It's 6am.....My Private Time on the Field

I took a little stroll down through the Triangular Field Monday morning. It was 6 am. I made sure that I was out of the house....had time to run to the post office and still get on the field at exactly 6. There is something about being on the field right when it opens that I particularly enjoy. No one is on the field (or very few) and the sun just came up.

As I walked down the Triangular Field, I was listening to the birds and noticing how the sunlight changes the looks of everything. The early morning sun has an orange look to it and it makes everything look like it has an orange tint to it. The Slyder house and barn are off to the south (or as you walk down the field to your left) and it just looks so peaceful...despite all the horrible fighting that took place in and around that area.

The trees that were there just a few short years ago are gone but the brush is easily to my head. As I walked along the path, I noticed that it would be easy to get lost in the brush (should you go off the trail....which I wouldn't recommend due to the ticks). But standing up on top of the hill, you can still see how clear it was at the time of the battle.

The Triangular Field was the field where the Orange Blossoms fought the Texans. One of my favorite stories of the battle is about the Orange Blossoms. Now, I don't particularly enjoy this story because of the deaths involved, but it has been one that has stayed in my head for many years. Col. A. Van Horne Ellis was the commander of the 124th New York. The 124th was from Orange County, NY....thus the name the "Orange Blossoms". During the fighting on Day two, Ellis sent his men down the Tri Field to fend off the 1st Texas regiment. James Cromwell....his Lieutenant and Ellis both went down that field on horseback. They were shot one by one during this fighting....and both died. Both bodies were then brought back up the field and placed on the rock where the monument to the 124th NY is located. Everytime I drive past that monument, I have to laugh at Col. Ellis. He looked like a mean, son of a gun....and they claim that that was what he really looked like. Even funnier, is when I find a woodpecker sitting on his head and the expression on his face. Its priceless.

As I got down to the bottom of the hill, the sun was just starting to come up over the top of Little Round Top and while watching the sun rise above the hill, I started thinking about Laws men trying to force their way up that hill. Its not a big hill but it can be a bit steep. Those poor guys trying to rush that hill, while being fired at, and having the men of the 124th rushing down at them must have been overwhelming....yet they pushed on and were able to push the men off the hill. With the help of other regiments, they were able to clear the ground around Devil's Den and Houck's Ridge. How the did this is beyond me. But I admire them for being able to do that.

On my return trip up the hill, I noticed a rock about 2 feet off the path that had a bouquet of flowers laid on it. I wondered about whom those flowers were left for: was it the 124th? or the Texas boys? Who left them? What was their motivation? Were these hometown boys? Or an ancestor who fought here? I guess I'll never know....but it was kind of cool to see it.

By the time I reached the top of the hill, things were starting to pick up in the park. Two cars had already passed by on the road and I started to notice people up on Little Round Top. So, it was time to move on. I then headed over to Oak Hill. But my early morning time spent in the Triangular Field was an experience that I shall treasure forever. Now, I just need to look for another place to spend an early morning.