Trapped in the Cut - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 50.294 W 077° 14.864
18S E 307673 N 4412220
Another beautiful and informative interpretive that gives visitors a complete story of what happened here in 1863. The entire collection of signs is a work of art and compliments the battlefield nicely.
Waymark Code: WMAHYK
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 01/18/2011
Views: 18
The monument is 700 feet north of the Lincoln Highway and on the right side of the road next to the Wadsworth monument. The marker is horizontal, held in by a thick, black, metal frame and is faced toward the railroad cut.
In the center of the marker is a photo of The railroad cut about 1889, looking east toward Gettysburg. The photographer was standing on the opposite side of the track. At the time of the battle the cut was new, and track had not yet been laid. According to Colonel Dawes, the field in the photo "streamed with men who had been shot."
In the upper right is a portrait of Lt. Col. Rufus R. Dawes, U.S.A., who collected an armful of swords from surrendering Confederate officers in the railroad cut. He had ordered the daring charge in which 180 of the 420 men in his regiment were shot down.
In the lower right is a photo of the Battle flag of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry surrendered in the railroad cut. SOURCE
The marker reads:
"Surrender, or I will fire."
Lt. Col. Rufus R. Dawes, U.S.A.
6th Wisconsin Volunteers
The railroad cut visible in front of you was the scene of a dramatic engagement on the first day of the battle.
On the morning of July 1, a Confederate attack crushed the Union line here, sending the surviving Federals streaming back toward town (to your left). But shortly thereafter, Union units counterattacked, forcing a number of the Southerners to take cover in the railroad cut in front of you.
Despite deadly Confederate fire from the cut, Union infantry led by Lt. Col. Rufus R. Dawes and Col. Edward B. Fowler crossed the turnpike in front of you, climbed the fence there, and charged the cut. Although many were shot in the attempt, the charging Federals reached the edge of the cut and shouted, "Throw down your muskets!" Trapped between the steep slopes, about 230 Confederates surrendered.