Understanding Culp’s Hill
Posted to the Project on 09 Aug 07
Culp’s Hill was the “barb” of the famous “Fishhook Line.” Popular before the War and immediately after the battle, it is now rarely visited by the average visitor, which is a shame because it is a very interesting part of the battlefield with many lovely monuments.
It is also one of the more confusing areas of the battlefield. Hopefully this little guide will help you make more sense of it if you’re visiting for the first time or if you are trying to understand where monuments contained in the “Monument Project” are.
Intro
Basically, Culp’s Hill runs roughly north to south. On the east it is bordered by Rock Creek. Clevelanders: Rock Creek looks a lot like our Rocky River. :)
Culp’s Hill is connected to Cemetery Hill by a small rise known as “Stevens Knoll” after an artillery officer from Maine who fought here. (Stevens Knoll’s most prominent feature is the large equestrian monument to General Henry W. Slocum. Slocum commanded the Federal troops in this area.).
Culp’s Hill was one of the first parcels purchased by the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association. As I said, it was immensely popular after the battle. There are a lot of pictures of this area taken from around 1860 to 1890.
By far the best book on the battle of Culp’s Hill is Harry Pfanz’s extensive treatment, Gettysburg: Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill.
Trivia: Stevens Knoll during the battle and prior to the War was known as McKnight’s Hill.
Access
Culp’s Hill is most easily accessed by traveling south down the Baltimore Pike (PA 97) and entering via the park entrance (there is a “Tour Route” sign) off this thoroughfare (if you’re headed south, you’re making a left into the park). This road is known as “Colgrove Avenue.” Colgrove Avenue can be followed to where four roads roughly come together at Spangler’s Spring.
(The visitor can also loop around the small rise near Rock Creek on a road known as Carman Avenue, then proceed to Spangler’s Spring.)
The alternate entrance to Culp’s Hill is via a road known as East Confederate Avenue. The markers for the Confederate brigades that fought for Culp’s Hill line this road. East Confederate is accessible from the town square via Hanover Street (116) to Liberty Street. As you drive along East Confederate, you are roughly following the Union line of battle above on Slocum Avenue. East Confederate Avenue intersects Slocum, Geary, and Colgrove / Carman Avenues at Spangler’s Spring. (By the way, Carman / Colgrove Avenues loop around what is known as McAllister’s Woods on battlefield maps.)
Both entrances can be closed via gates in the winter during bad weather. Some areas get little sun and it can take the Park Service days to get the roads safe and clear.
Roads
From Spangler’s Spring, there are four roads: East Confederate (one way; you cannot go this way from Spangler’s Spring except via foot), Carman / Colgrove Avenue (again no access except via foot; the road is one-way), Geary Avenue, and Slocum Avenue. Geary and Slocum Avenues are one-way but you can access them with your car from Spangler’s Spring ’cause you’re going the “right” way.
Following Geary Avenue will take you through Pardee’s Field. Geary Avenue ends at an intersection at Slocum Avenue at the “saddle” between upper and lower Culp’s Hill.
View from Slocum Avenue, just north of Spangler’s Spring in the winter. Pardee Field would be the open area to the left.
Slocum Avenue runs roughly north to south from Spangler’s Spring along the Union lines from Culp’s Hill all the way to the summit of the Hill and the War Department tower. It then loops around past Stevens Knoll.
At the “saddle” between upper and lower Culp’s Hill, Slocum Avenue intersects a road called Williams Avenue. It will be off to your left near the staute to General Geary. There are no monuments or markers along Williams Avenue; it will simply take you out to Stevens Knoll below the summit of Culp’s Hill.
When viewing the monuments along Slocum Avenue, as a general rule the fighting took place in the direction that would appear to be actually behind the monuments.
