March 26, 2014

Believe it or not, though I’ve been trekking the Gettysburg battlefield for over two decades, there are still some battle sites I haven’t photographed. One of these was Excelsior Field near the Peach Orchard, which I fortunately remedied on a recent excursion. I was able to make a panorama out of two photos and to identify most of the places and monuments shown. 

(1)  The Abraham Trostle farm, virtually unchanged since the time of the battle, and its witness tree (though it’s nearly impossible to see in this photo . . . look for the dark branches between the barn and farmhouse)

(2)  Little Round Top

(3)  Back of the 9^TH Massachusetts Battery monument (Bigelow’s battery), barely visible

(4)  7^TH New Jersey Infantry (one of my favorite Gettysburg monuments), especially stunning in the fog or when sunrise or sunset colors reflect on its surface)

(5)  Big Round Top

(6)  A grouping of what appears to be two monuments, barely visible; I think the cross-shaped one is the 139^TH Pennsylvania Infantry, but I can’t identify the other

**HONORED TODAY**

PVT. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN CURTIS, JR.

Co. F, 20^TH Maine Infantry

Born 1840 --- Died July 11, 1863 at age 23

Pvt. Curtis, a farmer, is one of those rare soldiers for whom I have a physical description gleaned from military records. He stood at 5’ 7” and had blue eyes, though there’s no record of his hair color (at least not that I’ve found). He was wounded in the arm during the famous Little Round Top right and was later taken to a field hospital where he died nine days later. He is buried at Gettysburg National Cemetery.


(c) 2013-2014 Skies of Blue and Gray