Existing comment:
Lee's Headquarters at Gettysburg
Fighting and Photographs
"There was no use in fighting any longer. The enemy had deployed and we were trapped. The town was before us, the enemy on either side, and behind us."
-- Col. John Musser, 143rd Pennsylvania Infantry
On the afternoon of July 1, 1863, Confederate soldiers broke through this position en route to Gettysburg. Dead and wounded soldiers littered the ground in their wake while battle smoke hung in the air. Soon, Southern cannons were unlimbered on this spot while Gen. Robert E. Lee's couriers dashed back and forth. For the next three days, Thompson's property hosted a bustle of activity until the Confederate withdrawal after nightfall on July 4.
Some ten days later, Mathew Brady's cameramen recorded no fewer than seven photographs here including this panorama of Gettysburg. This photo, made from two glass plate images, was recorded from the Dustman house, just steps from where you stand. |