North Carolina State Monument at Gettysburg National Military Park

GETTYSBURG BATTLE FIELD TOUR STOP 4

North Carolina Memorial

The North Carolina Memorial, the fourth stop on the Gettysburg Battlefield Tour, is on West Confederate Avenue, a road that runs along Seminary Ridge up until around Tour Stop 6, then along Warfield Ridge to Tour Stop 7. This road did not exist during the Battle of Gettysburg. It was built in 1900-01 as an enhancement for touring the battlefield. The road follows the Confederate battle line on the second and third days of fighting at Gettysburg, July 2-3, 1863.

As you drive down the road you will see numerous displays of artillery, all pointing east towards Union positions on Cemetery Ridge. These cannon were not placed along the road at random to enhance the battlefield atmosphere. They mark the actual locations of Confederate artillery batteries during the battle.

Cannon along West Confederate Avenue, Gettysburg National Military Park

If you were standing at Tour Stop 4 on July 2, 1863, and looking to the east, you would see the Union Army of the Potomac on Cemetery Ridge about a mile away. There would have been very few trees at the time, even on Cemetery Ridge, so to attack the Union forces, Confederate troops had to march across open fields, all the while being shot at from the ridge.

Cannon on the Confederate battle line at Gettysburg aims towards Union positions on Cemetery Ridge

On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Army of the Potomac occupied the high grounds of Culp’s Hill, Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Little Round Top, thus forming a hook. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had troops opposing all Union positions. Because the Confederates were on the outside of the hook, they had to cover more ground and thus needed more men. The troops along Seminary Ridge were part of Lieutenant General Ambrose P. Hill’s III Corps. His men accounted for roughly a third of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

A monument marking the location of General Hill’s headquarters is a hundred yards down the road to the south of the Tour Stop 4 parking area, on the opposite side of the road from the Tennessee State Memorial. The monument was erected in 1929.

General A. P. Hill’s headquarters marker at Gettysburg National Military Park

Most of the important fighting on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg occurred in the south at places like the Peach Orchard, the Wheatfield, and Little Round Top (locations covered later in the Gettysburg Battlefield Tour) and in the northeast at Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill. The men in the center of the Confederate line on Seminary Ridge didn’t enter the battle until the early evening. Believing that Union General George Meade would shift troops from the center of his line to the south to help defend his left flank against Confederate attacks, General Robert E. Lee planned his assault on the Union center for later in the day when he felt it would be at its weakest.

The men on Seminary Ridge in the location of Tour Stop 4 were part of Major General Richard H. Anderson’s division of III Corps. Anderson’s men attacked around 6 PM and were able to drive the Union troops from the Emmitsburg Road back to the base of Cemetery Ridge. Men from the brigade commanded by Brigadier General Ambrose R. Wright claimed to have actually gotten all the way to the top of the ridge. Lacking any support once there, Wright’s men had to withdraw. The day ended with the battle lines nearly as they were that morning, which was a big blow to General Lee, for he hoped to have crushed the Union army by the end of the day.

On the final day of the battle, the men along Seminary Ridge, now joined by an infantry division commanded by Major General George Pickett, participated in the final attack on the Union center in what is now called Pickett’s Charge. Though named after Pickett, other Confederate commanders led men in the charge as well. The attack, while a failure, is the closest the Confederate States of America ever came to winning the war. Things went downhill from this day on.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

Today, Tour Stop 4 is home to the North Carolina State Memorial, the Tennessee State Memorial, and a few other monuments. A regimental monument dedicated in 2000 to the 11th Mississippi Infantry is located across the road from the North Carolina State Memorial. The sculpture depicts a color bearer urging his comrades forward across the open field towards the Union soldiers on Cemetery Ridge, most likely during Pickett’s Charge.

11th Mississippi Infantry Memorial (2000), Gettysburg National Military Park

Tour Stop 5 | Tour Stop 3 | Battlefield Tour Home Page

Back to the Top