May 31, 2013

Autumn in Gettysburg is definitely an amazing time. The battlefields are aglow with reds and oranges; stately monuments and storied fields burst with color. This photo, taken in 2006, shows Gettysburg in miniature: natural scenery, markers honoring the dead, an iconic wooden fence, and a large monument. The monument represents the 116^TH Pennsylvania Infantry and features a dead soldier beside a stone wall. If you’ve noticed the theme of most Gettysburg monuments, you might have noticed that few monuments depict a soldier in death. It is said that the man’s features are those of the 116^TH’s Sgt. Charles Gardner.

The three smaller markers beg to be analyzed as well, but unless you’ve visited that spot and know exactly what you’re looking for and how to find them, it’s very difficult to identify them. It is highly likely that at least the two left markers are flank markers for the 140^TH Pennsylvania Infantry (just beyond this point) and / or the 116^TH Pennsylvania. The larger marker closest to the monument appears to say “Right” on it, though I can’t decipher anything else.

**HONORED TODAY**

PVT. PLINY FISK WHITE

Co. E, 14^TH Vermont Infantry

Born 02 Apr 1838 --- Died August 05, 1863 at age 25

Pvt. White received a bullet in the arm while helping to repulse the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Charge. He was taken to a temporary hospital at Gettysburg’s Lutheran Theological Seminary where he died weeks later on August 5^th. Pvt. White is buried at the Gettysburg National Cemetery. A photo of him can be found here.


(c) 2013 Skies of Blue and Gray