GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD TOUR STOP 2
Eternal Light Peace Memorial
THE MEMORIAL
The Eternal Light Peace Memorial stands on Oak Hill about a mile northwest of Gettysburg. It was dedicated on July 3, 1938, the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Approximately 1,800 Civil War veterans, most in their 90s, along with 200,000 spectators, gathered at this location. President Franklin Roosevelt gave the dedication speech. This was the last reunion of Civil War veterans.
Plans for the monument were first hatched in 1909, and in 1913 the Gettysburg Peace Memorial Association (GPMA) was formed to spearhead the project. The plan at the time was for a federally funded monument to be erected on Big Round Top south of Gettysburg, but funding never came through. It wasn’t until August 1936 that the GPMA began a new funding campaign in hopes of having a memorial in place for the battle’s 75th anniversary. This time around, the GPMA sought state money. Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois, and Wisconsin all contributed, and by mid-1937, $60,000 had been raised. The GPMA held a design competition in August, with the winner being Paul Philippe Cret. Lew Lawrie sculpted the artwork on the column. The location was changed to Oak Hill, and groundbreaking on the memorial began in February 1938. Amazingly, the monument was ready for the July 3rd dedication.
The Eternal Light Peace Memorial is made from limestone quarried in Alabama and granite from Maine. It stands 45.5 feet tall and is capped by what was originally a gas-lit flame. The flame was extinguished in 1974 in response to the 1973-74 gas shortage and was replaced by an electric light in 1976. However, the gas-lit flame was restored in 1988.
FIGHTING AT OAK HILL
As the day progressed on July 1, 1863, the first day of fighting at Gettysburg, Confederate troops streamed into the area along Carlisle Road (due north of Gettysburg) and Heidlersburg Road (now Harrisburg Road, northeast of Gettysburg). Arriving on Oak Hill late in the morning was a division of the Confederate II Corps (approximately 8,000 men) under the command of Major General Robert Rodes. His men quickly spread out to form a line stretching from just west of Mummasburg Road to Carlisle Road. A brigade of North Carolina troops commanded by Brigadier General Junius Daniels was on the right flank; another North Carolina brigade commanded by Brigadier General Alfred Iverson was positioned right of center; a brigade of Alabama troops commanded by Colonel Edward A. O’Neal occupied the left center; and a brigade Georgia troops commanded by Brigadier General George Doles anchored the left flank at Carlisle Road. One of O’Neal’s regiments moved farther left to fill the gap between his brigade and Doles’. The brigade of Brigadier General Stephen Ramseur arrived late and was held in the rear as reserves. Artillery were also positioned on Oak Hill.
Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com
Around 1 PM, Rodes launched an artillery attack on the Union positions at Oak Ridge a quarter mile to the south and along the Chambersburg Pike in preparation for an infantry attack. The plan was for a simultaneous attack by Iverson and O’Neal, with Daniels supporting the right flank of Iverson if necessary, otherwise he was to attack the Union troops on the Chambersburg Pike. Around 1:30 PM, O’Neal began his advance, but with only three of his four remaining regiments. Even more problematic was that the two North Carolina brigades did not attack with him. Somehow communications had broken down. By the time Iverson’s brigade began marching, the Alabama regiments were already in retreat. Thus the simultaneous attack turned out to be two individual attacks on Oak Ridge. (Neither Iverson or O’Neal actually marched with their men, a decision that might have saved their lives, but ruined their military careers.)
Daniels was expecting Iverson’s brigade to head due south, but with no commander to guide them, the brigade kept drifting left towards a gap in the positions held by Union brigadier generals Henry Baxter and Lysander Cutler. Daniels split his brigade, sending two regiments to support Iverson and three farther south to attack Colonel Roy Stone’s Pennsylvania regiments that were on the south side of Chambersburg Pike. Daniels made multiple attacks on Stone’s position, but all were unsuccessful. (These attacks resulted in the 200 Confederates surrendering at the Railroad Cut seen at the McPherson Ridge tour stop.)
In addition to not leading his men into battle, Iverson sent them off without forward skirmishers to check out the situation ahead. Thus the North Carolinians had no idea that Baxter’s men had plugged the hole in the Union line and were now hiding behind a stone wall. Iverson’s men were heading straight for an ambush, and when they were 50 yards away, the Union soldiers suddenly popped up and unleashed a massive volley of musket fire. Hundreds of Confederates fell dead or were wounded in an instant. Those who weren’t able to retreat were soon pinned down and had to surrender. The two regiments of Daniels’ brigade were too far away to help. When the fighting was over, 65 percent of Iverson’s 1,350 men were killed, wounded, or captured.
Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com
The Confederates regrouped, and with Ramseur’s men still fresh, Rodes mounted a second attack later in the day. At this point, the Confederates highly outnumbered their Union counterparts, and by 4 PM they had pushed the Union soldiers off Oak Ridge—and McPherson and Seminary ridges to the west—and were soon chasing them through the streets of Gettysburg. The Union soldiers headed south through town towards the high ground of Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill where Union commanders had wisely stationed men and artillery earlier in the day. Thus ended the fighting on July 1, 1863.
Battery tablets and cannon mark the location of the Confederate artillery on Oak Hill.
The following are photos of a few of the monuments along the road from the McPherson Ridge tour stop to the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. (Dedication date is in parenthesis.)
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Last updated on January 19, 2025