Gettysburg Papers

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES
PENNSYLVANIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
GEOLOGY and the Gettysburg Campaign
First Edition, September 1962
Seventh Printing, Slightly Revised, March 1997
Twelfth Printing, December 2023
by Andrew Brown, 1962

PREFACE
This booklet on Geology and the Gettysburg Campaign was first published by our bureau in 1962 during the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. A crucial event in that great conflict, the Battle of Gettysburg has special pertinence to Pennsylvania and its citizenry. Since its first printing, the booklet has received widespread interest from tourists visiting the battlefield, students of the Civil War, professional geologists, and others who are fascinated by the interrelationship between the local Gettysburg area geology, the terrain, and the course of the battle. It is our hope that the distribution of this booklet will bring a greater understanding of the importance of geology and physical surroundings, not only with respect to the Battle of Gettysburg, but also with respect to the current problems of the conservation and preservation of all of our great historical monuments and natural resources.


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 

Attachments

Attachments

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: A Dedication, A Consecration And A Challenge
Caitlin Mary Cappa
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Bachelor of Arts
© 2011 Caitlin Mary Cappa

Introduction
There was a time when our Nation was on the verge of being rent in two. There was a time when skin color and fear tore Americans apart, brother from brother, or even father from son. This was the greatest war our country has endured, the Civil War. With Americans fighting each other, the unity of the Nation hung by a thread. However, the president who led the country back to unity was a man to be reckoned with. He would do anything possible to keep the country together, without allowing slavery to continue or allowing secession of the states. This essay asks whether or not Lincoln was the skilled orator many see him to be. He caused a dramatic change in the American culture through one sentence, but did he simply draw from the right sources? Regardless of this, in a time of great turmoil, the political speeches of Abraham Lincoln held the Nation together with his carefully chosen words, determination, and strength. The elements from which Lincoln derived his ability to write the Gettysburg Address are varied. He had grown up in a time of debate regarding slavery, and had developed a strong antislavery opinion. While some historical texts present Lincoln as racist, his actions have all shown him to be for equality among all. Although he grew up as a farm boy, Lincoln read voraciously. He had strong leadership skills, was self-taught in law, and was known as a lazy worker. This man then grew to become one of the strongest presidents of our Nation's young life. The Gettysburg Address, made in a time of hardship for both him personally and the country as a whole, is a speech with rippling effects far more extensive than the effects of far more verbose speeches, exemplifying the strength of its short length. Lincoln is remembered as a skilled rhetor, but this was not the case during his political lifetime. He took time to formulate his speeches, and actually delivered very few memorable speeches of importance. However, those he delivered showcased his skills in speech structure, figurative language, poetic rhythm, delivery, and word choice. He knew what he was doing, and though some doubt all presidents' roles in their speech writing, Lincoln is one whose speeches would never have carried the same resonance, strength, subtlety and versatility if he had not had a part in the writing process. This essay analyzes The Gettysburg Address, one of the best political speeches of all time. It has had a huge impact as an artifact of rhetorical study and also as a source for future political speeches. Lincoln delivered this speech on November 19, 1863 at the dedication ceremony of the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania military burial grounds. Four months prior, the bloody Battle of Gettysburg had taken place there, resulting in a Union win but around forty six thousand fatalities. Lincoln, in a two minute span of time, dedicated the grounds and the soldiers, consecrated a new cemetery, and challenged the public.


Because of copyright, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
With the threads we have had on Culp's Hill...

The Saber and Scroll Journal
Volume 8, Number 1
Summer 2019

Gettysburg Day One: Taking Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill
Douglas R. Kleinsmith
American Military University

Abstract
On July 1, 1863, parts of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had achieved a resounding tactical victory against the lead elements of the Union Army of the Potomac. Had the Confederates kept going, their next logical objective would have been the key tactical terrain features of Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill directly south and southeast of the town of Gettysburg. Instead, satisfied with their achievements, the Confederates ended the day's fighting, consolidated their gains, and waited for what the next day would bring. As it happened, both armies brought up the rest of their forces and the battle went on for two more days. Despite repeated attempts, the Confederates could not dislodge the Union forces from their defensive positions and in the end suffered, quite possibly, their most traumatic tactical and psychological defeat yet in the war.

