The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1894-07-28
GETTYSBURG 30 YEARS AFTER.
A Visit to Historic Grounds of the Civil
War.
NJ. H. In Genius of Liberty.

~ Was lovely June evening, I0t
roses shed their rich perfume, and
the vines clambered in dense foliage
over the old walls in the town made
famous by the greatest battle Of the
Civil War. We walked out to the
suburbs, that we might see some OF
the monuments placed as markers
where deeds of daring were done.
Our thoughts went back to those
July days in 1868, when the great
army of the South met the grand
army of the North, and here made
volumes Of history in that great
three days battle We walked the
battle-fe and took our sight.see
ing as the battle was fought. We
looked upon the spot where brave
Reynolds fell, and plucked q tiny
wild flower, as a souvenir of the con.
seerated place.
The many points of interest, now
familiar to the reader of history were
visited, Seminary Ridge and the old
Lutheran Seminary tower gave an
excellent view of the battle field.
and from here, it is said, Lee viewed
the ground whereon the greatest
battle of modern times was to be
fought. From there could be plain
ly seen the fields through which the
flower of the Army of Virginia made
their famous charge, until repulsed
at the Bloody Angle" Another
place of interest was at Cemetery
Ridge, where our brave men fought
in hand to hand conflict with the
foe, and some ofthem were cut down
at their guns by the Louisiana Ii
gers whose valor was unsurpassed
in their desperate charge up that
ridge. One point of vantage the
Confederates made great sacrifice to
reach was Little Roundtop,p and it
was here on the second day that
some of the most desperate fighting
of that awful battle occurred. The
Confederates were sweeping every
thing in their way, until that mag
nificent body of soldiers, the Penn
sylvania Reserve Corps was ordered
to check the advance They threw
themselves on the rebels, and in des-
perate hand to hand conflict drove
them back until they crossed the
"Valley Of DEATH and here where
the little stream ran red with blood,
the darkness gathered over the ar
mics of the North and of the South,
and at the point where rested the
18th Reserves that memorable night,
has been erected a monument to
commemorate that event. Company
"F," Of the 11th Reserves, was from
Uniontown, and no drawer soldiers
wore the blue than the heroes of old
Company Of" who helped to drive
the Southern invaders from Little
Roundtop. Several of the veterans
of that company yet live in Fayette
county. Many have answered to
their last reveille and no beat of
drufa or call of bugle will ever sum
mon them again to action
After a forced march Of forty
miles these brave boys arrived ON
the second day of battle, and weary
and hungry, were at once ordered
into action to save the Federal posi-
ton at Little Roundtop. and prevent
the Coafederates from obtaining
position from which they could have
tlanked the Union.
Well was it to name that little
vale the valley of death, for there
the dead and dying we're piled high
in the desperate onslaught for that
vantage ground.
We walked down the valley to the
Devils Den, at which point the Con
federate sharpshooters were massed
to pick off the Union gunners on
Little Roundtop, and the rocky for
tress was natural place of defense
for those holding it, These sharp
shooters did great execution until
Berdan's sharpsiooters of the FEEDER
al army, were ordered to pick them
off, and how well they succeeded in
doing so, was afterwards evidenced
by finding more than a dozen of the
rebel sharpshooters dead in one lit
tie crevice between the stones at
DEVILS Den.
1t did not seem possible that this
quiet glen and peaceful vale had on
ly 80 years ago been the scene of
such carnage, for now the birds
sang their carols, and the little riv-
ulet at our feet found it's way peace
fully along, kissing the grass and
believing the offering of flowers that
bedecked the soil where so MANY
brave men had offered their life's
blood on their country's altar.
Such is the change which has
come over the fields of Gettysburg.
The "Peach Orchard" has been
thrice replanted, and was full of
peaches, but the "Wheat Field" was
no longer filed with golden grain.
We turned our footsteps home
ward, and the realization of how
much was sacrificed that the Repub.
lie might not be discovered, came to
US more impressively than ever be-
fore, and our pride was justly elated
that our own Uniontown and Fay
cite county boys did so much to
make the battle of Gettysburg a I'm
ion victory, and that some of them
were members of that magnificent
body of soldiers, whose fame has
been immortalized as the "Pennsvl