Powers' Hill

I drove down the Granite Schoolhouse Lane the other day and sort of glanced up at Powers' Hill. I do this so often and it just dawned on me, why don't I spend more time on Powers' Hill and more time studying it??? The hill is located at the intersection of Baltimore Pike and Granite Schoolhouse Lane.

Well, I can say why I don't spend more time on the hill: parking is terrible in the area. You could park at the miniature golf course and cross Baltimore Pike (a very dangerous idea) or you can park alongside Granite Schoolhouse Road (again another dangerous idea....but more for your car than you). Those are pretty much the options. But heading up that hill is ALWAYS a good idea. Hardly anyone ever goes up to see the monuments up there so you can almost be guaranteed total silence while exploring and understanding this hill. I like silence when I'm contemplating the battle.

This hill was used as Slocum's headquarters for the "right wing" of the army. Through a series of misunderstandings, Slocum believed that he was in charge of the "right wing" of the Army of the Potomac....so he used this hill as his headquarters. It was also used as General Meade's headquarters shortly after the cannonade began prior to Pickett's Charge (just to keep everyone on the same page, I will use this term although it has many other names). While Gen. Meade was at Lydia Leister's house (his 1st headquarters) the cannonade began and the shots were over missing the Federal lines. With the Leister house situated behind the Federal lines, it was what was getting shot at....and Meade had to leave for his own safety. The next stop for him was behind LRT and then on to Powers Hill.

This hill was also used as an artillery platform. Knap and Rigby had their guns up there (this was before the hill had become overgrown with trees) and the 77th New York was also located on this hill.

And finally, this hill was used as a Signal Station. They were in communication with the Signal Station on Little Round Top.

When walking around on Powers' Hill, please take note of the private property signs. The entire hill is NOT owned by the NPS so if you go past one of these signs, you will be on someone else's property. But it is tempting to head into forbidden land: below the crest of the hill, you will see some old rusting vehicles. These are trucks from about 50 years or so ago. The trucks are really cool to see....but they belong to someone and they are on their property. We have also found some other interesting things when exploring up there.

If you go down Granite Schoolhouse Road a few hundred yards or so, you can actually see the foundation of the Granite Schoolhouse. My friend, Jackie and I spent a bloody and bruised afternoon wandering around those woods before we found it and it turns out the foundation is right next to the road. There was no reason for us to be getting caught in the thorns (and that in itself is a funny story....when you have to call the other person over to untangle your hair from thorns and tree branches, you know not many people hang out in those woods....that's why you should wear hats when exploring....but I will never learn).

Powers Hill is a seldom heard of area on the battlefield, a seldom studied sector of the battle, and a seldom visited spot. There are a few monuments up there and they need to be remembered just as much as each of the other spots, monuments, and soldiers who fought here at Gettysburg. Sometime, if you haven't already trod up there, take a walk and see what interesting things you can find up there.