From Pfanz’s classic Gettysburg: Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill …
This hill was a mass of high, rocky ground washed by Rock Creek on the east and bounded by the Baltimore Pike on the southwest. It had two peaks; the highest (where the tower is today) 180 feet above Rock Creek, was about 800 yards southeast of Cemetery Hill and was conected to it by a sagging crest line that included Steven’s knoll. The lower peak was 400 yards south of the taller summit and was separated from it by a narrow saddle that notched the hill from east to west. The lower creek rose about eighty feet above the creek. The south end of the hill mass was marked by a marshy meadow or swale that contained Spangler’s Spring and a stream that drained to Rock Creek. It was about 850 yards from the hill’s highest peak to the meadow at Spangler’s Spring. The western and southern slopes from both peaks were gentle, and the northern slope of the higher peak and the eastern slope of most of the hill were steep, rocky, and wooded.
Generally, the road on Upper Culp’s Hill is known as “North Slocum Avenue” while the road on the Lower Culp’s Hill is known as “South Slocum Avenue.” I consider division point for the “two” roads to occur at Williams Avenue (”The Saddle” between upper and lower Culp’s Hill), but others may mark it differently.
View looking north from the “saddle” between upper and lower Culp’s Hill. Williams Avenue runs off to the left. Behind the viewer and off to the left would be Pardee Field.
Spangler Spring
It is located at the southern tip of Culp’s Hill, in a large meadow on the lower hill. Nearby is the Indiana state monument. Spangler’s Spring was a landmark in the area prior to the battle. After it, legends sprouted soon after the battle that temporary truces were called between the sides so that men from both armies could fill their cups and canteens from the spring. Because of its popularity among early tourists, the Spring’s banks were trampled and broken down. To preserve the spring, the United States War Department constructed a permanent stone and concrete cover over it in 1895, with a small metal trap door. The water is no longer available for consumption because of the threat of contamination. From Pfanz:
The meadow or swale at Spangler’s Spring was about 100 yards wide. The spring was about 25 yards from the foot of the hill and about 50 yards west of the end of the works. … To the south of the meadow was a low east-west ridge that connected the pike with the creek. The ridge ended at the creek in a grove, McAllister’s Woods, that covered a large outcropping of granite boulders. McAllister’s mill was on the west side of the creek about 600 yards south of Spangler’s Spring.
Pardee Field
This area has been recently cleared of some trees. It is located just to the north of the Spangler Spring and can be accessed via Geary Avenue. A large rock marks the field, named after the commander of the 147th Pennsylvania.
Coble’s Rock
A.L. Coble was a member of the 1st North Carolina Regiment. He carved his name into a rock near Spangler Spring. The carving is still visible.
Park at Spangler Spring and walk parallel to East Confederate Avenue about 100 feet to where there are some large boulders. On one of the largest boulders there is a cut in the rock; A L Coble is faintly visible, but you have to look. Easier to find with someone who knows it is there. :) It dates from after the battle.
The Tower
On the summit of Culp’s Hill is one of the battlefield’s two remaining full-sized circa 1890s War Department towers. It stands about 60 feet in height. It offers outstanding views of the Union 2nd day line, Benner’s Hill, and Cemetery Hill; but most outstanding are the views of the town of Gettysburg.
Although the climb may be a bit taxing and dizzying and phobia inducing, the views are well worth it.
(By the way for the geologically interested, the summit of Culp’s Hill is approximately 500 to 600 feet above sea level.)
Trivia: Until relatively recently, Culp’s Hill was the home of the only Confederate regimental monument at Gettysburg. The monument belongs to the “2nd” Maryland. It will be featured as a monument study in the future.
Bronzes
There are three generals with monuments on Culp’s Hill:
- John Geary (Division commander; located at intersections of Geary Avenue, Williams Avenue, and Slocum Avenue at the “Saddle”)
- George Greene (Brigade commander; summit below the tower.
- Henry Slocum (Stevens Knoll)
If you liked this feature / found it useful, let me know and I’ll include little guides for other areas of the battlefield.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Hi Jenny,
It’s Tony from Australia, the civil war nut who emailed you a little while ago regaring your websites.
This is a great post. One of my main regrets is that I didn’t get to Culp’s Hill last year. I won’t make that mistake next year.
Your writing skills are superb Jenny. Keep it up.
This is an excellent little exposé of Culp’s Hill.
In fact your websites have become a mandatory part of my own civil war research.
Best wishes with your continued writings and also (more importantly) your health.
Tony