Gettysburg Battlefield The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1 – 3 , 1863 , military engagement s of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg , Pennsylvania . Locations of military engagements extend from the 4 acre ( 0 . 02 km ) site of the first shot at Knoxlyn Ridge on the west of the borough , to East Cavalry Field on the east . A military engagement prior to the battle was conducted at the Gettysburg Railroad trestle over Rock Creek , which was burned on June 27 . Geography . Within of the Maryland / Pennsylvania state line , the Gettysburg is situated in the Gettysburg - Newark Basin of the Pennsylvania Piedmont entirely within the Potomac River Watershed near the Marsh and Rock creeks ' triple point with the Susquehanna River Watershed ( near Oak Hill ) occupying an area 3 . 33 miles x 5 . 33miles ( 6 . 25 km x 10 . 25 km ) . Military engagements occurred within and around the borough of Gettysburg ( 1863 pop . 2 , 400 ) , which remains the population center for the battlefield area at the intersections of roads that connect the borough with 10 nearby Pennsylvania and Maryland towns ( e . g . , antebellum turnpikes to Chambersburg , York , and Baltimore . ) Topography . The battle began on the west at Lohr ' s , Whistler ' s , School - House , and Knoxlyn ridges between Cashtown and Gettysburg . Nearer to Gettysburg , dismounted Union cavalry defended McPherson ' s Ridge and Herr ' s Ridge , and eventually infantry support arrived to defend Seminary Ridge at the borough ' s west side . Oak Ridge , a northward extension of both McPherson Ridge and Seminary Ridge , is capped by Oak Hill , a site for artillery that commanded a good area north of the town . Prior to Pickett ' s Charge , " " 159 guns stretching in a long line from the Peach Orchard to Oak Hill were to open simultaneously " " . Directly south of the town is the gently - sloped Cemetery Hill named for the 1854 Evergreen Cemetery on its crest and where the 1863 Gettysburg Address dedicated the Gettysburg National Cemetery . Eastward are Culp ' s Hill and Steven ' s Knoll . Cemetery Hill and Culp ' s Hill were subjected to assaults throughout the battle by Richard S . Ewell ' s Second Corps . Cemetery Ridge extends about south from Cemetery Hill . Southward from Cemetery Hill is Cemetery Ridge of only about 40 feet ( 12 m ) above the surrounding terrain . The ridge includes The Angle ' s stone wall and the copse of trees at the High - water mark of the Confederacy during Pickett ' s Charge . The southern end of Cemetery Ridge is Weikert Hill , north of Little Round Top . The two highest battlefield points are at Round Top to the south with the higher round summit of Big Round Top , the lower oval summit of Little Round Top , and a saddle between . The Round Tops are rugged and strewn with large boulders ; as is Devil ' s Den to the west . [ Big ] Round Top , known also to locals of the time as Sugar Loaf , is higher than its Little companion . Its steep slopes are heavily wooded , which made it unsuitable for siting artillery without a large effort to climb the heights with horse - drawn guns and clear lines of fire ; Little Round Top was unwooded , but its steep and rocky form made it difficult to deploy artillery in mass . However , Cemetery Hill was an excellent site for artillery , commanding all of the Union lines on Cemetery Ridge and the approaches to them . Little Round Top and Devil ' s Den were key locations for General John Bell Hood ' s division in Longstreet ' s assault during the second day of battle , July 2 , 1863 . The Plum Run Valley between Houck ' s Ridge and the Round Tops earned the name " Valley of Death " on that day . Borough areas of military engagements . The area of military engagements during the battle included the majority of the 1863 town area and the current borough area . The broadest regions of borough military engagements are the combat area of the Union retreat while being pursued on July 1 , as well as the burg ' s area over which artillery rounds were fired . Confederate artillery fired from Oak Hill southeastward onto the retreated Union line extending east - to - west from Culp ' s Hill to the west side of Cemetery Hill , and Union artillery on Cemetery Hill fired on the railway cut ( including Wiedrich ' s battery ~ 5 pm ) . Smaller engagements in the town included those with some federals remaining in / near structures after the retreat ( e . g . , wounded soldiers not willing to surrender ) . The largest engagement within the current borough was at Coster Avenue ( north of the 1863 town ) in which Early ' s division defeated Coster ' s brigade . The town was generally held by the Confederate provost and used by snipers after the dawn of July 2 ( e . g . , a brickyard behind the McCreary House , the John Rupp Tannery on Baltimore St , and a church belfry ) . A Confederate skirmish line at Breckenridge Street faced Federals on Cemetery Hill , and ~ 7 pm July 1 , " the Confederate line of battle had been formed on East and West Middle Streets " . History . At the close of the battle , some of the ~ 22 , 000 wounded remained on the battlefield and were subsequently treated at the outlying Camp Letterman