July 3 (left) & July 2, (right), positions & movements: •Left: Well's charge (not depicted) crossed Plum Run and turned to pass behind the Confederates (red) on the spur of Big Round Top. •Right: After the "20th ME" had 'refused the line' (4th & 5th TX were temporarily under Law).[2]Earlier on July 2 from Big Round Top, 2 of Law 'sCSA (red) regiments assaulted the 20th ME.
During the Battle of Gettysburg, Big Round Top's slope, timber, and boulders precluded placement of artillery on the summit. At various times during the 1863 battle, positions on Big Round Top formed the left flank of the Union defense. No fighting or other actions took place on Big Round Top on July 1.[10]
Battle of Gettysburg, second day
On July 2 when "it was growing dark", Big "Round Top was still in [the] possession of the [Confederate]skirmishers, who were firing upon our men. It was important to hold this hill, as…it commanded…our line. I directed Colonel Fisher to occupy it at once. He immediately detached [3 regiments], who advanced promptly, driving the enemy before them" (Crawford's report).[1]: a
Kilpatrick Avenue[9]: c had been completed at the west base of Big Round Top by 1895[16] when the gravel South Confederate Avenue was constructed across the northwest slope.[17] In 1903, Wright Avenue was constructed along the northeast slope,[17] and in 1937, South Confederate Avenue and the Plum Run stone bridge were rebuilt [7][8] for the 75th battle anniversary and reunion.
In 1940, Seminary Ridge CCC workers rerouted the stone trail to the Big Round Top summit.[1]: b Harry Truman visited Big Round Top in 1946.[9] In 1964, the Big Round Top Nature Trail was created around the hill and provided access to the Devil's Kitchen.[10] The 1895 Big Round Top Observation Tower was dismantled in 1968 and the foundation was named a historic ruin in 2004.
Observation Tower
Late in the day of July 3, Union brigadier general Judson Kilpatrick ordered the cavalry brigade of Brigadier General Elon Farnsworth to charge Confederate infantry of Major General John Bell Hood’s division who were on and near the slopes of Big Round Top. Hood had been wounded the previous day, and his division was under the command of Brigadier General Evander Law. One after another, three of the four regiments of Farnsworth’s brigade charged over broken ground into Confederate fire and were repulsed. The final regiment, the 1st Vermont, then made the attempt. Farnsworth divided it into three battalions and personally led the second battalion. The tower was built in the late 19th century. Fred Lyons of Baltimore led the construction team that moved the foundation's granite blocks to the Big Round Top summit using block and tackle driven by a 12-horsepower engine. Constructed on the Gettysburg Battlefield's highest hill, the Big Round Top tower was to be replaced for the 1938 anniversary reunion by a stone "Gettysburg Peace Memorial" with a 75-foot-high observation deck above the summit and a flame 30 feet higher.[1]
During 1968 tower maintenance, the Schlesser Demolition Co dismantled the Big Round Top tower[9][20]: b as uneconomical due to "its condition and the very limited use [due to an uphill, lengthy, and serpentine trail.] Most who started the climb gave out en route, and upon reaching the tower decided against continuing the climb to the top of the metal observatory" (GNMP Superintendent George F. Emery).[21] The foundation ruin (park structure RU05) of the "national landmark" tower,[9]: e was "entered-documented" as a historic site on January 23, 2004.[22]
^Brown, Andrew (2006) [1962]. "Geology and the Gettysburg Campaign"(PDF) (Eleventh printing ed.). Pennsylvania: Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey. Archived from the original(PDF) on August 18, 2000. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
^"1st Vermont Cavalry Regiment". StoneSentinels.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-03-20. Wells's companies had cleared Bushman's Woods, to the right or east of Parson's battalion, knifed through the skirmish line of Alabamians to the left of the Texans, and entered the meadow of the Slyder farm, then turned east and followed a low stone wall to the spur of Big Round Top. …when the troopers reached the spur, the brigadier [Farnsworth] led them north through the woods behind the Alabama regiments deployed at the foot of the height. Many Confederates faced to the rear and shot at the passing column. "It was a swift,…enfilading fire." Wells's battalion broke through the treeline into fields of Devil's Den and Houck's Ridge. … Gunners in a section of Bachman's battery near Emmitsburg Road wheeled to the left, unleashing their fire on the horsemen in the open ground. …the mounted column splintered into three groups. … The final group, led by…Wells, retraced their route toward the spur of Big Round Top. … As the Federals re-emerged into a field, the 15th Alabama came rushing into a line across the cavalrymen's front. On the left of the 15th [was] the 46th Alabama… A scissors of musketry cut into the ranks of the New Englanders. Farnsworth…toppled to the ground
^Medal of Honor record of William Wells, Group 94 (W-199-VS-1869), NARA, Washington D.C. (cited by Cross, pp. 44,60)[verification needed]
![1863 O'Sullivan image of Big Round Top[specify] beyond Little Round Top breastworks](File:Big_Round_Top_(photo_by_Timothy_H._O%27Sullivan,_1863).jpg)
