Confederate Line of Battle
July 3, 1863 - Third Day
"Smoke soon hid everything, the firing was as rapid as musketry, and shot and shell flew in flocks."
Lt. Col. E. Porter Alexander, C.S.A.
Commander of the Confederate bombardment
Confederate artillery and infantry occupied the low, wooded ridge you are standing on - Seminary Ridge - July 2 and 3. Union forces defended Cemetery Ridge, the parallel ridge 3/4 mile in front of you. In between lay the Emmitsburg Road and fields crisscrossed with fences.
About 1:00 p.m. on the third day, Confederate cannon along this ridge opened fire, answered shortly by the Union guns. For two hours more than 270 cannon thundered, creating a scene one correspondent called "a very hell of fire that amazed the oldest officers."
About 3:00 p.m. the cannonade ceased, and Confederate infantry commanded by Brig. Gen. James J. Pettigrew and Maj. Gen. Isaac Trimble formed ranks in the fields behind you, and advanced out across the field in front of you. To your right, other Confederates under Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett did the same. The ill-fated assault commanded by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet would come to be known as "Pickett's Charge."
Marker is on West Confederate Avenue, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
