The Wheatfield is part of the auto tour as stop nine.  If you are following the Auto Tour, you will enter the Wheatfield from Little Round Top.  The NPS auto tour takes you down the war-time Wheatfield Road (this road continues on to the Peach Orchard), with a turn down Ayres Avenue.  At the intersection of four roads (note the 5th New Hampshire monument on your left), you will turn right onto Sickles Avenue and into the Wheatfield.  The Auto Tour route then takes the visitor up the Loop, and back out onto the Wheatfield Road.

The Auto Tour includes most of the Wheatfield area with the exception of De Trobriand (Cross) Avenue. This is where the monuments to Brooke’s Brigade are located and there is an excellent view of the Rose Farm. To visit this area, rather than turning right onto Sickles Avenue at the 5th New Hampshire monument, continue straight. This winding road is known as De Trobriand Avenue. De Trobriand Avenue circles up the Stony Hill and back down to rejoin Sickles Avenue in the Wheatfield proper.

Views of the Rose Farm:

Views of the Wheatfield proper:

Monuments in the Wheatfield:

For 145 years, a silent witness.

This is the huge witness tree near the sharpshooter’s nest at Devil’s Den in sepia tone. Very cloudy day so shooting in black and white worked best. I like playing around with making modern photographs look really old and aged. There aren’t many witness trees left at Gettysburg, of course. I figure it is best to enjoy them and photograph them while they stand … You never know if they will still be there when you come back again.

Ribbons of color over Little Round Top – the Warren Monument on Little Round Top at sunset.

This one is actually unedited and taken straight from the camera — no photoshopping necessary. I think this is probably the most photographed monument on the battlefield. I have many Warren sunsets, and all are a little different. This was a killer sunset.

General Lee on his horse Traveller, top of the Virginia State Monument on West Confederate Avenue, Seminary Ridge.

Used my 300 mm lens to capture the detail on Lee’s coat and to make it seem like I was actually on a plane with the monument. (I wasn’t of course.) I took several, thought this one in profile was the best view. It has been said that this is a particularly good likeness of Traveller.

The Klingel farm on the Emmitsburg Road.

The National Park Service is currently doing work on the Klingel farm to restore it to the 1863 appearance. It was bitterly cold. Note the horse. :) It was so cold that he didn’t even want to come down to the fence this time to get a pat on the head.

Fire in the sky.

This is the sunset on Friday night as viewed from the north side of Little Round Top near the position of the 121st New York Infantry. Silhouetted a giant evergreen against the red sky. It was very cold but one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen in Gettysburg.

I’ll have more photographs to share tomorrow or Saturday.

This study focuses on West McPherson Ridge. The McPherson barn itself still stands and is located somewhat between the two Ridges.

The McPherson Barn

Monuments on West McPherson Ridge

Located along the spine of the eastern portion or arm of McPherson’s Ridge, Reynolds Avenue is a post-battle avenue. Along this road are many of the First Corps monuments. This was the main First Corps battle line during the afternoon of July 1, 1863. A few cavalry monuments of Buford’s Division are also located along this park service avenue.

Reynolds Avenue also features some nice vistas of the Lutheran Theological Seminary. All of the monuments along it face westerly, so it is an area best visited for pictures during the afternoon or evening hours.

Also best viewed in the evening are the nearby monuments on the “Gettysburg Plain” to the XI Corps.

Located along a park service road known as Howard Avenue (after General Oliver O. Howard, the corps commander), these monuments honor the units of the Eleventh Corps who fought here on the afternoon of July 1, 1863.  Also located nearby is Barlow’s (Blocher’s) Knoll.  The knoll features the Old Almshouse Cemetery, a bronze monument of Barlow erected by the state of New York, as well as monuments to Wilkenson’s Battery and the bugler of the nine-month 153rd Pennsylvania Infantry.

These photo essays all feature pictures taken in June 2008 — so they are very recent pictures of the battlefield.