Well after the battle and the war ended, and the full extent of the defeat realized, the debate started as to whether the Confederates could have or should have continued the fight on the first day to capture Cemetery Hill and/or Culp's Hill. Had this been achieved, the Confederates, most likely, would have won the battle and, as a result, significantly altered the trajectory of the war in their favor, or so the argument goes. To determine such an attacks practicality, this paper investigates several factors. These include the current state of the forces at hand, the known intelligence situation, and the time available at the end of the first day. Tying these all together, a coherent and detailed picture on the possibility of whether the Confederates really could have taken Cemetery Hill and/or Culp's Hill, on the first day of battle at Gettysburg, will be presented. In the end, it will show, given what the Confederates faced in the late afternoon of the first day, any attempt had little to no chance of succeeding.


Not sure of copyright, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College
Student Publications
Student Scholarship
Spring 2017

Interpreting a Commemorative Landscape: Culp's Hill and Spangler's Spring
Zachary A. Wesley
Gettysburg College

This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the
copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution. Cupola permanent link: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/
524 This open access student research paper is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Abstract
Culp's Hill is described as one of the least visited and most under interpreted portions of Gettysburg National Military Park. This paper analyzes some of the sites in the vicinity of Culp's Hill and Spangler's Spring to create a picture of both the fighting on July 2, 1863, and the interactions of veterans and tourists with the area in the years and decades following the Civil War.


Because of copyright, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
USS ALASKA said:
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES
PENNSYLVANIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
GEOLOGY and the Gettysburg Campaign
First Edition, September 1962
Seventh Printing, Slightly Revised, March 1997
Twelfth Printing, December 2023
by Andrew Brown, 1962

PREFACE
This booklet on Geology and the Gettysburg Campaign was first published by our bureau in 1962 during the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. A crucial event in that great conflict, the Battle of Gettysburg has special pertinence to Pennsylvania and its citizenry. Since its first printing, the booklet has received widespread interest from tourists visiting the battlefield, students of the Civil War, professional geologists, and others who are fascinated by the interrelationship between the local Gettysburg area geology, the terrain, and the course of the battle. It is our hope that the distribution of this booklet will bring a greater understanding of the importance of geology and physical surroundings, not only with respect to the Battle of Gettysburg, but also with respect to the current problems of the conservation and preservation of all of our great historical monuments and natural resources.


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Click to expand...
Interesting. I'm more used to diabase in the Rockies, where it tends to become exposed in vertical dikes. Diabase sills - like that described in the article - are horizontal and can be difficult to recognize. But if you tried to dig a trench in one you might be looking for a new shovel. :D
 
Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era
Volume 3 Article 7
2013

Culp's Hill: Key to Union Success at Gettysburg
Ryan Donnelly
Gettysburg College

This open access article is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an
authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Abstract
Brigadier General George S. Greene's position on Culp's Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg is arguably the crucial lynchpin of July 2, 1863. Had this position at the barb of the fishhook defensive line fallen, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his army would then have been positioned to take Cemetery Hill, thus breaking the curve of the hook on the Union right. This most likely would have sent the Union into retreat, leaving the direct route to Washington unguarded. Fortunately, valiant efforts were made by men like Generals George S. Greene and Henry H. Lockwood in order to preserve the Union Army's possession of the hill and, as a result, preserve the Union itself. While leaders distinguished themselves during the Battle of Gettysburg with exceptional decision-making and ingenuity, the battle for Culp's Hill also embodied the personal cost these decisions made, as evidenced by the experience of Marylanders who literally fought their neighbors.


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 

Attachments

Belfoured said:
Interesting. I'm more used to diabase in the Rockies, where it tends to become exposed in vertical dikes. Diabase sills - like that described in the article - are horizontal and can be difficult to recognize. But if you tried to dig a trench in one you might be looking for a new shovel. :D
Click to expand...
That is a great old booklet I read many years ago being tired of occasionally coming up short with visitors on that very topic. Ok, maybe more than occasionally.
The geology of Gettysburg must have stunned many of the participants of the battle (Texans, Floridians) for its uniqueness and beauty. And of course for the shelter it provided.
As kids, we somehow avoided the opposite climbing places only a young boy would climb with some serious tumbles as you could imagine. Devils Den was a challenge getting out on the edge of a few rocks facing East towards the parking area with visitors screaming at us. Maybe a 20-30 foot drop. Great being kids! But those Keds made probably of real rubber almost bit into the boulders. We found many strange markings especially south of the den that meant nothing to us as kids and were forgotten over time.
It's still to this day a wild and fun place to explore.
Great booklet USS ALSAKA. Thanks for posting.
 
