Summer of 21 - #17 - Gettysburg Battlefield#6 -July 2nd,1863 - The Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, Plum Run

May 13th, 2021 - Battlefield Tour Part 6 of 8 

July 2nd, 1863 - Day 2-Part 4, of the Battle of Gettysburg.

We left Devils Run and rejoined the driving tour.

This map shows the sites #9-#11 covered in this blog. You can see Little Round Top and Devil's Den, that were covered in the two previous blogs, at the bottom of the map.

Stop 9 - The Wheatfield 

Charge and countercharge left this field and the nearby woods strewn with over 4,000 dead and wounded. 

These signs were at each of the stops, so you knew you were on the right track.

I expected the Wheatfield to be long grass but it was relatively short and neat.

There was a loop road that took you through a wooded area (Rose Woods?) across from the Wheatfield.

with more monuments and statues.

see the soldier knelt with his rifle, very realistic

Rose Farm in the distance

Here's a LINK telling the history of Rose Farm.

The following is from the above link.

"The Rose Farm was at the center of some of the fiercest fighting of the war on the second day of the battle. The farm included the Stony Hill and the Rose Woods. It also included a twenty acre field where over 20,000 men engaged in brutal and often hand-to-hand combat. Over six thousand men were killed or wounded there. Ever since it has been known simply as The Wheatfield.

The thick stone walls of the farmhouse and barn provided shelter to the Confederates of Semmes’ and Kershaw’s Brigades, and the farm buildings were used as a Confederate field hospital. It is estimated that between 500 and 1,000 Confederate soldiers were buried on the property. Alexander Gardner took some of the most famous photographs after the battle here."

Closer view of Rose Farm.

Stop 10 - The Peach Orchard

The Union line extended from here to Devils Den and angled northward on Emmitsburg Road.  Federal cannon bombarded Confederate forces crossing the Rose Farm toward the Wheatfield until about 6:30pm, when Confederate attacks overran this position.

Sickles Avenue ran along one side of the Peach Orchard to Devils Den

We were getting closer to the Pennsylvania monument which you will recall we have seen from several parts of the battlefield. Here it is again.

United States Avenue ran along The Peach Orchard and Plum Run.

Stop 11 - Plum Run

"While fighting raged to the south at the Wheatfield and Little Round Top, retreating Union soldiers crossed this ground on their way from the Peach Orchard to Cemetery Ridge."

Abraham Trostle and his family fled their farm when the fighting got to close. The Union made a stand around it and it was used as a hospital.This LINK has more information.

The Confederates fired a cannonball at a barn there and the hole it made can still be seen.

Here's our picture of the cannonball hole

and from a distance

Stop 11 - Plum Run

While fighting raged to the south at the Wheatfield and Little Round Top, retreating Union soldiers crossed this ground on their way from the Peach Orchard to Cemetery Ridge

State of New York Monument

A somber realistic ending to this blog......... These plants/flowers were nearby.......Hopefully the soldiers are at peace.