You think you know Gettysburg . . .

pamc153PA

Major
Forum Host
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Location
Pennsylvania
After all the times I've been to the battlefield over the years, spending hours walking the fields and woods and trails, every now and then I find something I didn't know about, even in places I'm very familiar with.

I walked down to the Devil's Kitchen from the BRT parking lot the other day. I think the place is really sort of creepy-cool, especially since I've never run into anyone else there when I am.

Expired Image Removed

But this time, as I walked through the big rocks above, and headed down the path that would take me down to Devil's Den, I happened to see something on the back of the Devil's Kitchen rocks that I had missed the dozen times I'd been there before: evidence that at least some of the rocks had been used as a quarry, perhaps for flank markers, somewhere along the line.

Expired Image Removed

If you look at the rock at the bottom middle, you can see two marks that are evidence of the "feathers" used to split the rocks. And if you look at the rock behind that rock in the picture below, you can see marks of the same feathering on the left edge.

Expired Image Removed

Go figure! It would stand to reason that big rocks such as those at Devil's Kitchen would make good flank markers, but I had never seen those before. Maybe I just happened to look at it the right way this time.

It's those small details that are continually new to me that make me want to return to Gettysburg again and again, whether details about the men who fought there, the battlefield park's creation, or the things in the town that are a part of the whole story of Gettysburg.
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0480.JPG
    DSC_0480.JPG
    4.4 MB · Views: 2,218
  • DSC_0484.JPG
    DSC_0484.JPG
    3.1 MB · Views: 1,082
  • DSC_0483.JPG
    DSC_0483.JPG
    2.8 MB · Views: 1,360
I've never made ot to the Devil's Kitchen area. That's on my list for next time. I have to believe you are right about them being used for flank markers... just makes sense. I do know that many of the monument on the field used these quarried rocks for their base also. One of my favorites... there is a rock in Rose woods that was meant to be quarried but it cracked in a not so desirable way so the workers just tleft the wedges in the rock seeing they couldn't get them out. They are still there today after all this time.
 
They could also have been quarried for the Gettysburg electric trolley/railway that passed through that area. This system of railway was in operation from roughly 1895 until 1916. After many accidents and the greater use of automobiles the railway became obsolete and was removed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Electric_Railway
http://www.gettysburgdaily.com/?p=1755

This is true. I hadn't thought of that. Especially since the old trolley bridge over Plum Run was just down the hill from the Devil's Kitchen, that would make more sense, actually. There aren't any flank markers near Devil's Kitchen.
 
This is true. I hadn't thought of that. Especially since the old trolley bridge over Plum Run was just down the hill from the Devil's Kitchen, that would make more sense, actually. There aren't any flank markers near Devil's Kitchen.

William Frassanito speculated in his Gettysburg book that may be why some of the 1863 pictures can not be located on the battlefield today because of the movement of some of these boulders and rocks in the 1890s for the railway. Namely this group of bodies photgraphed on Little Round/Big Round Top.
 

Attachments

  • dead-on-round-top.jpg
    dead-on-round-top.jpg
    58.7 KB · Views: 678
I would like to thank you for putting this up I have found my self also checking rock for mark yes my wife believe I need help keep up the good work
 
Back
Top