Great story about Keds. Way back in the day the shoes guys were using putting up routes in Yosemite in the '40's and '50's actually weren't much better. Flash forward 70 years later - let's just say things have come a long, long way. Although I'll wager Alex Honnold might still pull it off in Keds. :D:D:D
 
Last edited:
Belfoured said:
Great story about Keds. Way back in the day the shoes guys were using putting up routes in Yosemite in the '40's and '50's actually weren't much better. Flash forward 70 years later - let's just say things have come a long, long way. Although I'll wager Alex Honnold might still pull it off in Keds. :D:D:D
Click to expand...
Now there's a scary dude! I had a fear of heights until climbing the tower at Culps Hill, seeing how silly it was to be scared at the next step up, but not the one below!?!?....and of course called a few names by my 'buddies'. Then later as fully grown tweenagers we were climbing the outer rails two levels (half way) on the outside of the tower, proving that those early falls at Devils Den really did do damage.
 
121st PA Vols said:
Now there's a scary dude! I had a fear of heights until climbing the tower at Culps Hill, seeing how silly it was to be scared at the next step up, but not the one below!?!?....and of course called a few names by my 'buddies'. Then later as fully grown tweenagers we were climbing the outer rails two levels (half way) on the outside of the tower, proving that those early falls at Devils Den really did do damage.
Click to expand...
For obvious reasons there aren't many soloists. You're climbing skills have to be elite but even more so your "head" has to be in 101% control.

I have an odd issue - I've never been fond of standing at the top of tall buildings, etc but have no real problem hanging out on a climb with a 1,000 foot drop below - including having to do an overnight bivy anchored in 2,000 feet off the deck. 'Splain that to me because I've never figured it out.
 
That sure as he
Belfoured said:
For obvious reasons there aren't many soloists. You're climbing skills have to be elite but even more so your "head" has to be in 101% control.

I have an odd issue - I've never been fond of standing at the top of tall buildings, etc but have no real problem hanging out on a climb with a 1,000 foot drop below - including having to do an overnight bivy anchored in 2,000 feet off the deck. 'Splain that to me because I've never figured it out.
Click to expand...
Well, there's a new definition for 'hangin out'! You're a braver man than me Belfoured. I'm not sure if the military beat that out of me or crashing into Jack's Mountain outside Fairfield.
 
A paper to go with post #41...

Military geology and the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1863
Peter Doyle
Department of Earth Sciences
University College
Goldsmiths, University of London
Geology Today
July 2006

Gettysburg – the most costly of all battles of the American Civil War, and one of the most significant battles ever fought. Contested in rural Pennsylvania, the Battle of Gettysburg took place after a chance encounter by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia (General Robert E. Lee) with the Union Army of the Potomac (Major-General George Meade). It was to prove the turning point in the war, the so-called 'high tide' of the Confederacy, as after Gettysburg the fortunes of war turned in favour of the Union. Fought over three days in early July 1863, the battle continues to be analyzed and re-analyzed from all perspectives. Significantly, it was the first battle to be re-interpreted from the perspective of its geology, by Andrew Brown of the Pennsylvania State Survey in the early 1960s. It continues to fascinate geologists interested in the overall impact of geology and terrain in determining the outcome of battle. This article examines why Gettysburg has been so influential in shaping our understanding of geology in warfare.


Unsure of copyright, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
USS ALASKA said:
A paper to go with post #41...

Military geology and the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1863
Peter Doyle
Department of Earth Sciences
University College
Goldsmiths, University of London
Geology Today
July 2006

Gettysburg – the most costly of all battles of the American Civil War, and one of the most significant battles ever fought. Contested in rural Pennsylvania, the Battle of Gettysburg took place after a chance encounter by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia (General Robert E. Lee) with the Union Army of the Potomac (Major-General George Meade). It was to prove the turning point in the war, the so-called 'high tide' of the Confederacy, as after Gettysburg the fortunes of war turned in favour of the Union. Fought over three days in early July 1863, the battle continues to be analyzed and re-analyzed from all perspectives. Significantly, it was the first battle to be re-interpreted from the perspective of its geology, by Andrew Brown of the Pennsylvania State Survey in the early 1960s. It continues to fascinate geologists interested in the overall impact of geology and terrain in determining the outcome of battle. This article examines why Gettysburg has been so influential in shaping our understanding of geology in warfare.


