Bushman Farm at Gettysburg

[speedylee]

A GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD QUESTION: I am trying to learn what sort of orchard(s) were on the Bushman farmland at the time of the battle. There are two areas and there may have been different types of trees in each. So, does anyone know of a source I can check for the orchard adjacent to the modern day West Confederate Avenue and for the Bushman land on the other side of the farm buildings that is bordered by the dirt lane leading to the Slyder Farm?

I have seen maps that indicate the two locations were populated by orchards but the maps do not indicate exactly what was grown.

Thanks!

 

[AThompson]

I don't know off the top of my head, but the Park Service may have a report on the farm. When they start preservation projects, etc. they usually do a report on the area and some of those are available. When the library was open below the Visitor Center you could access them pretty easily but I'm not sure now.

Absent that, you can check out soldier accounts from Hood's Division to try to piece that information together. Often times they will include a description like "we started the advance through an apple/peach/cherry orchard/field of wheat, etc." that can help put together a picture of the landscape.

The maps of the locations can be helpful, but check the dates. Some of the more commonly available ones were put together a decade or more after the battle.

 

[speedylee]

I don't know off the top of my head, but the Park Service may have a report on the farm. When they start preservation projects, etc. they usually do a report on the area and some of those are available. When the library was open below the Visitor Center you could access them pretty easily but I'm not sure now.

Absent that, you can check out soldier accounts from Hood's Division to try to piece that information together. Often times they will include a description like "we started the advance through an apple/peach/cherry orchard/field of wheat, etc." that can help put together a picture of the landscape.

The maps of the locations can be helpful, but check the dates. Some of the more commonly available ones were put together a decade or more after the battle.

Good stuff, thanks.

 

[NFB22]

If I remember correctly, they grew a significant amount of lemons on the Bushman farm which is unique for Pennsylvania.

 

[EJ Zander]

Did they bring them inside in winter ie container grown? To my knowledge even the Meyer lemon has to be brought in and produces fruit in the winter.

 

[NFB22]

Did they bring them inside in winter ie container grown? To my knowledge even the Meyer lemon has to be brought in and produces fruit in the winter.

I would assume they must have, possibly in their barn? I did poke around a bit after thinking about it and did find at least one article that mentioned lemons.

 

[EJ Zander]

Pretty cool and unusual

 

[Tom Elmore]

Hood was reportedly wounded in or near the Bushman orchard extending westward from the house. In a postwar letter to Longstreet (Southern Historical Society Papers, vol. IV, p. 15), Hood wrote: "I then rode forward with my line under a heavy fire. In about twenty minutes after reaching the peach orchard I was severely wounded in the arm, and borne from the field."

 

[speedylee]

The Buckman Peach orchard, I'm pretty sure, was in the area on the far side of the buildings from modern day West Confederate Road. I've read that passage as well and for thanks sending. I needed to confirm that there were peaches in that spot. Still trying to find out about the other area next to the Road.

 

[EJ Zander]

What would have been the approximate size/ acreage of the plot? We can probably narrow it down based on that. Aside from peaches in our area the next most likely would be apples or cherries.

 

[Bonny Blue Flag]

It might be helpful to look at the army's physicians that were moving with the troops. They had to document local flora and fauna for natural medications, etc that could be used for treating the soldier's ailments and injuries. Lemons included.

--BBF