Cemetery Hill Cemetery Hill is a landform on the Gettysburg Battlefield that was the scene of fighting each day of the Battle of Gettysburg ( July 1 – 3 , 1863 ) . The northernmost part of the Army of the Potomac defensive " fish - hook " line , the hill is gently sloped and provided a site for American Civil War artillery ( cf . the heavily wooded , adjacent Culp ' s Hill ) . Physical description . Cemetery Hill overlooks the main downtown area of Gettysburg from the south , at 503 feet ( 153 m ) above sea level , 80 feet ( 24 m ) above the town center , about 100 feet ( 30 m ) above Winebrenner ' s Run at its base . Its crest extends in a southwest - northeast direction for about . A shallow saddle on the crest about from its northeast slope is the point where the Baltimore Pike crosses the hill and separates East Cemetery Hill from the remainder . The slopes to the north and west rise gradually ; on East Cemetery Hill , the rise is steeper . The hill is crossed by the Baltimore Pike and the Emmitsburg Road , with the Taneytown Road between them . History . The 1858 south boundary for the Gettysburg borough extended southeast from the Emmitsburg Road to the Cemetery Hill summit on the Taneytown Rd , then northeast across the Baltimore Pike summit to the hill ' s base , then northward to Winebrenner Run . On the south slope of Cemetery Hill ( originally named Raffensperger ' s Hill , after farmer Peter Raffensperger , who owned over on the eastern slope ) is the 1854 Evergreen Cemetery and its 1855 gatehouse used as a headquarters during the battle . On June 26 , 1863 , prior to the Battle of Gettysburg , Lt . Col . Elijah V . White ' s Confederate cavalry occupied the hill and captured several horses hidden by local citizens , then departed to York County , Pennsylvania . The Gettysburg Railroad Station telegraph was subsequently moved to Cemetery Hill . The hill remained essentially free of military forces until the arrival of the Army of the Potomac . Battle of Gettysburg , First Day . On July 1 , 1863 , Maj . Gen . Oliver O . Howard left infantry and artillery to hold the hill in case the army needed to fall back from its positions north and west of Gettysburg . Cemetery Hill became the rallying point for retreating Union troops of the I Corps and XI Corps ( from fighting north and northwest of town ) . One of the great controversies of the battle was the failure of Lt . Gen . Richard S . Ewell , and his subordinate , Brig . Gen . William " Extra Billy " Smith , to attack and capture Cemetery Hill . Smith thought Union troops were approaching from the east , which caused Early to delay his attack on the hill to defend against the supposed threat . There proved to be no significant Union troop movements from the east , and Smith was the only brigadier general not commended by Early after the battle . Battle of Gettysburg , Second Day . On July 2 , Confederate General Robert E . Lee ordered attacks on both ends of the Union line . Lt . Gen . James Longstreet attacked with his First Corps on the Union left ( Little Round Top , Devil ' s Den , Wheatfield ) . Lt . Gen . Richard S . Ewell and the Second Corps were assigned the mission of launching a simultaneous demonstration against the Union right , a minor attack that was intended to distract and pin down the Union defenders against Longstreet . Ewell was to exploit any success his demonstration might achieve by following up with a full - scale attack at his discretion . Ewell began his demonstration at 4 p . m . upon hearing the sound of Longstreet ' s guns to the south . For three hours , he chose to limit his demonstration to an artillery barrage from Benner ' s Hill , about a mile ( 1 , 600 m ) to the northeast . Although the Union defenders on Cemetery Hill received some damage from this fire , they returned counterbattery fire with a vengeance . Cemetery Hill is over 50 feet ( 15 m ) taller than Benner ' s Hill , and the geometry of artillery science meant that the Union gunners had a decided advantage . Ewell ' s four batteries were forced to withdraw with heavy losses , and his best artillerist , 19 - year - old Joseph W . Latimer , the " Boy Major " , was mortally wounded . Around 7 p . m . , as the Confederate assaults on the Union left and center were petering out , Ewell chose to begin his main infantry assault . He sent three brigades from the division of Maj . Gen . Edward " Allegheny " Johnson across Rock Creek and up the eastern slope of Culp ' s Hill against a line of breastworks manned by the XII Corps brigade of Brig . Gen . George S . Greene . Greene ' s men held off the Confederate attack for hours , although the attackers were able to establish a foothold in some abandoned Union rifle pits . The fighting on Culp ' s Hill would resume the following day . Not long after the assault on Culp ' s Hill began , as dusk fell around 7 : 30 p . m . , Ewell sent two brigades from the division of Maj . Gen . Jubal A . Early against East Cemetery Hill from the east , and he alerted the division of Maj . Gen . Robert E . Rodes to prepare a follow - up assault against Cemetery Hill proper from the northwest . The two brigades from Early ' s division were commanded by Brig . Gen . Harry T . Hays : his own Louisiana Tigers Brigade and Hoke ' s Brigade , the latter commanded by Col . Isaac E . Avery . They stepped off from a line parallel to Winebrenner ' s Run , a narrow tributary of Rock Creek to the southeast of town . Hays commanded five Louisiana regiments , which together numbered only about 1 , 200 officers and men . Avery had three North Carolina regiments totaling 900 . The brigade of Brig . Gen . John B . Gordon was in support behind Hays and Avery but did not participate in the fighting . Defending East Cemetery Hill were the two brigades ( Cols . Andrew L . Harris and Leopold von Gilsa ) of Brig . Gen . Francis C . Barlow ' s division ( now commanded by Brig . Gen . Adelbert Ames ) of the XI Corps . Both had seen heavy action on July 1 and they consisted of , respectively , 650 and 500 officers and men . Harris ' s men were stationed at a low stone wall on the northern end of the hill and wrapped around onto Brickyard Lane at the base of the hill . ( Brickyard Lane was also known at the time as Winebrenner ' s Lane and today is named Wainwright Avenue . ) Von Gilsa ' s brigade was scattered along the lane as well as on the hill . Two regiments , the 41st New York and the 33rd Massachusetts , were stationed in Culp ' s Meadow beyond Brickyard Lane in expectation of an attack by Johnson ' s division . More westerly on the hill were the divisions of Maj . Gens . Adolph von Steinwehr and Carl Schurz . Col . Charles S . Wainwright , nominally of the I Corps , commanded the artillery batteries on the hill and on Stevens Knoll . The relatively steep slope of East Cemetery Hill made artillery fire difficult to direct against infantry because the gun barrels could not be depressed sufficiently , but they did their best with canister and double canister fire . The Confederate attack began with a Rebel yell against the Ohio regiments at the stone wall . Just beforehand , Ames had sent the 17th Connecticut from its place on the left of the line to a position in the center . This left a gap , which Hays ' s Louisianans exploited , and they bounded over the stone wall . Other troops exploited other weak spots in the line , and soon some of the Confederates had reached the batteries at the top of the hill , while others fought in the darkness with the four remaining Union regiments on the line behind the stone wall . On the crest of the hill , the gunners of Captain Michael Wiedrich ' s New York battery and Captain R . Bruce Ricketts ' s Pennsylvania battery engaged in hand - to - hand combat against the invaders . Major Samuel Tate of the 6th North Carolina wrote afterward : Harry Pfanz provides an alternative view that contrasts with Tate ' s : " Although the Confederates wrote and spoke of occupying the crest of the hill and capturing the batteries there , Union accounts concede less Confederate success . The sparse accounts of Wiedrich ' s battery say that the Confederates attacked suddenly and violently and entered the battery ' s position but insist that they were there only briefly . " The collapse of " Cemetery Hill , the keystone of the Union line , " could have affected the outcome of the battle . Generals Howard and Schurz heard the commotion and rushed the 58th and 119th New York of Col . Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski ' s brigade from West Cemetery Hill to the aid of Wiedrich ' s battery . Howard ' s lines were getting thin , so he sent for help to Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock of the II Corps . Hancock ordered one of his brigades under Col . Samuel S . Carroll to rush from Cemetery Ridge and assist the defenders . They arrived at the double - quick , charging through the dark from the cemetery , just as the Confederate attack was starting to ebb . Carroll ' s men secured Ricketts ' s battery and swept the North Carolinians down the hill . Over at Wiedrich ' s battery , Krzyżanowski led his men to sweep the Louisiana attackers down the hill until they reached the base and " flopped down " for Wiedrich ' s guns to fire canister at the retreating Confederates . Defending East Cemetery Hill would have been much more difficult had the overall attack been better coordinated . To the northwest , Maj . Gen . Robert Rodes ' s division was not ready to attack until Early ' s fight was almost over . It had filed west from the town and into the fields along the dirt path that is now Long Lane , where it stopped after advancing a short distance in the darkness . Brig . Gen . Dodson Ramseur , the leading brigade commander , saw the futility of a night assault against two lines of Union troops behind stone walls , backed up by significant artillery . Rodes ' s after - battle report also expressed concern about a lack of cooperation from the adjoining division on A . P . Hill ' s left flank . Maj . Gen . William Dorsey Pender had been wounded by a shell that afternoon and Brig . Gen . James H . Lane was in command of Pender ' s division . Ewell sent a staff officer to speak with Lane , who explained that his orders were to attack if a " favorable opportunity presented . " When Ewell informed Lane that his attack was starting and requested cooperation , Lane sent back no reply . Losses on both sides were severe ; among the casualties was Col . Avery , who was struck in the neck by a musket ball , felling him from his horse , where he was discovered after the charge by several of his soldiers and Major Tate of the 6th North Carolina . Unable to speak from his mortal wound , Avery scribbled a simple note for Tate : " Major , tell my father I died with my face to the enemy . I . E . Avery . " He died the following day . Battle of Gettysburg , Third Day . On July 3 , there was no infantry attack on Cemetery Hill ; the primary Confederate attacks were on Culp ' s Hill and on the lower portion of Cemetery Ridge . Union cannons on Cemetery Hill counter fired on the Confederate artillery barrage that preceded Pickett ' s Charge and provided antipersonnel support fire during the Confederate infantry attack . National Park Service historian Troy Harman has written that Robert E . Lee ' s ultimate objective for the assaults by Longstreet on July 2 and July 3 was actually Cemetery Hill , rolling the Union left flank up Cemetery Ridge . Aftermath . Post - battle , East Cemetery Hill was occupied for several weeks by state militiamen , who established a tented camp site to maintain a military presence , secure the battlefield from looters and curiosity seekers , collect remaining military weapons , and provide manpower and services for the area ' s hospitals . Elizabeth C . Thorn ( pregnant wife of the keeper of Evergreen Cemetery who was at war ) , her parents , and hired hands dug 105 graves for soldiers killed at or near Cemetery Hill . The Gettysburg National Cemetery was established in 1863 north of the Evergreen Cemetery . Abraham Lincoln ' s Gettysburg Address was delivered there during the Consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg . Postbellum history . The 1867 National Homestead at Gettysburg operated as an orphanage at the north foot of the hill , and an 1878 wooden observation tower of East Cemetery Hill had been built near the monument for Battery B , Pennsylvania Light Artillery . The 1893 – 1917 Gettysburg Electric Railway was on several sides of the hill , and the 1921 – 2008 Gettysburg National Museum operated on the west side of Cemetery Hill along the Taneytown Road . The areas on the northern and western slopes of the hill are now largely occupied by tourist - related businesses ( hotels , restaurants , gift shops , battlefield tour agencies , private museums , etc . ) . The military importance of the heights is not as evident today since the once commanding view has been blocked by this sprawl .