Unsure of copyright, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Click to expand...
This is awesome. Thanks!
 
Seton Hall University
eRepository @ Seton Hall
Dissertations and Theses
Spring 5-11-2021

The Way We Remember It: The Popular Memory of the Battle of Gettysburg
Glenn Dietrich

A Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in History Seton Hall University May 13, 2021 © 2021 Glenn Dietrich

Abstract
The relationship between history and memory is an essential and complicated concept that significantly affects how the public remembers the past. A prime example of this complex relationship between history and memory is true in the most famous battle of the Civil War. Gettysburg is one of the most critical events in American history, for which thousands of books and countless historians have retold this momentous battle. In the case of the popular memory of Gettysburg, I argue that the significant amount of academic historiography, popular media, and American history textbooks have established a reconciliationist memory. This memory focuses more on the courage and bravery of the soldiers on both the Union and Confederate lines while omitting the importance of slavery, emancipation, and the period of reconstruction to preserve an incredible event in American history without damaging the legacy of General Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy.


Because of copyright, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
ON CEMETERY RIDGE
At the Battle of Gettysburg, 'moments seemed like ages,' according to Rochester graduates who were there.
Bob Marcotte

Rochester at the Turning Point. For three days in July 1863, the fields outside Gettysburg, Pa., were "ground zero" for some of the defining moments of the Civil War. And Rochester graduates and students were there. Capt. Winfield Scott and his classmate Lt. Col. Francis Pierce were joined by another Rochester graduate, Capt. John Ronald Leslie, and an undergraduate, Lt. Samuel Porter, in the Union ranks on Cemetery Ridge when the Union repelled the 12,000-soldier onslaught of Pickett's Charge, the failed assault that marked the high tide of the Confederacy. At least seven Rochester alumni, students, and former students were at Gettysburg. They were among about 85 Rochester students and alumni who fought for the Union during the Civil War.

University alumni, students, or former students enlisted in at least 12 of the Union regiments that fought at Gettysburg. Their own accounts and those of their contemporaries put them in the thick of the fighting on all three days and in nearly every key part of the battle that took place 150 years ago this summer


Unsure of copyright, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
USS ALASKA said:
ON CEMETERY RIDGE
At the Battle of Gettysburg, 'moments seemed like ages,' according to Rochester graduates who were there.
Bob Marcotte

Rochester at the Turning Point. For three days in July 1863, the fields outside Gettysburg, Pa., were "ground zero" for some of the defining moments of the Civil War. And Rochester graduates and students were there. Capt. Winfield Scott and his classmate Lt. Col. Francis Pierce were joined by another Rochester graduate, Capt. John Ronald Leslie, and an undergraduate, Lt. Samuel Porter, in the Union ranks on Cemetery Ridge when the Union repelled the 12,000-soldier onslaught of Pickett's Charge, the failed assault that marked the high tide of the Confederacy. At least seven Rochester alumni, students, and former students were at Gettysburg. They were among about 85 Rochester students and alumni who fought for the Union during the Civil War.

University alumni, students, or former students enlisted in at least 12 of the Union regiments that fought at Gettysburg. Their own accounts and those of their contemporaries put them in the thick of the fighting on all three days and in nearly every key part of the battle that took place 150 years ago this summer


Unsure of copyright, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Click to expand...
The author apparently missed Chaplain Norman Fox - my own list shows eight University of Rochester alumni at Gettysburg:

John Ronald Leslie, Captain, B/80 NY – wounded 2 July. Graduated 1856.
Francis Edwin Pierce, Lieutenant Colonel, 108 NY – present. Graduated 1859.
Samuel Porter, Captain, F/108 NY – wounded. Attended 1859-1862.
Winfield Scott, Captain, 126 NY – present. Graduated 1859.
Elwell Stephen Otis, Captain, 140 NY – present. Graduated 1858.
Porter Farley, Captain, G/140 NY, Acting Adjutant – present. Attended 1857-1861.
Norman Fox, Jr., Chaplain, 77 NY – present. Graduated 1855.
Abel Godard, Colonel, 60 NY – present. Graduated 1859.

