You Are Where Longstreet Attacked the Federals - Gettysburg, PA - 'You Are Here' Maps on Waymarking.com

This beautiful collection of markers are usually roadside and in some cases, trailside especially when they are telling a story that happened in the rocky terrain that is Gettysburg. This marker is an oblong rectangular one, held landscape style of a thick, metal bracket. The interpretive is angled forward for easy viewing and is about 4 feet or so off of the ground. This marker also has a map inset with the all-important You Are Here component to allow visits to fix their relative location to the other points of interest about the battlefield. These markers were produced and installed by the Gettysburg National Military Park. I am unsure from where the funds originated or if this was a federal or local initiative.

The marker is located on South Confederate Avenue, on the left or east side of the road when traveling south and is in the Warfield Ridge section, at stop seven of the driving tour of the Gettysburg National Military Park. This site is an interesting location marked by scored of tablets, markers, monuments and memorials. This part of South Confederate Avenue is like the bottom handle of a soup ladle, where the curve of the ladle meets up with the handle; that is where this marker is located. The road then continues to swoop down in an arc, then up again and like a sine wave then repeats itself again for another complete period, ending up at Little Round Top where there are several more of these interpretives and an impressive array of monuments. There is ample parking along the side of the road at intermittent should cutouts. This area is tough to park as there is low visibility due to the curve in the road. Make sure to never park on anything green or greenish as you will be ticket by park police. This marker is just inches form the asphalt so you really do not have to leave the car to read or photograph it. I visited this monument on Saturday, March 10, 2012 @ 4:50 PM, just before the clocks were set ahead an hour for Spring. I was at an approximate height of 584 feet, ASL.

The marker reads:

"General Longstreet was delayed by a force occupying the high, rocky hill on the enemy's extreme left...."
General Robert E. Lee, C.S.A.
Commander, Army of Northern Virginia

After an early morning reconnaissance, General Lee made plans for the battle's second day. He would attack the Union line at both ends - a diversionary attack on the northern end at Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill, and a major attack here at the southern end that would "roll up" the Federal left.

Corps commander on this end of the field was Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, Lee's "old war horse." However it took Longstreet several hours to maneuver his 15,000 troops into position, using routes that would conceal them from Union lookouts on Little Round Top. The Confederate infantry assault did not begin until 4:00 p.m.

In the meantime, the Union Third Corps under Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles had moved - without orders - to the high ground along the Emmitsburg Road, west of Little Round Top. Maj. Gen. John B. Hood's Confederate Division, which compromised Longstreet's right, swept out of the woods behind you and over the fields in front of you against Sickles' artillery and infantry. If successful, they could seize the strategic, yet undefended Round Tops.

(References to key points in the photo of the landscape):
(1) Little Round Top
The Federals occupied this rocky hill moments before Longstreet's Confederates struck. With its natural defenses and commanding view, it became a strong anchor for the Union line. Little Round Top is one mile from here.

(2) Big Round Top
The Federals left this wooded hill undefended until the evening of the second day.