Gettysburg Greg
First Sergeant
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2010
- Location
- Decatur, Illinois
The towering tree seen today above Devil's Den is commonly referred to as a confirmed witness tree. However, I have never seen any documentation or photographs that prove this to be true. I located a high resolution version of Mathew Brady's photograph from Little Round Top that includes the area where the tree now stands. The photo taken just days after the battle is not sharp enough to say for sure whether the tree is there or not. If it is in the photo, I would have to say it was very small and insignificant at the time. In the highly magnified comparison below I have labeled some of the rocks that can be matched up in both the 1863 image and the modern one I took a few years ago. I identified where the tree would have been in 1863, but cannot positively say I see it. You judge for yourselves. Just to be clear, the "A" marks the well known Table Rock at the north end of the Den and the * is the wall of the sharpshooter's nest made famous in Gardner's July 6th, 1863 photograph. The other marked locations are just various rocks that can be matched in both photos. The entire area within the blow up was the scene of heavy fighting just days earlier before being overrun by the Confederates. The Tri-field can be seen in the background.
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