August 02, 2013

 During a winter trip to Gettysburg I took a few random shots of Houck’s Ridge. Though at first they didn’t seem to be anything special, these photos show Gettysburg’s natural beauty . . . the boulders for which the battlefield is famous. The first photo shows a bright sky and a scene that appears very much as it would have in 1863; save for the 99^TH Pennsylvania Infantry monument at the top of the ridge.

The second photo shows a scene dotted with boulders, still under that amazing sky, but this time there’s more interesting detail: At far left a bronze plaque on a granite base can be partially seen. It honors the First Division of the Second Brigade in Gen. Sickles’ Third Corps. The monument represents the 124^TH New York Infantry. Part of an old-style wooden fence can also be seen at left. Like the other photo, the monument is the only thing out of place on a field that easily evokes the 19^TH century battleground.

**HONORED TODAY**

PVT. JOSEPH CALVIN CLIFFORD 

Co. G, 5^TH North Carolina Infantry

Born November 30, 1839 --- Died July 01, 1863 at age 23

“Oh, Billy, I’m shot.” Those were Pvt. Clifford’s last words just after receiving his mortal wound at Gettysburg, spoken in desperation to a brother who would die two years later in a prison camp in New York. “Joe” and his brother had been conscripted at twenty-two and nineteen years of age, Joseph being the elder. They didn’t agree with North Carolina’s secession but were nonetheless drafted into the Confederate Army in November of 1862. Their family had already lost three infants and a young child before Gettysburg, with another child dying just two months after Joseph. A third brother, Franklin, joined the war effort but survived his wounds and lived a long and eventful life. Pvt. Clifford’s burial place is sadly unknown.


(c) 2013 Skies of Blue and Gray