Possibly present was Russell Mumford Tuttle, 2nd Lieutenant, 107 NY, who attended in 1862 before leaving to join the army.
 
US ARMY WAR COLLEGE CARLISLE BARRACKS
Individual Study Project
7 April 1986
Unclassified Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

A Terrain Study of the Gettysburg Battlefield
Theodore W. Howard

ABSTRACT
Many historians have studied and restudied the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. As a result, numerous conclusions have been reached based upon Confederate and Union force structure, tactics utilized, weapons capabilities, and individual personalities as to the outcome of the battle. Little investigation has centered on terrain and its possible effect on military planning and operations during the battle. This study is an attempt to set the stage with respect to depicting the terrain as it existed during the 1860's. Data were gathered using map and aerial photographic analysis, literature search, personal interviews, and quantitative models. Terrain data bases consisting of surface configuration (slope), drainage, surface materials (soils), vegetation, and lines of communication were prepared in order to derive the potential effect of terrain conditions on military operations during the battle. In addition, mapping capabilities which existed during the period were also examined for its utility in planning and conducting the battle. The results of the study are not conclusive, but surely the effective utilization of terrain had a clear, recognizable impact on the outcome.


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 

Attachments

GEORGE G. MEADE AND HIS ROLE IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN
WARREN W. HASSLER, JR.

THERE is probably no other battle," writes General Francis A. Walker, "of which men are so prone to think and speak without a conscious reference to the commanding general of the victorious party, as they are regarding Gettysburg."' Why, it might be asked, does this curious phenomenon exist regarding the commander of the triumphant Union Army of the Potomac, Major General George Gordon Meade?

It is true that Meade might have won more decisively
by taking the offensive. He wisely decided, at an hour
when defeat would have meant disaster to the Federal
cause, that a victory in hand, even though it did not
destroy his adversary, was preferable to risking his own
badly battered army further, when there was nothing
in the history of Lee's generalship or that of the Army
of Northern Virginia which gave much promise that by
a frontal attack that army could be captured or destroyed.
Probably the preservation of the [Union] depended a
great deal at this hour on Meade's conservatism. He had
the sense to recognize that after three days of fighting,
he possessed, not striking power, but position.


After reading this, I'm getting vague, 'General George Meade = Admiral Raymond Spruance' vibes...

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 

Attachments

USS ALASKA said:
GEORGE G. MEADE AND HIS ROLE IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN
WARREN W. HASSLER, JR.

THERE is probably no other battle," writes General Francis A. Walker, "of which men are so prone to think and speak without a conscious reference to the commanding general of the victorious party, as they are regarding Gettysburg."' Why, it might be asked, does this curious phenomenon exist regarding the commander of the triumphant Union Army of the Potomac, Major General George Gordon Meade?

It is true that Meade might have won more decisively
by taking the offensive. He wisely decided, at an hour
when defeat would have meant disaster to the Federal
cause, that a victory in hand, even though it did not
destroy his adversary, was preferable to risking his own
badly battered army further, when there was nothing
in the history of Lee's generalship or that of the Army
of Northern Virginia which gave much promise that by
a frontal attack that army could be captured or destroyed.
Probably the preservation of the [Union] depended a
great deal at this hour on Meade's conservatism. He had
the sense to recognize that after three days of fighting,
he possessed, not striking power, but position.


After reading this, I'm getting vague, 'General George Meade = Admiral Raymond Spruance' vibes...

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Click to expand...
Thanks. This was a good and concise review of the topic. Given the lack of respect for Meade's proper place in history, there is something to say about 'blowing your own horn'. Since I couldn't get a horse to know what Meade saw, I used a bike attempting to mimic Meade's movements especially the 2nd day. But even without my absurd efforts to be in his boots, I Feel his presence made all the difference in reinforcements being at the right place and at the right time. The man was everywhere!
You can question stripping Culps Hill but not the results. I hold the man in the highest esteem.

**** USS ALASKA, You may have seen this. An interesting read.
 
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