The Valley of Death - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 47.534 W 077° 14.200
18S E 308492 N 4407090
The story of Gettysburg is told to visitors through beautiful & comprehensive interpretives placed at strategic & historic locations about the battlefield. The marker's subject is of the horrifying scene of death which once was before you.
Waymark Code: WMENX1
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 06/20/2012
Views: 15
This beautiful collection of markers are usually roadside and in some cases, trail-side (paved mostly) especially when they are telling a story that happened at this rocky terrain that is Gettysburg. This marker is definitely trail-side, 166 feet away from the road, along side a dusty and sometimes *rocky trail (*if you leave the paved access pass which you most certainly have to do if you want to see the monuments up close and personal), filled with interpretives and huge monuments. This marker is an oblong, rectangular one, held landscape style in a thick, metal bracket, doubling as a orientation table. The marker, using a panoramic photo, indicates various positions of importance during the great battle so the visitor might orient themselves to the westward view. A You Are Here feature makes this task of "finding yourself" even more easier. Red numbers correspond to the references in the text. Significant clearing of wooded areas around the Devil's Den now offers a better view of that part of the battlefield than was able when the marker's photo was taken. The clearing is part of an ongoing park project to restore the historical wood lines. SOURCE
This marker is an oblong, rectangular one, held landscape style in a thick, metal bracket, doubling as a orientation table. The interpretive is angled forward for easy viewing and is about 4 feet or so off of the ground, and on the left edge of the paved path (not a dirt trail) as you snake your way north along through the Little Round Top pass. I really loved this area. The trail opens up into a patio or look out of sorts where large amounts of people gathered to read this and the other two interpretives lined up in a nice row and no doubt to take in the majestic view of the battlefield at sundown. Starting to the left and moving to the right, this marker is in the center of the three. 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 Sykes Avenue, on the left or west side of the road when traveling north and is in the Little Round Top section, stop eight of the driving tour of the Gettysburg National Military Park. There is an obvious trailhead which stats off of Sykes Avenue that will let visitors wind their way through the mountain pass. This site is an interesting location marked by scores of tablets, markers, monuments, memorials with lots of large boulders and rocky outcroppings good for scrambling upon to get better looks at the monuments and the amazing western view. There is ample parking along the side of the road at intermittent shoulder cutouts. 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 @ 5:40 PM, just before the clocks were set ahead an hour for Spring. I was at an approximate height of 670 feet, ASL. I highly recommend visiting this site near sundown. The fading light is beautiful and makes for gorgeous pictures.
From the Stone Sentinels site: Union monuments cluster thickly on this strategic hill, a turning point of the battle. The second highest point on the battlefield (after Big Round Top) it offers a magnificent view to the west which can be particularly stunning at sunset. Sykes Avenue runs one-way from near the intersection of Warren Avenue and Wright Avenue, over the east flank of Little Round Top and north to the intersection with Wheatfield Road, where it continues north as Sedgwick Avenue. Parking can be an issue at peak times in spite of a large number of spaces at Little Round Top summit. A small number of parking spaces are also available on Wright and Warren Avenue at the foot of the hill.
Mostly all of these interpretives begin with an historic quote from 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:
"The night of July 2d was bright moonlight but it seemed to me there were spirits flitting from Little Round Top to Devil's Den and back, all night; and as I lay awake, the only sounds I could hear were the groans of the wounded lying between the lines."
1st Lt. Benjamin F. Rittenhouse, U.S.A.
5th U.S. Artillery, Battery D
You are standing on Little Round Top looking west over Plum Run and the Valley of Death. Devil's Den and the Slaughter Pen, each a maze of rock outcrops and boulders, may be seen down the valley to your left.
On the afternoon of the second day of the battle, Union forces seized this strategic high ground which they held for the remainder of the battle. Many officers and men from both sides died in the struggle.
(Numbered list of items noted in the panoramic photo on marker):
(1) Warfield Ridge
This wooded ridge, an extension of Seminary Ridge, helped screen General Longstreet's attacking Confederates from the view of Union lookouts here.
(2) The Slaughter Pen
Men of the 44th and 48th Alabama Infantry fell in great numbers in this rock-strewn area. The photo below was taken by Alexander Gardner on July 6, 1863. The bloated and rain-drenched bodies had not yet been removed by Union burial details.
(3) Devil's Den
Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles positioned the left flank of his Third Corps at this unusual geologic formation, thinking its rugged nature would hinder Confederate troop movements. However, Confederates captured Devil's Den on the afternoon of July 2.
From concealed places among the rocks, Southern snipers and sharpshooters kept the Union soldiers on Little Round Top under fire. The photo below was taken at a Confederate position in Devil's Den three days after the battle.
(4)Houck's Ridge
This low ridge served as a line of defense for General Sickles advanced Union line. It was the scene of desperate fighting on July 2, and finally fell to Confederates of McLaws' and Hood's Divisions late in the afternoon.
(5) The Valley of Death
Many soldiers fell here during the struggle for Little Round Top. Correspondent Whitelaw Reid of the Cincinnati Gazette reported from Gettysburg: "Who shall say that they did not go down into the very Valley of the Shadow of Death that terrible afternoon."
(6) South Mountain
(7) Seminary Ridge
(8) The Peach Orchard
An advanced Union line commanded by Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles formed a salient or projecting angle, here at John Sherfy's peach orchard on July 2. His left extended southeast to Devil's Den, while his right ran north along the Emmitsburg Road. A series of Confederate attacks drove Sickles' men back.
More information found on the marker:
The marker features a panoramic view of the Plum Run valley captioned You are standing on Little Round Top looking west over the Valley of Death. At the bottom of the marker are two wartime photos showing the dead around the Devil's Den.