Big Round Top
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Big Round Top (also called Round Top or Sugar Loaf) is the dominating terrain feature on the southern part of the Gettysburg Battlefield in Adams County, Pennsylvania. It is adjacent to a smaller hill, Little Round Top, the scene of furious combat during the Second Day of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg.
Big Round Top is approximately 2 miles south of Gettysburg, with a rugged, steep slope that is 246 feet above the surrounding Plum Run Valley. The crest is 785 feet above sea level. Big Round Top is the southern extremity of the 3-mile long York Haven Diabase sill running from Culp's Hill (625 feet) in the north through Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and the Round Tops in the south. These sandstone and granite ridges and hills formed the essence of the Union "fishhook" defensive line on July 2 to July 4, 1863. The Round Tops were privately owned at the time of the battle. Big Round Top was heavily forested and covered with numerous large boulders and rock outcroppings, which made maneuvering military formations difficult at best, and precluded the positioning of any artillery on its crest.
Nevertheless, Confederate Colonel William C. Oates led two regiments of Evander Law's Alabama brigade across the slopes of Big Round Top during his famous assault on the lines of Joshua L. Chamberlain's 20th Maine Infantry on July 2, 1863. Oates' men had been ordered to attack Union troops occupying Devil's Den, but they were forced to move further to the right toward Big Round Top to escape the concentrated Federal artillery fire coming from the Wheatfield and Peach Orchard. Oates had sent off a detachment to locate water for his thirsty men as they climbed the rugged slopes of Big Round Top, but the water bearers became lost in the dense underbrush and woods, and did not rejoin Oates until after the battle. Hence, his two regiments attacked Chamberlain with many soldiers suffering from heat exhaustion and extreme thirst in the hot, humid July weather.
After the fighting ended on July 2, the V Corps brigade of Joseph Fisher occupied a line across the western slope of Big Round Top, facing Oates' tired remnants that were positioned further down the hill. Col. Chamberlain's depleted Maine regiment was sent in the evening to the crest of Big Round Top to recuperate and rest. A small monument now marks their lines.
On July 3, a sharp skirmish occurred in an open D-shaped field on the western slope of Big Round Top. Newly appointed Brig. Gen. Elon J. Farnsworth led his cavalry brigade on a sweeping attack at the Confederate right flank, held by the division of Evander M. Law. Farnsworth's attack failed and he and his men circled back towards the Union lines on nearby Bushman Hill. As Farnsworth's column passed through the cleared field on Big Round Top, Confederate infantrymen killed the young general. Although no monument was ever erected for the slain officer, the 1st Vermont Cavalry did dedicate a monument in the field to their Gettysburg actions. (See the main article Battle of Gettysburg, Third Day cavalry battles for more details and a map.)
Following the battle, Big Round Top was a popular spot for early battlefield tourists, as well as for returning Civil War veterans, many of whom carved or painted their initials or graffiti on the rocks on Little and Big Round Tops. There are a handful of surviving examples of these carvings in rocks at the very summit of Big Round Top (photos). However, by 1895, the Gettysburg Battlefield Commission had chiseled or otherwise removed most of these markings. The commission constructed a road across the western slope of Big Round Top to Little Round Top to facilitate visitor access to the sites. The War Department erected a large iron observation tower early in the 20th Century, but it was torn down after World War II for safety reasons.
Today, Big Round Top is one of the most recognizable terrain features in the battlefield park, but it is visited infrequently by tourists compared with Little Round Top. A series of hiking trails circumnavigates the hill, which has a few regimental monuments and battle markers. After over 100 years of being wooded, the "D-shaped" field was cleared in 2004 as part of the National Park Service's General Management Plan to slowly restore portions of the battlefield to approximate the 1863 sightlines.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Adelman, Garry E., Little Round Top: A Detailed Tour Guide, Thomas Publications, 2000, ISBN 1-57747-062-1.
- Brown, Andrew, Geology and the Gettysburg Campaign, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, 1962.
- Pfanz, Harry W., Gettysburg – The Second Day, University of North Carolina Press, 1987, ISBN 0-8078-1749-X.
- National Park Service website for Gettysburg National Military Park
