The Baraboo news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1884-1911, 1909-04-22
GETTYSBURG BATTLE FIELD.
P. Writes of Place Where Great Decisive Battle
Was Fought.

To the Baraboo News: On a bright,
sunny morning, just cool enough for
an autumn day, in company with my
nephew, Millard F. Wilfong, and an
old veteran of the Missouri cavalry,
Robert O. Groves, 1 started for theGet-
tysburg battle field. In listening to
the war experience of Groves, of how
he helped to pay back in kind, to the
Missouri border ruffians, what they
dealt to the Union people before and
during the war, and viewing the seem
cry along the Reading railroad, roman
tic in the extreme, we arrived at Get
tysburg at 2 O'Clock p. m. and sought
quarters at one of the hotels. After
dinner we called at the Pitzer House,
the place where guides are procured,
and secured the services of DIR. p. w.
Stevenson, one of the best, if not the
best, guides of the battle field. He
was once practicing physician in
Kansas City, but on account of ill
health he returned to Gettysburg and
has since put in his spare time in guild
ing parties over the field. He has
made study of the reports of the bat
tie from both Union and Confederate
sources, for the past 13 years, and is
fully competent to give the history of
that conflict, the number and different
positions of the troops, on both sides,
on the different days Of the battle,
from the firing of the first gun to the
retreat of Lees army. When asked
by the doctor what part of the field we
wished to start for, [ told him to take
US to the place occupied by the Penn
sylvania Reserves. 81 will know the
place." said I, "when we reach the
field"
The battlefield is situated some four
miles east of the city, and is approach
ed in one way by the Chambersburg
road. On nearing the ground had
no trouble in recognizing what had
once been our scene of action. "Here,"
said the doctor, sis where the Reserves
charged over the wheat field and took
good many prisoners" "But where
is the stone wall over which we drove
the enemy?" l asked. "That," said
the doctor, "has been removed. see
you know the place." We alighted
from the carriage and led the men
across the field to the DEVILS Den, and
along the bottom of little Round Top,
from whence the Buck Tails drove the
enemy on the afternoon of the third
days battle. will say here, for the
benefit of my readers, of this locality,
that the big Round Top is a small
mountain; in fact, the whole country
around is mountainous. The little
Round Top is much lower in height,
we'll covered with boulders, much re-
sembling one of the bluffs at Devils
lake. There was barely space enough
to roll battery, but which the boys
did, dragging it to the top with their
hands. General Warren, standing on
large boulder, ordered the battery
there, and he stands on the same boul-
der today in bronze, and the same bat
terry stands there today in position.
Near this, we rested after the final en-
gagement. Standing at the second
stone wall, over which we had driven
the enemy, viewed again the wheat
stubble field, where, in command of
the pickets, [ lay all night and until
4 O'Clock the next afternoon, under
that hot July sun, during which time
we enjoyed the music of that famous
artillery duel, when 100 pieces on each
side were belching forth their fire, the
shot and shell passing harmlessly over
US. Dusk closing in on US, we left the
field to continue our viewing on the
morrow.
There is now good road to the sum-
NIT of big Round Top, which we as
cended in conveyance, and on the