Sickle's Witness Tree at Trostle Farm, Gettysburg Battlefield - Gettysburg, PA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 39° 48.119 W 077° 14.587
18S E 307967 N 4408186
This witness tree saw General Sickles establish his headquarters and the 9th Massachusetts battery make their moves during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Waymark Code: WMMW0E
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 11/11/2014
Views: 4
Near Gettysburg, within the Gettysburg National Historic Battlefield, is this witness tree where General Sickles set up his headquarters.
The tree is by the Trostle Farm barn along United States Avenue. It is off Hancock Avenue, but due to one way roads, you may have to get there via another direction - generally follow the auto audio tour.
The witness tree is a large tree right by the road and across the street from the barn. It is a roughly round tree with branches reaching across the road. The Gettysburgdaily.com blog identified this tree as a swamp white oak. I can confirm that it is at least an oak of the white variety.
There are no signs about the tree. I found out about this tree, first from an audio tour that I listened to while there, and then the blog mentioned above.
The tree saw the action of the Battle of Gettysburg, which happened from July 1 through 3, 1863. The location is near a feature called "The Wheatfield," which saw particularly bloody action on the 2nd day of battle. General Sickles set up his headquarters in a nearby house. The blog has images that include sketches and a photograph that show this tree in view. The tree today looks different than the tree in the images, probably since the tree is now 150 years older.
As a conservative estimate, I put down 175 years as the age of the tree (150 years since the battle took place + 25 years as a minimum age for a mature tree).
Other Sources:
Civil War Wikie (Trostle Farm, Gettysburg):
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visit link)
Eveningsun.com (Witness Trees provide last living link to battle):
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visit link)