Today’s featured photo essay is the monuments to Generals John Buford and John Reynolds. These monuments are located on U.S. 30 (the Chambersburg Pike) west of the town of Gettysburg. Because the memorials face to the west, these monuments are best photographed late in the day. For people like me who live in Ohio and come in via US 30 through Breezewood, McConellsburg, and Chambersburg, these monuments are the first to greet us each time we visit Gettysburg.

The Reynolds monument is my favorite monument on the battlefield.  I love how the sculptor captured both Reynolds determination as well as the fire of his mount.  As an experienced horseman, I think Reynolds would appreciate the gorgeous Arabian mount that sculptor Henry Kirke-Bush Brown placed him upon.

The monument to Buford depicts a no-nonsense, diligent commander.  I think it’s a perfect memorial to the calvary commander.  Although Buford was not killed at Gettysburg, he died of disease in December 1863.  Thus both of the men featured here in bronze died before their time.

The Culp Farm

The Bushman Farm

The Trostle Farm

The Rummel Farm

The McPherson Farm

The Rose Farm

The G. Weikert Farm

The Spangler Farm

The Codori Farm

The Hoffman Farm

The Slyder Farm

The E. Pitzer Farm

The McLean Farm

President Eisenhower’s Farm

The Butt Farm (Fairfield Road; field hospital during the battle)

Emmitsburg Road Farm Line – Sherfy, Rogers, Klingel

Peter Frey Farm

The Hummelbaugh Farm

The War Department Towers

The Longstreet Tower

There are three remaining War Department towers on the Gettysburg battlefield. There were originally five — there were also towers located near where the Cyclorama currently sits on Cemetery Ridge and one on Big Round Top — but today only the Longstreet Tower, Culp’s Hill Tower, and the Oak Ridge / Robinson Tower remain. And the Oak Ridge tower has been reduced in size.

Pictured is the Longstreet Tower, located on West Confederate Avenue near the intersection of the Millerstown Road and West Confederate Avenue. It is usually referred to as the Longstreet Tower because General Longstreet’s headquarters cannon is located nearby.

This tower is a lung buster (I believe there are around 120 steps) and it will give your legs a good work out as well. But no complaining — if your Hodgkin’s Disease afflicted “guide” can go up there without huffing and puffing, you can too. Plus, think, it is STILL easier than shimmying up a tree dressed like a Confederate lieutenant general.

The Longstreet tower stands 75 feet tall. It, like the other War Department towers, was / is made of steel. The original Oak Ridge tower also stood 75 feet tall, but was later reduced in height (more on that in a minute). The Culp’s Hill tower (the only remaining large tower) stands 60 feet tall.

Here are some of the gorgeous views from the Longstreet Tower. Really, these towers are scary looking — they shake and rattle in the wind — but the Park Service takes good care of them so they should be safe. And the views are worth the oxygen-robbing, leg-beating climb.

These are battlefield views: down the Emmitsburg Road, the Trostle Farm and Peach Orchard, and Little Round Top and the Rose Farm.

The views to the west are great too and include the Eisenhower Farm.

Clockwise is sunset to the west, view down West Confederate Avenue (Georgia and South Carolina monuments) and the third view shows the route to the Eisenhower farm.

Some of the prettiest sunsets you’ll ever see at Gettysburg occur when looking west (away from the battlefield) on the Longstreet Tower.

The Culp’s Hill Tower

Also impressive are the views from the Culp’s Hill tower. Standing about 60 feet in height, this tower is still at its full height.

This is just an interesting view from the bottom looking up at the stairs. Looks kind of like a snake, eh? Not exactly created for those of us who are afraid of heights. And this one DOES shake and RATTLE. I’ve been up on this tower completely alone with a friend and we’ve heard a “THUD” sound that is uncannily just like human footsteps. Haunted? Probably not … but you be the judge yourself.

