left). The reason we have a discrepancy
in the numbers is because there are about 13,000 Confederates
who converge to attack this position. If we add the two
brigades supporting George Pickett’s division on the
right flank (David Lang’s Florida brigade and Cadmus
Wilcox’s Alabama brigade), then there are 15,000 men...
Day
3
Tour
7
Soldier's National Cemetery
Final
resting place of 3,512 Union dead dedicated by Abraham Lincoln ...On July 10th, just a few days after
the Battle of Gettysburg, the War Governor of the State
of Pennsylvania, Andrew Curtin, came to Gettysburg to view
the carnage. He was given a tour of this battlefield by
a 32-year old attorney by the name of David Wills. What
the Governor of Pennsylvania saw sickened him. There were
8,900 men who died on the field without seeing a doctor.
Two thousand more died at Gettysburg hospitals over the
next 60 days. The majority of the 8,900 men who died of
terrible wounds on this battlefield were pretty much buried
where they fell. Right after the Battle of Gettysburg, there
were days of rain that washed out the graves. There were
puddles with arms and legs and skulls sticking out of the
mud...
-Tours
are-recorded on
the Battlefield
Gary Kross,
author and businessman, is one of the most popular
Licensed Battlefield Guides at the Gettysburg National
Battlefield Park. A member of the advisory board of
Blue & Gray magazine, he published special editions
of that magazine in 1988, 1995, 1996 and 1997 on the
Battle of Gettysburg. His vivid battlefield tours
provide a level of dramatic realism to Virtual Gettysburg.
Use our searchable monument
database to view images of your favorite monuments on
the Gettysburg Battlefield. Choose from hundreds of
historic photographs.
Download a free PDF file
of your favorite Virtual Gettysburg Poster. The first
11x17 poster displays panoramas from the 21 battlefield
tours, and the second displays the Gettysburg Address
and a large panorama of the Soldiers National Cemetery
at Gettysurg.