May 27, 2013

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! What a great day to remember the boys in blue and gray who gave their lives so long ago . . .
 

At first glance, this is just a view of Little Round Top as seen from South Confederate Avenue / Warfield Ridge. The land and the  stone wall in the foreground belongs to the Philip Snyder farm. Though all the monuments on the hill aren’t visible, the tall white shaft of the 91^st Pennsylvania can be seen at the left of the summit, while the “castle” monument to the 12^th and 44^thNew York is clearly visible. The small white monument to the left of the castle is the 140^th New York. Yet there’s actually a lot more on this photo, and some things can’t be seen until you bring up the larger view.

See that patch of road almost in the center of the photo, a big gray “blob”? That’s part of Sickles Road. And the large old tree beside it is the Devil’s Den witness tree. Devil’s Den itself is hidden behind Houck’s Ridge. To the left of the photo is Day’s Hill, though it’s not visible here. If you enlarge the photo you’ll notice two black “somethings” to the left of the road and tree. These are actually two of the cannon of Smith’s 4th New York Independent Battery. And the small stone building to the right of the road, seen between the trees, is the old restroom at Devil’s Den, which has since been dismantled. Isn’t spying fun?

 

**HONORED TODAY**

PVT. ANDREW MILLER

Co. I, 73^RD Ohio Infantry

Died July 03, 1863

Little is known of Pvt. Miller’s life, though a photo of him can be found here. He was buried at Gettysburg National Cemetery.


(c) 2013 Skies of Blue and Gray