hospital or nearby field hospitals , houses , churches , and other buildings . Dead soldiers on the battlefield totalled 8 , 900 ; and contractors such as David Warren were hired to bury men and animals ( the majority near where they fell ) . Samuel Weaver oversaw all of these reburials . The first excursion train arrived with battlefield visitors on July 5 . On July 10 , Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin visited Gettysburg and expressed the state ' s interest in finding its veterans , and attorney David Wills arranged for the purchase of of Cemetery Hill battlefield land for a cemetery . On August 14 , 1863 , attorney David McConaughy recommended a preservation association to sell membership stock for battlefield fundraising . By September 16 , 1863 , battlefield protection had begun with McConaughy ' s purchase of " the heights of Cemetery Hill and " Little Round Top , and his total purchased area of included Culp ' s Hill land . On November 19 , 1863 , Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers ' National Cemetery , which was completed in March 1864 with the last of 3 , 512 Union reburied . From 1870 to 1873 , upon the initiative of the Ladies Memorial Association s of Richmond , Raleigh , Savannah , and Charleston , 3 , 320 bodies were disinterred and sent to cemeteries in those cities for reburial , 2 , 935 being interred in Hollywood Cemetery , Richmond . Seventy - three bodies were reburied in home cemeteries . The cemetery was transferred to the United States government May 1872 , , and the last Battle of Gettysburg body was reburied in the national cemetery after being discovered in 1997 . Union Gettysburg veteran Emmor Cope was detailed to annotate the battlefield ' s troop positions and his " " Map of the Battlefield of Gettysburg from the original survey made August to October , 1863 " " was displayed at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition . Also in 1863 , John B . Bachelder escorted convalescing officers at Gettysburg to identify battlefield locations ( during the next winter he interviewed Union officers about Gettysburg ) . Memorial association era . The 1864 Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association ( GBMA ) added to McConaughy ' s land holdings and operated a wooden observation tower on East Cemetery Hill from 1878 – 95 . Post - war , John Bachelder invited over 1 , 000 officers , including 49 generals , to revisit the field with him . Bachelder also produced a battlefield survey with 1880 federal funds ( initiated by Senator Wade Hampton III , a Confederate general ) . The GBMA approved and disapproved various monuments and in 1888 planted trees at Zeigler ' s Grove . The 1st battlefield monument was an 1867 marble urn in the National Cemetery dedicated to the 1st Minnesota Infantry , and the 1st memorial outside of the cemetery was the 1878 Strong Vincent tablet on Little Round Top . By May 1887 there were 90 regimental and battery monuments on the battlefield , and the first bronze monument on the battlefield was Reynolds ' 1872 statue in the cemetery . The only two Confederate monuments inside the Union areas of battle held are an 1887 plaque near The Angle commemorating Gen Armistead ' s farthest advance on July 3 and the 1884 2nd Maryland Infantry monument on Culp ' s Hill . The battlefield was used by the 1884 Camp Gettysburg and other summer encampments of the PA National Guard . Commercial development in the 19th century included the 1884 Round Top Branch of railroad to Round Top , Pennsylvania , and after March 1892 , Tipton Park operated in the Slaughter Pen — which was at a trolley station of the Gettysburg Electric Railway that operated from 1894 – 1916 . The federal Gettysburg National Park Commission was established on March 3 , 1893 ; after which Congressman Daniel Sickles initiated a May 31 , 1894 , resolution “ " to acquire by purchase ( or by condemnation ) … such lands , or interests in lands , upon or in the vicinity of said battle field " . The memorial association era ended in 1895 when the " Sickles Gettysburg Park Bill " ( 28 Stat . 651 ) designated the Gettysburg National Military Park ( GNMP ) under the War Department . Subsequent battlefield improvements included the October 1895 construction of the War Department ' s observation towers to replace the 1878 Cemetery Hill tower and an 1881 Big Round Top tower . Commemorative era . For payment of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association ' s debts of $ 1960 . 