Spangler Meadow From A. L. Cobel's Position

Gettysburg Greg

First Sergeant
Joined
Jun 6, 2010
Location
Decatur, Illinois
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Many of you are familiar with the A L Cobel carving on a rock where he was positioned on the lower slope of Culp's Hill on July 2 & 3, 1863. Looking out across the Spangler meadow, Cobel and his fellow North Carolinians had a perfectly open field of fire on the 27th Indiana as they made their ill-advised charge across the open ground on the morning of the 3rd. I took the photo below from Cobel's position to show the view he and his comrades had of the meadow. The Hoosiers began their charge from the right side of the frame only making it as far as the advance marker (see arrow) before being halted by the rifle fire from Cobel's position as well as "Extra" Billy Smith's men who were hidden behind a stone wall out of frame to the left. The Hoosiers lost one third of their men in this attack that lasted only minutes.
 
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Great topic. Far too many people only spend time at Spangler's Spring and miss out on these nearby (and more interesting) areas.


Stone wall where the confederates sheltered behind. This stone wall is just a short walk down East Confederate Avenue from the Spangler's Spring parking area.

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This is the view A.L Coble had during the Union attack. This is the rock pile where his carving is located. Note the 27th furthest advance marker peaking through the grass on the left center of the photo (follow the crack and look above and to the right to find it). You can see how the 27th may of started to show their flank from this position during their charge. The stone wall is to the left of this photo (east side).
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Coble' carving made 50 years after the battle. Located on the backside of the rock above.

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This is the detail written on the 27th advance marker. Tom Elmore has previously stated on a prior similar post that the time stated may be incorrect. In the upper left of the photo, you can see the rock pile which is the Coble hid behind and later made his carving. You can see the remnants of the stone wall to the right of the larger rock pile, East Confederate Avenue is directly in front of the stone wall. Hopefully these photos allow you to easily find these areas on your next Gettysburg visit.


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Stone wall where the confederates sheltered behind. This stone wall is just a short walk down East Confederate Avenue from the Spangler's Spring parking area.

Coble' carving made 50 years after the battle. Located on the backside of the rock above.

To my pleasure, I discovered that you can follow that wall all the way to Rock Creek.

Also, I was surprised how much difficulty I had trying to find the Coble carving. I had expected it to be more obvious.
 
The Confederates, like Coble, who sought cover among the rocks in this vicinity had to contend with the 2nd Massachusetts in their right front at the same time. The 2nd Massachusetts men preceded the 27th Indiana by roughly seven minutes (my calculation) because, while changing front in the woods to face north, the right of the 27th collided with the left of the 13th New Jersey, which was pulling back at the same time. So the Confederates (namely the 1st North Carolina and part of the 2nd Virginia) had several minutes to batter the isolated 2nd Massachusetts. Meanwhile, the delay also proved disastrous to the Federals because it coincided with Smith's arrival (49th Virginia leading) behind that stone wall, just in the nick of time to add considerable firepower to demolish the 27th Indiana.

The Confederates, feeling very confident at that point, went over the wall on a counterattack, but were in turn repulsed thanks mainly to the 3rd Wisconsin and the left of the 13th New Jersey, who had been left behind. So a lot of casualties from both sides occurred in that small swale within a twenty minute period.
 
To my pleasure, I discovered that you can follow that wall all the way to Rock Creek.

Also, I was surprised how much difficulty I had trying to find the Coble carving. I had expected it to be more obvious.

Yes, that is a nice way to get to Rock Creek in the non snake season. Mix weeds, rocks and water and you never know what you will see going down to the creek along that wall.

The Coble carving can be tough to find for newbies. This last spring when I took the pictures I posted, I had a friend of mine and took him to the carving. I told him to look for it and he didn't see it despite standing right by it. There was no fresh chalk highlighting the carving. Without the chalk, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find it. The right side of the carving in particular is getting real tough to see.

Indeed, thanks to Greg for posting his photos. One of his older posts on this area motivated me to revisit this spot. Plus Tom's and others commentary really helps me cement the details into my brain.
 
This thread reminded me of another off the beaten path site near the sites being discussed. In looking at an old map of the area (posted below), there appears to have been a lane starting from the intersection of the stone wall at Slocum Ave., continuing over East Confederate Ave. north of the Coble Rock, and then passing over Rock Creek to the Z. Taney Farm. I looked for the crossing point on a recent visit and there appears to be an old bridge pier where the map shows the crossing. This is about 40 or 50 yards upstream from the point where the rock wall at the edge of Spangler's Meadow reaches Rock Creek. You can also find the site by following the mowed path down to 28th PA monument that is near the creek, cross the old pipe fencing behind it, and then follow the bank of Rock Creek downstream.

Map scanned from page 32 of "99 Historic Photographs of Culp's Hill," Center for Civil War Photography (original source listed as "Pennsylvania at Gettysburg"). Red lines are my markings to show the existing stone walls and the old road trace.

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Modern photo (as of Nov. 2017) of crossing point, with my arrow indicating what appears to me to be part of the foundation of an old bridge support.

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On the east bank of Rock Creek, there is a discernible path through the woods leading up to the Z. Taney farm just slightly downstream from this crossing (approximately where the line of stepping stones appears in the lower right corner of my photo).

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