Walking through the Wheatfield

It was a beautiful fall morning here in southeast Pennsylvania. It was a little on the cool side....but by having a jacket on, it was just perfect. So, I decided that if I just got done studying the Wheatfield, it was time to take a long, slow walk through it. So that's just what I did. Now, mind you, I have walked those fields dozens of times. Today was a little different.

First, I parked my car near the wayside marker on Sickles Avenue and then walked up to the Winslow's Battery monument. I stood and took a long hard look at the monument. Sometimes you really have to take a long, hard look in order to really see it. And that is just what I did. I really didn't see anything new on the monument, but I had a chance to relook at an old friend. I stood and stared off toward the stonewall where the 17th Maine took their stand. These men were just so brave. I then stood at the breech end of one of the cannons and looked towards Rose Woods....seeing what the men of that battery saw. I don't know how they could stand in such an open field and shoot like that.

I then headed off to the row of monuments that denote where Cross's brigade was situated. I imagined the men shooting non-stop until they ran out of ammunition. That must have been some really intense fighting for those 15 minutes or so. And pictured Brooke arriving with his men. By the time I was done looking at those monuments, I was on Ayres Avenue.

It was time to walk up towards the loop that is a great overlook of Little Round Top. All around that loop are markers telling the story of how Burbank and Day brought their men into the fray. It tells the story of Crawford coming in at the end. Hearing the story straight from the mouths of the participants in more heartrending than anything a modern historian could relay to me. These are the men who fought and died here!

I walked around the loop and took a good look at a monument to the Bucktails. And a good long look at the monument to the 5th New Hampshire. I like the monument to the 5th New Hampshire. It's odd....in a different sort of way. A large boulder sits on top of a few other boulders. That's the monument. Nothing extravagant....just very different. And I really like it. But even more than that....between the layers of boulders, are plaques naming the names of the dead and wounded from their fight on July 2, 1863. When I look at those names, in my mind I put faces to them. No, I have no idea who these men were, but I do know that they were here and they fought valiantly and they died here.

I walked down through the intersection and headed back to my car. The whole walk couldn't have been more than a half mile total....but I was out there for 1 1/2 hours....just looking, reading, and imaging. Tomorrow, I'm heading out to check out the Confederates who fought in the Wheatfield. I still have Union monuments to check out....those can be done another day. Tomorrow it time to understand the Confederate point of view. Maybe one day, I'll have this battle down, so that I can fully understand what happened....until then I just have to be content to look and read.