***Welcome to “Skies of Blue and Gray”***
This Gettysburg blog has three purposes: To share my favorite personal photos, to tell a story, and to commemorate the boys in blue and gray whose blood consecrated this hallowed ground “far above our poor power to add or detract,” as President Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address. I intend to post at least three times a week.
Anyone who has been coming to Gettysburg for the past few decades will note that the scenery at Oak Hill and Oak Ridge has changed extensively. About six years ago or so, this section of the battlefield was much more heavily forested. Yet with the extra trees or without, I’ve always loved this particular cannon sitting down over the slope by itself.
This is a Confederate piece, a 12-pound Napoleon representing Carter’s Battery. According to the Confederate order of battle, the string of command was Carter’s Battery (under Col. Thomas H. Carter) ---> Rodes’ Division (Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes) ---> Second Corps (Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell) ---> Army of Northern Virginia (Gen. Robert E. Lee).
The white farmhouse and red barn in the distance are part of the Moses McLean Farm. As McLean had enlisted in the 165th Pennsylvania prior to the battle of Gettysburg, his family was forced to abandon their home when Confederate forces arrived on the 1st of July 1863. When they cautiously stepped foot inside the house days later, they discovered that few of their belongings were intact. If you’re lucky enough, you might catch a train coming the tracks just in front of the McLean farm. Here’s a photo of Carter’s Battery getting ready to “fire!” at a train.
The white farmhouse and red barn in the distance are part of the Moses McLean Farm. As McLean had enlisted in the 165th Pennsylvania prior to the battle of Gettysburg, his family was forced to abandon their home when Confederate forces arrived on the 1st of July 1863. When they cautiously stepped foot inside the house days later, they discovered that few of their belongings were intact. If you’re lucky enough, you might catch a train coming the tracks just in front of the McLean farm. Here’s a photo of Carter’s Battery getting ready to “fire!” at a train.
**HONORED TODAY**
2ND LT. THOMAS C. FULLWOOD
Co. G, 20th North Carolina Infantry
Born 1841 --- Died July 01, 1863 at age 22
Thomas enlisted in the 20th North Carolina on May 25, 1861, and served until his death at what is now known as “Iverson’s Pits.” This ominously-named place is located across the road from Carter’s Battery along Oak Ridge and was the site of a horrendous ambush. General Iverson’s brigade, sent ahead blind and without proper reconnaissance, found themselves at the mercy of Union riflemen hiding behind the low stone wall that can still be seen today. Staggering casualties occurred, and those who were not immediately killed were captured. Thomas was numbered among the dead. Though he was likely buried on the battlefield, he was later reinterred at Northwood Cemetery in Southport, North Carolina.
(c) 2012 Skies of Blue and Gray
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