View of East Cemetery Hill from Stevens Knoll at Gettysburg

GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD TOUR STOP 14
East Cemetery Hill

The East Cemetery Hill stop on the Gettysburg Battlefield Tour is not actually on East Cemetery Hill. It is on Stevens Knoll, a knoll between Culp’s Hill and East Cemetery Hill. If you are reading the lone wayside exhibit at the stop, East Cemetery Hill is directly in front of you about a quarter mile away (look in the direction of what appears to be a water tower). It is sandwiched between the modern Wainwright Avenue and the Baltimore Pike, a road that existed in 1863. Baltimore Pike crosses Cemetery Hill, thus splitting it in half. The section to the east of the road is called East Cemetery Hill, while the section to the west is simply called Cemetery Hill. The hill extends west to Emmitsburg Road. The Evergreen Cemetery and Soldiers’ National Cemetery (aka Gettysburg National Cemetery) are now the main landmarks on Cemetery Hill.

View of East Cemetery Hill from Stevens Knoll, Gettysburg National Military Park

Other than a few monuments and one wayside exhibit, there is not much to see at the actual East Cemetery Hill stop the tour. There are, however, plenty of monuments and cannon on East Cemetery Hill across from the entrance to Evergreen Cemetery.

Union cannon on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg National Military Park

Union artillery positions on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg National Military Park

Major General Winfield S. Hancock Memorial (1896), East Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg

Major General Oliver Otis Howard Memorial (1932), East Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg

4th Ohio Infantry Monument (1887), East Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg

East Cemetery Hill was an important strategic position because Baltimore Pike was less than a quarter mile from the base of the hill, and the road was crucial to maintaining the Union supply line. If the Confederates were to take East Cemetery Hill, they could possibly take Baltimore Pike and the rest of Cemetery Hill. However, success would be difficult. The Confederates would be attacking from the east, and the eastern slope is the steepest part of East Cemetery Hill. They would also be exposed to artillery crossfire from the hill and from Stevens Knoll.

Climb facing Confederate soldiers assaulting East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg National Military Park

After being driven off McPherson Ridge on July 1, 1863, by the Confederates, Union I and XI Corps troops retreated south through the town of Gettysburg for the high grounds on Culp’s Hill, Cemetery Hill, and Cemetery Ridge. The men of the 5th Maine Battery under the command of Captain Greenlief T. Stevens were some of the first to occupy the Cemetery Hill area. They were positioned on what was at the time known as McKnights Knoll and remained there for the duration of the battle. The knoll was later named for Stevens.

Stevens 5th Maine Battery Monument (foreground, 1899) and Major General Henry Slocum Memorial (1902) on Stevens Knoll at Gettysburg

Major General Henry Slocum Memorial (1902) on Stevens Knoll at Gettysburg

Cannon mark union artillery positions on Stevens Knoll at Gettysburg National Military Park

Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s plan for the second day of fighting at Gettysburg was to concentrate most of his effort on the Union left flank on the southern end of the battlefield. To keep Union General George Meade from shifting troops from the north to aid in the defense of his left flank, Lee had Lieutenant General Richard Ewell and his II Corps make a diversionary attack on the Union positions at Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill. Ewell was allowed to escalate to a full-scale attack if he thought he could capture either of the hills.

Lee had planned for the July 2nd battle to begin early in the morning, but it took Lieutenant General James Longstreet, commander of the Confederate I Corps at the southern end of the battlefield, until late afternoon to maneuver his men into position for the attack on the Union left. It wasn’t until around 4 PM that Longstreet’s attack began.

Once Ewell heard cannon fire to the south, he began an artillery bombardment from Brenner Hill of the Union positions. However, return fire from Union artillery on East Cemetery Hill, Stevens Knoll, and Culp’s Hill soon ended the attack. Ultimately, the bombardment did not have the effect Lee desired, and Meade proceeded to shift nearly the entire XII Corps farther south along Cemetery Ridge. Ewell then launched a more substantial attack on Culp’s Hill starting around 7 PM, and about a half hour later as it was getting dark, ordered attacks on both East Cemetery Hill from the north and east and Cemetery Hill from the northwest (an attack that never took place).

The East Cemetery Hill assault was led by Brigadier General Harry T. Hays, commander of the Louisiana Tigers Brigade, and Colonel Isaac Avery and his Hoke’s Brigade of North Carolina troops. In all, approximately 2,100 Confederates took part in the attack. East Cemetery Hill was defended by roughly 1,200 men commanded by colonels Andrew Harris and Leopold von Gilsa, part of the Union XI Corps. On Cemetery Hill were the divisions of major generals Adolph von Steinwehr and Carl Schurz. Union artillery on Stevens Knoll was also used to defend East Cemetery Hill.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

Though the attack was ultimately unsuccessful, some Confederates did break through to the summit of the hill, punching holes in the area occupied by the 25th and 74th Ohio infantry regiments. They were even able to capture nine guns of the 1st New York Battery. However, with Union reinforcements arriving from Cemetery Hill—freed up due to the Confederate attack on the hill that never happened as planned—and from Cemetery Ridge, they were ultimately driven back down the hill. When the fighting ended that night, the lines were the same as they were when the fighting began.

Tour Stop 15 | Tour Stop 13 | Battlefield Tour Main Page

Back to the Top