The Peach Orchard

I had this really strange feeling on Sunday evening that I needed to be out at the Peach Orchard early in the morning on Monday (thankfully I don't work Sunday nights so it was doable). So I woke up at 3:30 am, got a shower, and by 5:30 I left for the Peach Orchard. Well, the park doesn't open until 6:00 and considering I live right down the street from the Peach Orchard, I was a little early. So I hit McDonald's drive thru, got myself a sweet tea and headed down the road. It was another foggy morning. Only this time as I drove down Emmitsburg Road, I could see the tops of the monuments peeking out from the top.

There is just something about the battlefield just prior to the sun coming up. It's light out, but the mystique of the coming day and the freshness of the morning makes the battlefield seem so peaceful....the complete opposite of what it was. As I drove along, I could almost make out the men running across the road, in their charge of the Angle. But, alas, just my imagination run amok. Nothing new here.

I was still really early, so I turned down Millerstown Road and then headed out West Confederate Avenue (a road that is open 24 hours although you aren't permitted to stop). So I drove slowly down West Confederate Avenue with my windows rolled down listening to the cows and the birds. Just.....soooo peaceful!

By the time I reached the Peach Orchard, it was just about 6am so I figured how much trouble could I get into if I got there a couple of minutes early. Here is the really nice thing: I didn't see another car (except for those speeding past on Emmitsburg Road) for at least 45 minutes. The Peach Orchard was all MINE!!!! At least for a little while, anyway.

I grabbed a book that I had brought along, plus my ever present camera, and started to walk over to the southwest corner, right where the 2nd NH monument is located. I stopped to take pictures of the rising sun and the little peach trees and stopped occasionally to listen to the cows as they talked to one another. There is truly no other place in the world as peaceful as a battlefield....and isn't that an oxymoron???? But when you consider the death and destruction that took place on that little parcel of land, and what it all represents, it should be anything but peaceful, but it is.

I sat on the corner of the 2nd NH monument for a good 1/2 hour and read about what the 2nd NH went through out there. I had brought along Harry Pfanz's book on the second day. He is very descriptive of the struggle in that peach orchard. Although, as many times as I have read that book....or been on ranger programs and batttle walks.....or tried to understand just what happened there, I can never seem to get it. This battle confuses me more than any other part of the battle. I can tell you what happened on Culp's Hill or in the Wheatfield, but when it comes to the Peach Orchard, I'm more confused than ever. One day....I plan to understand....but until then I just have to take it a little bit at a time.

I spent such a great morning in my little piece of the battlefield....until people starting moving, then it was time for me to go. There's just something about the dew on the ground, the fog laying over the field, and the birds singing that makes me want to stay out there all day. Unfortunately it all ends....until the next day when it starts all over again!