(Please face eastward toward the monuments on the plain.)
When Rodes’ Confederate troops reached Oak Hill at 1 o’clock, Union
troops on McPherson Ridge, as well as reserves, were shifted hurriedly
to this ground. The Union troops, posted back of the stone wall, faced
the Confederate charge from the west and north. Tenaciously holding this
ground through repeated Confederate attacks, the Union men were finally
forced to give way. Howard’s Union corps had arrived earlier in the
plain north of Gettysburg (see monuments to the east) but his command
was soon shattered by a Confederate force arriving from the northeast on
the Harrisburg Road (near flagpole, a mile eastward). As the Union
troops north of Gettysburg retreated, the men on this ridge became
isolated and withdrew to Cemetery Hill, south of the town.
The large white building on this side of Gettysburg is “Old Dorm” at
Gettysburg College, used as a hospital during the battle. Beyond the
town is Culp’s Hill (see the observation tower), and in the right
background is Cemetery Hill.