East Cavalry Field - Battle of Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 50.375 W 077° 10.163
18S E 314381 N 4412204
An important battlefield on the outskirts of Gettysburg about as far east as you can get within the town limits. The main road, East Cavalry Field Road is littered with interpretives and monuments which tell the tale of the great battle.
Waymark Code: WMBQAP
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 06/12/2011
Views: 8
The Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War raged for three days in July of 1863 in this small agrarian town. The war had many fronts and battlefields and tis was one of them.
From what I read, this was a very complicated battlefield which had several phases phases, one which occurred in a short amount of time. There was a dismounted phase which took up most of the afternoon in July of 1863. I could not reckon which day it was, whether it be July 1, 2 or 3. Wikipedia pegs it as the third of July in a very nice article about the battle. SOURCE The next phase was a mounted phase which had two parts to that. It was a long and complicated battle which is told in pages and pages of complicated military jargon and impossible strategies. Suffice to say, thousands upon thousands battled here with almost an equal number losing their lives.
One section of Wikipedia states The losses from the 40 intense minutes of fighting on East Cavalry Field were relatively minor: 254 Union casualties, 219 of them from Custer's brigade; 181 Confederate. Although tactically inconclusive, the battle was a strategic loss for Stuart and Robert E. Lee, whose plans to drive into the Union rear were foiled. It is clear after reading many sources on the battlefield, not one in complete agreement on time, length, causalities and victor.
I have used the northern most entrance to the field as the coordinates for the waymark. That is where I started my tour. The tour of the battlefield follows this long and winding road. Parking is always available on the side of the road. Just look for one of the myriad of small dirt cutouts and shoulders.