Gettysburg – East Cavalry Battlefield
I’ve had the markers and monuments from the East Cavalry Battlefield at Gettysburg in my queue now for over three months. At last I’ve worked down the pile of work in order to get to Custer and Hampton. Thus far I’ve only dropped a handful into the database, but the related set is here, and will grow. Thus far, only a few tablets and the 1st Maine Monument have been posted. More to follow. I’ve found Jenny Goellnitz’s Gettysburg Monument Project quite useful for “my Gettysburg marker” project.
As related in previous posts, I find the East Cavalry Battlefield one of the more pleasant areas of Gettysburg to visit. With only a trickle of visitors compared to Cemetery Hill or Little Round Top, I find it easy to focus on the location and not be distracted worrying about parking spots or loud talking pseudo-tour guides.
While I should have the East Cavalry Battlefield documented and posted by the end of the month, I don’t think I’ll attempt to tackle the whole of Gettysburg quite yet. Antietam took three months, and covered around 400 markers all told. Gettysburg has at least a thousand “things to document” for the database. As the old saying goes, it is easier to eat an elephant one bite at a time!
Harris Farm
Last weekend I visited Spotsylvania Court House, under good weather conditions. Prior to starting a day long hike-and-drive tour of the main battlefield, I took the time to visit the CWPT’s Harris Farm site. Normally I would just direct the reader to other web sites offering more details than can be summarized in a single blog entry. But for Harris Farm, I’ve just not seen many resources on the web. From my library, I’ve only found ten pages from Noah Andre Trudeau’s “Bloody Roads South” and a scant few paragraphs from Bruce Catton’s “Grant Takes Command.”
The Battle of Harris Farm was for all purposes the final act in the great battle of Spotsylvania Court House. After nearly two weeks of fighting (May 8-19, 1864) along the main battle lines near the Brock Road, General Grant pulled the Army of the Potomac out of line for the second of his left flanking movements of the Overland Campaign. This shift broke contact with the Confederate main defensive lines. Sensing a move was underway, on May 19, General Lee sent Ewell’s Corps forward in a reconnaissance in force to feel out the Federal flanks and line of march. Attrition from three weeks of hard fighting and campaigning reduced Ewell’s Effective strength to around 6,000. The Corps crossed the Ni River and turned to front the Fredericksburg Road (modern Virginia Route 208). Fortunately for the Federals, Ewell’s artillery was unable to cross the Ni River.
Moving up from the bottom land, the Confederates came into contact with some regiments of “Heavy Artillery.” These “Heavies” had been pulled from garrison duty in Washington, where they had spent the previous years of the war in mundane but safe assignments. Now these Federal regiments fought as infantry in their first engagement. Brigaded under Brig. Gen. Robert O. Tyler were five regiments – 1st Maine, 1st Massachusetts, and the 2nd, 7th and 8th New York Heavy Artillery Regiments. Having avoided the attrition that comes with field duty, these five regiments were substantially larger than the line infantry regiments at this point in the war. So much that the brigade actually formed the 4th Division of Hancock’s II Corps! (A previous 4th Division was consolidated with the 3rd Division, II Corps on May 13 due to losses suffered since the start of the campaign.) All told the “heavies” contained over 6,000 muskets. In addition to Tyler’s men, the 4th New York Heavy Artillery, assigned to Warren’s V Corps, was posted to guard the supply trains along the Fredericksburg Road.
If the Confederates could push the “heavies” out of the way, the Army of the Potomac’s supply lines back to Fredericksburg were vulerable. Should the long serving, but green troops gave way, Grant’s plans would be disrupted. Perhaps the entire Overland Campaign would be suspended. At around 3:45 P.M. Ewell’s lead elements, Ramseur’s Brigade, came into contact with pickets from the 4th New York Heavy Artillery. Outnumbered, the New Yorkers held but needed support. The 1st Maine and 1st Massachusetts “Heavies” moved to shore up the lines. The battle lines now ran roughly north to south between the Harris, Alsop, and Peyton houses. Soon the remainder of Tyler’s “Division” came on line.
Ramseur’s Brigade was joined by Battle’s (to the right or south of Ramseur), Grimes’, Pegram’s, and Evans’ Brigades (to the left or north of Ramseur). Ramseur must have sensed his advance had stirred a slumbering hornet’s nest of sorts. Having found the Federal flank, he requested permission to drive off the pickets in order to cleanly disengage. However, now the forces on the field were roughly equal and Ramseur found instead of engaging pickets from one regiment, he was against nearly a full division. Although the Federal lines overlapped the Confederates, and in particular Ramseur’s men were dangerously exposed, the green “heavies” used tactics that negated their numbers. Instead of digging in and using terrain to their advantage, the former garrison troops fought as if on a parade field, just as they had drilled for years.
