Plum Run stop on the Gettysburg National Military Park Battlefield Tour

GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD TOUR STOP 11
Plum Run

After being overrun at the Peach Orchard and the Wheatfield, Union soldiers retreated back towards Cemetery Ridge with the Confederate infantry hot on their tails. Plum Run, a small creek, marks the general area of the Confederate’s farthest advance before being turned back by a Union counterattack. Cemetery Ridge is only a quarter mile from this stop and is now marked with monuments along Hancock Avenue, a modern road. The land seems fairly flat, but the ridge is about 30 feet higher in elevation than the land at the Plum Run tour stop. The Emmitsburg Road is about 40 feet higher in elevation, which is what drew Major General Dan Sickles to this area to begin with.

The Confederate troops that attacked the Peach Orchard were Mississippians under the command of Brigadier General William Barksdale. It was during the pursuit of the fleeing Union soldiers that Barksdale was shot in the leg and chest. His troops, now retreating from the Union counterattack, had to leave him behind. He died early in the morning on July 3rd in the care of Union doctors.

The Plum Run stop on the Gettysburg Battlefield Tour is just down the road from the Trostle Farm on United States Avenue. A wayside exhibit detailing where things stood at the end of the second day of fighting at Gettysburg is the only thing of interest. There aren’t even any monuments at this location.

As you travel to the next stop on the tour, the Pennsylvania Memorial, you will pass the George Weikert House on the corner of United States and Hancock avenues. The house was used as a hospital in the aftermath of the battle. While it is now owned by the National Park Service, it is not open to the public.