Snow Day. . .

Cemetery Hill

Winter is just not winter without snow. But before today, I thought this winter would pass without any of it. With the snow at last falling here in Gettysburg, I thought I'd take advantage of an opportunity to capture some of Gettysburg's winter scenes. Grabbing my camera, I set off on foot for Cemetery Hill, braving the elements. . .

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Snow-covered cannon; barrels trained east

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Cemetery Hill (not Little Round Top) was the key to the Union position at Gettysburg, but because of the heavily-travelled Baltimore Pike and there being nowhere to park, it is among the least visited parts of the battlefield. This is too bad because from the heights, one can gain a good understanding of the battle. . .Plus there is some impressive statuary on Cemetery Hill, specifically, the monuments to. . .

Union 2nd Corps Commander, Winfield Scott Hancock, and. . . Union 11th Corps Commander, Oliver Otis Howard.

I really like O.O. Howard and think he has gotten a bad rap in most popular studies of the war. He was a tough fighter, and fearless in battle. . .even losing an arm at Seven Pines in the spring of 1862. He was also one of W.T. Sherman's most trusted subordinates during the war's final two years. Much more important, however, Howard was a champion of freedom and was an abolitionist, something he was not afraid to hide.

Another shot of the Howard Monument. . .

There was much argument after Gettysburg about who was the "hero" of Cemetery Hill. Hancock, who was never afraid to blow his own trumpet, claimed all the credit, but it was Howard who first recognized the value of the heights. Leading his corps into battle to the north of Gettysburg on July 1st, he left Adolph von Steinwehr's Division behind on Cemetery Hill as a reserve and to defend the army's fall-back position. I always like to point out that when approaching Cemetery Hill from town, Howard's Monument is in front (or north) of Hancock's. . .suggesting that he was there first.

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These guys look cold. . .

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Leaving East Cemetery Hill, I took a stroll through the National Cemetery. It was a quiet afternoon, and the absence of footprints in the snow told me that I was the only one to tramp these hallowed grounds. . .

General John Reynolds has two statues at Gettysburg; one on horseback near McPherson's Woods, west of town, and this one in the National Cemetery. . .

The bust of General Charles Collis, commander of the famed Collis's Zouaves (a.k.a. 114th Pennsylvania Infantry) marks his gravesite. . .The National Soldiers Monument can be seen in the background.