With sunset fast approaching and worn from four hours of fighting, the Confederates finally disengaged and withdrew back to their trenches around the Brock Road. Lee had confirmed Grant was on the move. The “heavies” were blooded. But the Federal supply lines were safe. Confederates recorded around 900 casualties. The Federals lost 1,535 men. The Overland Campaign would continue on.
I’ve collected the Virginia state marker, two interpretive markers, and 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery monument into a collection at HMDB: Harris Farm Virtual Tour by Markers. As the site is now surrounded by upscale development, little of the battlefield is “tourable.”
Battle of Hanover
During the last full weekend of June I spent some time with a fellow HMDB regular collecting and documenting the markers around Hanover. With “Plenty Enough Blame to Go Around” in hand for reference, we were able to locate the majority of the markers (list) (map). For the set, our photos are a little sparse. The town of Hanover has grown a bit over the century plus since the battle. As such, in several places where historical homes or sites are referenced, a modern construction home or business now stands. Plaques indicating a structure stood at the time of the battle are fixed to numerous buildings around the center of town. However I cannot locate any specific references which might guide a visitor to the name or history of these structures. So while I have a score of photos of buildings, none have any context which can be linked to marker entries with any degree of accuracy.
The Federal Monument in Mount Olivet Cemetery is noteworthy.
The two field pieces flanking the monument are actually replicas. Their form and appearance are in line with similar replicas cast for the Gettysburg battlefield. While looking like 3-inch Ordnance rifles from a distance, these have rough exteriors, a visible lateral casting seam, not to mention a lack of standard markings.
However, in the town square are two authentic Civil War era pieces. Two 2.9 inch Parrott Rifles. One of which is touted as “No. 1.” Both carry the letters “C. P.” over the trunnions.
While I’ve read and heard several sources state this particular piece above (No 1) was the “very first Parrott rifle ever made,” the claim does not match with the records. Robert Parrott had experimented with the design prior to 1861, but the first batch accepted by the government was a set of ten 2.9-inch, 10-pounder rifles in May 1861. However, pre-dating the government delivery considerably, one Parrott rifle was delivered to the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1860. Just after the outbreak of the war, the states of New York and Pennsylvania ordered examples of the Parrott 10-pounders. The New York examples are stamped “S.N.Y.” over the trunnions. The Pennsylvania order received the initials “C.P.” for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (For a full discussion, please refer to Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War, by James C. Hazlett, Edwin Olmstead, and M. Hume Parks, page 109-110). In addition to the twins at Hanover, two more examples of this batch are displayed on the Gettysburg battlefield.
The markers at Hanover add to a growing collection of the Gettysburg Campaign. Most of the Civil War trails markers for the Gettysburg Campaign are in the database now. As time permits, I’ll dress up groupings as done with Antietam.
Monterey Pass
Two weekends back, on the way to a family event, I was able to convince the staff that a side trip over to Monterey Pass was in allowed. On three previous trips, lacking any references to the area, I’d not found a marker reported to be in the area. This time, armed with directions from the Monterey Pass Battlefield Association, I easily located that particular “White Whale” – The Battle of Fountain Dale.
Geographically I find the area rather interesting. Further to the south two roughly parallel ridge lines, South Mountain and the Catoctins, bracket a wide valley extending south well into Virginia. But just near the Maryland-Pennsylvania state line these two lines merge to form a complex knot of mountains. Traversing this knot is are complex, interconnecting passes. During the Gettysburg Campaign, this maze provided the advancing and retreating Army of Northern Virginia a barrier to impede the Army of the Potomac. During World War II and the Cold War, communications facilities and executive operations sites sprang up in the hidden valleys.
From what I read and have heard, several individuals have and still are working diligently to ensure sites of note related to the Gettysburg Campaign are set aside and preserved. I do hope those involved have a plan to include additional interpretation over time. Not only would such raise awareness, and provide a focus for those visiting the sites, signage also lends an air of permanence. And of course would give me more markers to hunt down!
Last weekend, while visiting the Gettysburg Visitor Center, I picked up a copy of One Continuous Fight at the book store. Supporting the park and three good authors all at the same time. But of course I wish I’d had the book a week earlier! The driving tour notes would have been handy reference. The author’s inclusion of location data for sites is commendable. While I rarely use a GPS device (long story involving drill sergeants and calling for fire in the old army days), the lat/longs help plotting my marker entries and verification of my location notes. I blazed through “Plenty of Blame to go Around” in a few days last summer. Hopefully I’ll have time to do the same for “One Continuous Fight” before the fall.