46 , on February 4 , 1896 , the War Department acquired 124 GBMA tracts totalling , including 320 monuments and about of roads . Commercial development after Tipton Park was abolished in the fall of 1901 included the July 1902 Hudson Park picnic grove north of Little Round Top ( including a boxing arena ) . A dancing pavilion was erected at the Round Top Museum in 1902 , and in the saddle area between the Round Tops , David Weikert operated an eating house moved from Tipton Park after it was seized in 1901 by eminent domain . Landscape preservation began in 1883 when peach trees were planted in the Peach Orchard , and 20 , 000 battlefield trees were planted in 1906 ( trees are periodically removed from battlefield areas that had been logged prior to the battle . ) Battlefield visitors through the early 20th century typically arrived by train at the borough ' s 1884 Gettysburg & Harrisburg RR Station or the 1859 Gettysburg Railroad Station and used horse - drawn jitneys to tour the battlefield . The borough licensed automobile taxis first in 1913 , and the War Department expanded the battlefield roads throughout the commemorative era . Early 20th century battlefield excursions included those by " The Hod Carriers Consolidated Union of Baltimore " and the annual " Topton Day " autumn folliage tours from near Berks County , Pennsylvania . Veterans reunions included the 1888 25th battle anniversary , a 1906 ceremony to return Gen Armistead ' s sword to the South . and 53 , 407 civil war veterans attending the 1913 Gettysburg reunion for the 50th anniversary . The battlefield had a 1912 airfield at Camp Stuart and a WWI Tank Corps center at Brevet Lt . Col . Dwight D . Eisenhower ' s 1918 Camp Colt , and excursions to the Round Top Park brought alcohol and prostitution . The 1922 Camp Harding included a Marine Corps reenactment of Pickett ' s Charge observed by President Warren Harding and a next - day simulation of the same attack with modern weapons and tactics . The battlefield ' s commemorative era ended in 1927 , and use of the national park for military camps continued under an 1896 federal law ( 29 Stat . 120 ) , e . g . , a 1928 artillery and cavalry camp was held at Culp ' s Hill in conjunction with President Calvin Coolidge ' s Memorial Day address in the cemetery ' s rostrum . Development era . In 1933 , administration of the GNMP transferred to the 1916 National Park Service ( NPS ) , which initiated Great Depression projects including 1933 Civil Works Administration improvements , and 2 Civilian Conservation Corps camps were subsequently built for battlefield maintenance and construction projects . After a 1933 comfort station had been built at The Pennsylvania State Memorial , similar stone Parkitecture structures were built ( the west ranger station was completed May 21 , 1937 ) , and in April 1938 , the Works Progress Administration added battlefield parking areas . Numerous commercial facilities were also developed on private battlefield land , particularly during the 1950s " Golden Age of Capitalism " in the United States ( e . g . , motels , eateries , & visitor attractions ) . The battlefield ' s 2nd largest monument , the Eternal Light Peace Memorial , was accepted by President Franklin D . Roosevelt and unveiled at the 1938 Gettysburg reunion that attracted over 300 , 000 battlefield visitors . In 1939 , the 1st of the Gettysburg National Museum ' s 14 expansions was completed ( the electric map auditorium was added in 1963 and closed April 13 , 2008 ) . Pitzer Woods was the site of the WWII Camp Sharpe , and McMillan Woods had a German POW camp ( the latter was used for post - war housing of migrant workers for local production ) . Heads - of - state at the battlefield included a 1943 Winston Churchill auto tour with President Roosevelt , President Eisenhower escorting President Charles De Gaulle ( 1960 ) , and President Jimmy Carter hosting President Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin ( 1978 ) . The 1956 Mission 66 plan for the 1966 NPS 50th anniversary included restoring battlefield houses , resurfacing of avenues , replacing the railway cut bridge , and restoring the 1884 Gettysburg Cyclorama . 1962 – present . As the Mission 66 Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg with a new battlefield observation deck was being completed in 1962 , the nearby 1896 Zeigler ' s Grove observation tower was removed ( the 1895 Big Round Top observation tower was removed in 1968 ) . In 1967 , the NPS purchased the 1921 Gettysburg National Museum , which the NPS operated from 1971 - 2008 . Also in 1971 , the NPS acquired Round Top Station and the Round Top Museum , using the latter as an environmental resource center until demolished 1982 . The private Gettysburg National Tower of was completed in 1974 to provide several observation levels for viewing the battlefield , but was purchased under eminent domain and demolished in 2000 . In the Devil ' s Den area , trees were removed in 2007 , and the comfort station was razed April 8 , 2010 . Similarly , the Gettysburg National Museum was demolished in 2008 . In 2008 , the Gettysburg National Military Park had 1 , 320 monuments , 410 cannon , 148 historic buildings , 2½ observation towers , and of avenues , roads , and lanes ; ( 8 unpaved ) . " one of the largest collections of outdoor sculpture in the world . " In February 2013 the landmark modernist Cyclorama Building and Visitor Center , designed by renowned architect Richard Neutra , was destroyed . The 19th century Gettysburg Cyclorama depicting the battlefield had previously been removed for restoration , and was reinstalled in the new rustic style Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center . The Gettysburg National Military Park receives an annual 3 million visitors per year , with an increase expected to 4 million in 2013 as part of the Battle ' s sesquicentennial .