October 28, 2013

I spy with my little eye . . . West Confederate Avenue and more than meets the eye. At first glance it’s just a road running through McMillan Woods, but the Gettysburg battlefield is full of interesting monuments and markers that aren’t always immediately apparent. To the left is the Albemarle Artillery, also known as Wyatt’s Battery. The cannon closest to the camera is a 3-inch Ordnance Rifle produced in 1862 by Phoenix Ironworks. Second in the line is an Ordnance Rifle from 1863, also made by Phoenix Ironworks, and third is a 10-pounder Parrott Rifle whose date of origin is unknown. Just to the left of the photo would be the Tennessee State Memorial.

The meadow at right marks the spot where Gen. Pettigrew’s men bivouacked from late July 02^ND until the afternoon of July 03^RD when they started off on the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Charge. Two brigade markers can be seen along the right side of Confederate Avenue. The one closest to the camera is Pettigrew’s Brigade of North Carolinians (see my post of January 07). The next marker represents Gen. Archer’s Tennessean and Alabamian brigade.

                                                    

A brigade marker can be seen far in the distance across from the Archer’s Brigade marker, just before the “dip” and the small bridge. This is Poague’s Battalion. One of the units of this battalion was Wyatt’s Battery, represented by the Albemarle Artillery at left.

**HONORED TODAY**

PVT. JAMES H. FISER

Co. C, 14^TH Tennessee Infantry

Born June 10, 1833 --- Died August 02, 1863 at age 30

Pvt. Fiser, also spelled “Feizer”, was one of many Confederates whose last days were spent at Camp Letterman General Hospital. Part of an artillery shell had ploughed through his chest, and though he lingered for a month after being wounded, he couldn’t rally from his severe injuries. He was later buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.


(c) 2013 Skies of Blue and Gray