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 Farnsworth's Cavalry Charge - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 47.130 W 077° 14.790
18S E 307631 N 4406364
The Battle of Gettysburg was a three-day horrific affair & today is told to visitors through beautiful & comprehensive interpretives placed at strategic & often historic locations about the battlefield. Gen. Farnsworth is the subject of this marker.
Waymark Code: WMENTK
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 06/20/2012
Views: 6
This beautiful collection of markers are usually roadside and in some cases, trailside especially when they are telling a story that happened at this 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. 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. There is another similar marker to the left of this one (the two are next to each other) called The Wounded and the Dead.
The marker is located on South Confederate Avenue, on the left or north side of the road when traveling in an easterly direction and is in the Warfield Ridge section. It is a convenient place to stop as there is a wayside pull-off between Bushman Hill and Big Round Top. This site is an interesting location marked by scored of tablets, markers, monuments and memorials. This part of South Confederate Avenue is very curvy, like two soup ladles or a sine wave if you are into math. This location is the beginning of the second period or the apex of the second ladle. The road eventually (not too far away) ends 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 many curves in the road. Make sure to never park on anything green or greenish as you will be ticket by park police. I visited this monument on Saturday, March 10, 2012 @ 5:00 PM, just before the clocks were set ahead an hour for Spring. I was at an approximate height of 545 feet, ASL.
Mostly all of these interpretives begin with an historic quote form one of the military officers or a witness to the battle. These first hand quotes offer a bit of authenticity to the accounts given by these historic markers. The marker reads:
"...each man felt, as he tightened his saber belt, that he was summoned to ride to death."
Capt. H.C. Parsons, U.S.A.
1st Vermont Cavalry, Farnsworth's Brigade
One of the last, and most futile, engagements at Gettysburg occurred here at the end of the third day. Union cavalry commanded by Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick had moved into this area to harass the rear and right of the Confederate line. To the north, the Confederates in Pickett's Charge had been badly beaten, but the Southern position here remained strong.
About 5:00 p.m., Kilpatrick ordered Brig. Gen. Elon J. Farnsworth to lead a cavalry charge against a line of Confederate infantry in the fields and woods surrounding the Slyder Farm in front of you. Farnsworth protested, believing it would be suicidal for cavalry to attack foot soldiers over ground obstructed by fences, boulders, ditches, and timber.
Kilpatrick, who boasted cavalry could "fight anywhere except at sea," would not reconsider. Farnsworth obeyed and rode off with some 300 troopers. Encountering deadly fire on all sides, horsemen were shot from their saddles like ducks in a shooting gallery. General Farnsworth fell on the rugged hillside to your right with five mortal wounds, and, it is said, with his saber raised.
Group that erected the marker: Gettysburg National Military Park
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Gettysburg National Military Park
South Confederate Avenue
Gettysburg, PA USA
17325
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Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.
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