The tower is located on the crest of Culp’s Hill. It holds about 70 people (though I’ve never seen anyone enforce the prohibition against sending many more people than that up the tower). From the top of the tower, you are treated to most excellent views of Cemetery Ridge, the new National Park Visitor’s Center, the town of Gettysburg, the first day battlefield, and views east of the town of Gettysburg out US 30 (the York Pike).

Anyway, here are some of the views from the Culp’s Hill tower in case you can’t get up there yourself:

Clockwise: looking towards the first day battlefield over the town, looking east towards Hunterstown and the East Cavalry battlefield, the new Visitor’s Center, and panorama over the town of Gettysburg.

The Oak Ridge Tower

Sometimes called the Robinson tower, this squat tower used to be the same height as the Longstreet, but was cut down sometime around 1960 and reduced in size. You can see the tower off to the left — this is a view of Oak Ridge taken from the XI Corps battle line near Barlow’s Knoll. It isn’t covered like the other two towers. It is sometimes called the Robinson tower because General Robinson’s (aka the hairiest man in the Army of the Potomac — thank Bruce Catton for THAT visual) staute is located next to it.

The Oak Ridge tower affords some nice views of the First Day battlefield. Here are some of the views:

Clockwise: I believe that’s the Forney farm (always mess that one up), view towards the west (the red topped “barn” is the Herr Tavern), and Oak Hill and the Peace Light monument.

Monumental Bird’s Eye Views

The Pennsylvania Monument

Recently refurbished and reopened to the public, the Pennsylvania Monument’s top also offers beautiful views of the surrounding area. The Pennsylvania Monument is located on Cemetery Ridge near where the First Minnesota Regiment made their gallant charge. A very narrow, dark, and winding staircase leads to the top of the monument which is built as an observation platform. Although not as high as the Longstreet Tower or even the Oak Ridge tower, the views are still wonderful of Cemetery Ridge and the nearby Angle. This is also a nice place to watch the sunset, especially in the winter.

Here are some of the views:

Clockwise, you have the view towards the back of Cemetery Ridge (note the very cool shadow the Monument casts), the view towards the Angle, and a view of ground crossed by the First Minnesota regiment looking toward the Weikert farm and Little Round Top.

The Castle: the 44th New York Monument on Little Round Top

Nicknamed the castle, the 44th New York has the largest regimental monument on the battlefield. It stands on the lower crest of Little Round Top, just off of Sykes Avenue. Visitors can walk up to the lower platform next to the turret and get some great views of Devil’s Den and the Slaughter Pen. Like the Pennsylvania Monument, the stairs are very narrow and winding. Here are a couple views from the 44th New York monument:

I hope you have enjoyed this “birds-eye” view of Gettysburg courtesy of some of the towers and monuments that allow you to get a better view of the battlefield.

(And aren’t you glad the Park Service and the old War Department made it easy for you and didn’t expect you to climb a tree, a la A.P. Hill?)

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Side note: What happened to the other two towers?!?

There were originally, as stated before, five War Department towers.  Two are completely gone.  One tower stood near where the Cyclorama building now stands (in Ziegler’s Grove).  It was torn down to make room for the new Visitor’s Center and Cyclorama (which are soon to be replaced themselves and the area restored to what it looked liked previously).  The other tower stood on Big Round Top.  Inaccessible except on foot after a steep quarter mile climb, the Big Round Top tower was little used.  Also, it became a magnet for lightning strikes and became home for the park’s turkey and black vultures.  Unfortunately, the vulture’s waste befouled the tower to such an extent that it had to be torn down.

The Oak Ridge tower was “lowered” in 1968.  It was lowered due to a structural failing in the top half of the tower.

The War Department towers should not be confused with the ugly mass of metal that was called “The National Tower.”  I don’t have any digitial pictures of it, but in older Gettysburg pictures, it is visible just about everywhere.  It was blown up in the late 1990s.  Most Gettysburg buffs didn’t shed any tears about it’s destruction.