CASSIE & TOM'S GETTYSBURG PHOTOS

On the afternoon of July 3, 1863 a major cavalry engagement took place a few miles east of Gettysburg. R.E. Lee had planned on his cavalry attacking the Union rear as Longstreet's Assault (Pickett's Charge) was hitting the front. First they had to get through the Union cavalry which they failed to do. This action was just one of many "what ifs" concerning the battle at Gettysburg. Today this area of the battlefield is called East Cavalry Field. To our constant amazement very few visitors ever go there. We spent a few hours in this area the day these photos were taken. Although it was a very warm day with high attendance elsewhere in the park we didn't come across a single visitor other than the occasional local speeding through. The following paragraph was edited from NPS markers scattered around East Cavalry Field.

At 4:00 P.M., J.E.B. Stuart assembled 12 regiments of troopers for the last great charge of the day. A Union officer wrote of the massed Confederates, "In close columns of squadrons, advancing as if in review, with sabers drawn and glistening like silver in the bright sunlight - the spectacle called forth a murmur of admiration." The closest Union regiment available to halt the Southern horsemen was the 1st Michigan Cavalry. Brigadier General George A. Custer rode to the head of the regiment, stood up on the stirrup with his saber aloft and with a determined yell led a countercharge. Captain William F. Miller, U.S.A. 3rd PA Cavalry wrote, "So sudden and violent was the collision that many of the horses were turned end over end and crushed their riders beneath them." While Custer viciously attacked the head of the Confederate column other Union cavalry under Col. John B. Mc Intosh closed in on the flanks. Assaulted on three sides the Confederates retreated. The attack on the Union rear had failed.

Entrance to East Cavalry Field just off the Hanover Pike.

This panorama is seen just as you turn off the Hanover Pike.

There are very few places on the Gettysburg Battlefield where you can stand in the middle of the road without constantly having to watch for traffic. East Cavalry Field is the exception.

Much of the fighting took place on and around the John Rummel farm. On the night of July 3 Michigan Private Dexter Macomber wrote in his diary, "This is the most furious dragoon fight I ever saw or engaged in." The photo on the left was taken from Cress Ridge which is seen in the distance in the photo on the right.

When the fighting was over John Rummel discovered 30 dead cavalry horses in this lane bordering his farm.

1st Michigan Cavalry Monument.

These guns sit just north of the Rummel Farm along Cress Ridge.

This monument is generally referred to as the Gregg Cavalry Shaft. It was named after Union Brigadier General David Gregg although forces from both sides are named on it. It has been sitting in East Cavalry Field since Oct. 1884.

Music playing is "Jine The Cavalry"