Failing to take possession of Culp’s Hill on the evening of July 2,
Johnson’s Confederate force shifted southward across Rock Creek and
attacked the Union position on the hill north of this spring. The
defense works here had been vacated an hour earlier when most of the
troops were called to help defend the Union line in the Wheatfield and
Peach Orchard. The Confederates then took possession of the Union works.
The Union forces, having returned during the night, opened fire at dawn
on July 3 with artillery and infantry. Confederate troops who were
posted in the Union works and in rear of the stone wall on the hill to
the north made a determined stand. After hard fighting, which ended only
at noon, the Union force succeeded in driving the Confederates out of
these works and eastward beyond striking range.
_The Park_
In 1895, the battlefield was established by act of Congress as
Gettysburg National Military Park. In that year, the Gettysburg
Battlefield Memorial Association, which had been founded April 30, 1864,
for the purpose of commemorating “the great deeds of valor, endurance,
and noble self-sacrifice, and to perpetuate the memory of the heroes,
and the signal events which render these battlegrounds illustrious,”
transferred its holdings of 600 acres of land, 17 miles of avenues, and
320 monuments and markers to the Federal Government. Under the
jurisdiction of the War Department until 1933, the park was transferred
in that year to the Department of the Interior to be administered by the
National Park Service. Today, the park consists of 2,554.82 acres of
land and 26 miles of paved roads.
The fields over which the battles were fought cover about 16,000 acres
and include the town of Gettysburg. A total of 2,390 monuments, tablets,
and markers have been erected over the years to indicate the positions
where infantry, artillery, and cavalry units fought. Of the 354 Union
and 272 Confederate cannon engaged or held in reserve during the battle,
233 Federal and 182 Confederate are located on the field in the
approximate position of the batteries during the battle.
_Anniversary Reunions of the Civil War Veterans_
The great interest of veterans and the public alike in the Gettysburg
battlefield has been reflected over the years in three outstanding
anniversary celebrations. Dominant in the observance of the 25th
anniversary in 1888 were the veterans themselves, who returned to encamp
on familiar ground. It was on this occasion that a large number of
regimental monuments, erected by survivors of regiments or by States,
were dedicated. Again, in 1913, on the 50th anniversary, even though the
ranks were gradually thinning, the reunion brought thousands of veterans
back to the battlefield. Perhaps the most impressive tribute to the
surviving veterans occurred July 1-4, 1938, on the occasion of the
observance of the 75th anniversary of the battle and the last reunion of
the men who wore the blue and the gray. Although 94 years was the
average age of those attending, 1,845 veterans, out of a total of about
8,000 then living, returned for the encampment. It was on this occasion
that the Eternal Light Peace Memorial was dedicated.
_How to Reach the Park_
Gettysburg National Military Park and National Cemetery are accessible
by highway over U. S. No. 30 from the east and west, U. S. No. 15 from
the north and south; U. S. No. 140 from Baltimore, Md.; State No. 34
from Carlisle, Pa.; and State No. 116 from Hagerstown, Md., and Hanover,
Pa. Greyhound Bus Lines operate over U. S. Nos. 30 and 140; the Blue
Ridge Lines over U. S. No. 15 from the south; and the
Gettysburg-Harrisburg Bus Line over U. S. No. 15 from Harrisburg.
_Administration_
Gettysburg National Military Park is administered by the National Park
Service of the United States Department of the Interior. Communications
should be addressed to the Superintendent, Gettysburg National Military
Park, Gettysburg, Pa.
_Related Areas_
Significant parts of most of the major battlefields of the Civil War
have been set aside under the control of the Federal Government to be
administered as national military areas by the National Park Service.
Among the areas in this group are: Antietam National Battlefield Site,
Md.; Manassas National Battlefield Park, Va.; Fredericksburg and
Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park
(includes Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House,
and Fredericksburg battlefields), Va.; Petersburg National Military
Park, Va.; Richmond National Battlefield Park, Va.; Appomattox Court
House National Historical Park, Va.; Shiloh National Military Park,
Tenn; Fort Donelson National Military Park, Tenn.; Stones River National
Military Park, Tenn.; Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military
Park, Tenn.-Ga.; Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Ga.; Fort
Sumter National Monument, S. C.; Vicksburg National Military Park,
Miss.; and Fort Pulaski National Monument, Ga.
_Visitor Facilities_
Information and free literature concerning the park may be obtained at
the National Park Service museum in the Post Office building, at the
national cemetery office, and at the park entrance stations. The
services of park historians are available free for explanation of the
battle, talks over a relief model of the battlefield in the museum, and
for field tours with educational groups. A historian is stationed at
Little Round Top during the summer season.
Field exhibits, consisting of a map of the battlefield and wartime
photographs, are located at important points in the park for the use and
interest of the public. With the exception of December, January, and
February, the cyclorama is open weekdays from 10 a. m. to 12 noon and 1
p. m. to 5 p. m. and on Sundays 10 a. m. to 12 noon and 1 p. m. to 6 p.
m. The admission fee is 25 cents for persons 12 years of age and over.
School groups, 12 to 18 years of age, and children under 12 years of age
are admitted free. Battlefield guides, licensed by the National Park
Service, operate under the supervision of the park superintendent. A
complete tour of the park, which covers the battleground of July 1,
north and west of Gettysburg, and of July 2 and 3, south of the town,
requires approximately 2 hours, and the guide fee is $4. A special tour,
covering the main points of interest and requiring about 1 hour, is
available at a fee of $3. The guide fee for a short bus tour is $5; for
a long bus tour $6.
[Illustration: BATTLEFIELD OF GETTYSBURG]
LEGEND
1 MCPHERSON RIDGE
2 OAK HILL
3 OAK RIDGE
4 SEMINARY RIDGE
5 WARFIELD RIDGE
6 DEVIL’S DEN
7 LITTLE ROUND TOP
8 THE ANGLE
9 MEADE’S HDQRS.
10 NAT’L. MONUMENT
11 CYCLORAMA
12 EAST CEMETERY HILL
13 CULPS HILL
14 SPANGLER’S SPRING
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES
(Price lists of National Park Service publications may be obtained
from the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington 25, D.C.)
Antietam
Bandelier
Chalmette
Chickamauga and Chattanooga Battlefields
Custer Battlefield
Custis-Lee Mansion, the Robert E. Lee Memorial
Fort Laramie
Fort McHenry
Fort Necessity
Fort Pulaski
Fort Raleigh
Fort Sumter
George Washington Birthplace
Gettysburg
Guilford Courthouse
Hopewell Village
Independence
Jamestown, Virginia
Kings Mountain
The Lincoln Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died
Manassas (Bull Run)
Montezuma Castle
Morristown, a Military Capital of the Revolution
Ocmulgee
Petersburg Battlefields
Saratoga
Scotts Bluff
Shiloh
Statue of Liberty
Vanderbilt Mansion
Vicksburg
Yorktown
[Illustration: Eagle statue]