East Cavalry field plug '2nd post in'

Rothermel

Private
Joined
Aug 5, 2020
This is my plug of Gettysburgs East Cavalry engagement, but I do not have geat pics. The field here is, in my opinion a place you want to visit and walk the field rather than just look at pics because is is larger.
To do it this Monday I chose the 1997 july copy of Blue & Gray magazine. Gary Kross's article and Vignette is great. My picture is my attempt to find his picture on the cover of Magazine. I can't post a pic of that as I think it would be copyrighted.

But he takes you onto the field via Hoffman Rd past the George Trostle farm. Then right onto Cavalry field rd. Just as you get to the woodline of Cress woods you would see my picture which is the tree to the right of the pic. Obscured by bushes is/was the '2nd post in' on a 1863 fence. A dead confederate cavalryman was buried there. Gary featured a sword stuck in the ground in front of that tree in 1997.
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One of my favorite stops is just ahead of this point where the road bends to the right and there is a parking area. I like to park and get out of the car and announce loudly to any hard-core Cavalry fans parked there some thing like "hey did you know these cavalrymen did more than guard baggage trains?" or "Is this the spot where these dandies on horses hung out and boiled coffee while the infantry fought?"

Then get in your car real fast and drive like heck to get away.... to the next stop.
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When you see this placard you will see the Michigan monument facing a fence line some LBG's call Phipps fence after one of their guides.
Then just ahead on the left is Greggs monument and the monument I like to walk to the 3rd Pa.
Much, much more to see as you approach the Low Dutch Rd and much more to the story.

So go out there on a nice day and spend some time. Guides like Mr. Kross and the magazine make this an easy self guided tour.
And remember to troll a couple cavalry fans while you are out there......:biggrin:
 
I have been there many times and you rarely see more than another car or two . Did a ranger tour there many years ago with the late Greg Coco. It's a very peaceful area and it is fairly easy to understand the battle due to the layout of the land.
 
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… One of my favorite stops is just ahead of this point where the road bends to the right and there is a parking area. I like to park and get out of the car and announce loudly to any hard-core Cavalry fans parked there some thing like "hey did you know these cavalrymen did more than guard baggage trains?" or "Is this the spot where these dandies on horses hung out and boiled coffee while the infantry fought?"

Then get in your car real fast and drive like heck to get away.... to the next stop.
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… When you see this placard you will see the Michigan monument facing a fence line some LBG's call Phipps fence after one of their guides.
Then just ahead on the left is Greggs monument and the monument I like to walk to the 3rd Pa.
Much, much more to see as you approach the Low Dutch Rd and much more to the story.
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Those are great pictures James and Kurt.

I was back down this week. I took a look around, I was hoping more leaves were down to see farther.... but not really ready yet. Nittany apples were in the bins at Hollabaughs.... so it was not a wasted trip.

See what I mean about my luck with the 3rd Pa. ? Under construction. I wanted to walk to the front of it and see if we could see the view towards the Rummel farm, but that area has grown up in Pines now and is crazy thick. And the farm is too far any way....
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Of course I tried again farther south to one of Randols sections.... but again the corn is not harvested yet and really limits what you see. But the positive was that I came home and read a bit more on the days events and I do have a better feel now. The maps provided online by the experts are so good these days it is amazing.
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I also headed to Hanover for a pair of shoes.... no really. And one thing I read on the Hanover Cavalry monument (in the town square where the cavalry skirmish mostly happened) was a note from a man in town regarding the 5th NY's repeated charges into the square "On Broadway side, the cellar under the drug store was entered through a large wooden door, that lay flush with the sidewalk. Across this door the cavalry charged again and again. I recall how fearfull my parents were, lest the cellar door prove too weak to bear the weight of the horses..."

During these charges the 5th NY captured the colors of the 13th Va and the 1st Vermont captured 20 prisoners from the 2nd NC including Col Payne whose horse fell into an old tannery vat and the colonel was 'completely stained'.
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I'm plugging cavalry.... so stop in Hanover as well as the other cavalry fields of Gettysburg. There are plenty of things to see as well as making for some interesting follow up reading afterwards....
 
I have not been to the Custer monument at Hunterstown. I should put that on my list. I have only seen the pictures of it.
 
The uniform seems to be post war . If the carbine is supposed to be a Spencer , it is wrong for the time period . The 5th and part of the 6th Michigan had Spencer rifles at this time , but no one had carbines .
Technically it should be called the vedette , though I have seen the term picket applied to cavalry as well.
 
The uniform seems to be post war . If the carbine is supposed to be a Spencer , it is wrong for the time period . The 5th and part of the 6th Michigan had Spencer rifles at this time , but no one had carbines .

You are correct! It's the Spencer carbine that's just plain wrong.

The Spencer carbine did not go into mass production until late September 1863. They did not exist at the time of the Battle of Hanover in June.
 
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Those are great pictures James and Kurt...

Of course I tried again farther south to one of Randols sections.... but again the corn is not harvested yet and really limits what you see. But the positive was that I came home and read a bit more on the days events and I do have a better feel now. The maps provided online by the experts are so good these days it is amazing.
Thanks - we were there in August of 2014, so the crops weren't as high and as you can see they were still green; I wish we could've gotten closer to the farm buildings, but at least I used my telephoto lens:

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This is my plug of Gettysburgs East Cavalry engagement, but I do not have geat pics. The field here is, in my opinion a place you want to visit and walk the field rather than just look at pics because is is larger.
To do it this Monday I chose the 1997 july copy of Blue & Gray magazine. Gary Kross's article and Vignette is great. My picture is my attempt to find his picture on the cover of Magazine. I can't post a pic of that as I think it would be copyrighted.

But he takes you onto the field via Hoffman Rd past the George Trostle farm. Then right onto Cavalry field rd. Just as you get to the woodline of Cress woods you would see my picture which is the tree to the right of the pic. Obscured by bushes is/was the '2nd post in' on a 1863 fence. A dead confederate cavalryman was buried there. Gary featured a sword stuck in the ground in front of that tree in 1997.
View attachment 378061

One of my favorite stops is just ahead of this point where the road bends to the right and there is a parking area. I like to park and get out of the car and announce loudly to any hard-core Cavalry fans parked there some thing like "hey did you know these cavalrymen did more than guard baggage trains?" or "Is this the spot where these dandies on horses hung out and boiled coffee while the infantry fought?"

Then get in your car real fast and drive like heck to get away.... to the next stop.
View attachment 378062

When you see this placard you will see the Michigan monument facing a fence line some LBG's call Phipps fence after one of their guides.
Then just ahead on the left is Greggs monument and the monument I like to walk to the 3rd Pa.
Much, much more to see as you approach the Low Dutch Rd and much more to the story.

So go out there on a nice day and spend some time. Guides like Mr. Kross and the magazine make this an easy self guided tour.
And remember to troll a couple cavalry fans while you are out there......:biggrin:

Has anyone read the chapter on the east Calvary Battle field that appeared in Brent Nosworthy’s book, Roll call to destiny

bryce
 
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