Free previewStop 3 of Gettysburg Battlefield Driving Tour
The Men Who Waited in the Trees
You're on West Confederate Avenue, running along the spine of Seminary Ridge. If it's safe, pull over and look east, away from the trees, across the long open ground to the low ridge on the far side. That far ridge is Cemetery Ridge, where the Union army stood. The open ground between is the field of Pickett's Charge.
This ridge is named for the Lutheran seminary on it, founded in 1826. On the first day of the battle, Union cavalry general John Buford watched the fighting open from the seminary's cupola. Robert E. Lee, the Confederate commander, made his headquarters on the ridge just north of the Chambersburg Pike. And on July 2 and 3, this ridge was the Confederate line of battle for the attacks on Cemetery Ridge.
On July 3, 1863, Lee chose to strike the center of the Union line. First the artillery.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 3 of Gettysburg Battlefield Driving Tour (2 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
