6Foot5

Adam Russell · Dayton, Ohio

Gettysburg

Spring 2017. Six thousand acres, more than 1,300 monuments, and one guy with a camera who did not get to all of them.

Bronze statue of Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveller atop a tall granite pedestal, with a group of bronze soldiers at its base, Virginia State Memorial
Robert E. Lee on Traveller, 41 feet up. The sculptor went to Lexington and studied the horse’s actual skeleton to get him right. That’s commitment to a horse.
Green bronze cannon behind a low stone wall in the woods, looking out over an open field
The Confederate line on Seminary Ridge. On July 3, 1863, the men in these woods stepped out and walked across that field toward the Union line. It’s called Pickett’s Charge, and it failed. Good. Their cause was keeping nearly four million people enslaved.
Three tall trees standing in a grassy clearing with open fields and a line of evergreens beyond
A few trees on Seminary Ridge, standing around like they’re waiting for somebody to give the order.
Tall spring trees along a fieldstone wall, with green fields stretching out behind them
Every field here comes with a stone wall. Farmers built them to get the rocks out of the way. Then two armies showed up and used them for cover.
Close-up of bronze Confederate soldiers charging forward under a flag, against spring leaves and sky, North Carolina State Memorial
The North Carolina Memorial, by Gutzon Borglum. He finished it in 1929, while he was also blasting four presidents into a mountain in South Dakota. Some people just can’t say no.
Field covered in yellow wildflowers under streaky blue and white clouds, with a fence line and wooded hills in the distance
Late April. Something yellow took this whole field without firing a shot. I left the shutter open long enough for the clouds to get somewhere.
Silhouette of a bronze figure blowing a trumpet and holding up a flaming cannonball over a fallen soldier, Louisiana State Memorial
The Louisiana Memorial. A flaming cannonball in one hand, a trumpet in the other, floating over a fallen artilleryman. Nobody in history has needed both at once.
Bronze Confederate soldier swinging his musket like a club over a wounded flag bearer, on a granite base engraved Mississippi
The Mississippi Memorial. He’s out of ammunition, so he’s swinging his rifle like a baseball bat over his wounded flag bearer. Same sculptor as Louisiana, two years later.
High view over green and yellow farm fields with a winding road and blue mountains on the horizon under heavy gray clouds
From the top of the Longstreet tower on Warfield Ridge. That blue line on the horizon is South Mountain, and everything in between is Pennsylvania minding its own business.
Looking straight down the zigzagging steel staircase of an observation tower to the grass far below
Looking down from the top of the tower. It’s 75 feet of steel stairs from the 1890s. I’m 6’5″. I did not need the extra height.
Fieldstone wall running into a green and yellow field with a dirt path, woods and distant mountains under a gray sky
Another stone wall, another field, another mountain range on the horizon pretending it had nothing to do with any of this.
Steel observation tower with a roofed top deck rising above trees at dusk, with a stone wall in the foreground
The tower itself. The War Department put it up in the 1890s so people could see the whole battlefield at once. It’s basically a 75-foot staircase with a roof on it.
Large rock outcrop on Little Round Top with a hand-stacked stone breastwork, overlooking wooded valley and farmland
Little Round Top. Union soldiers stacked these rocks into a breastwork, which is a fancy word for a wall you build while people are shooting at you.
Black iron cannon on Little Round Top aimed out over the valley, with farmland and blue mountains beyond
A Parrott rifle on Little Round Top. On July 2, 1863, Hazlett’s battery got guns like this up through these rocks partly by hand, because the horses took one look and said no.
Bronze statue of General Gouverneur Warren standing on a boulder on Little Round Top, looking out over the battlefield
General Gouverneur Warren, standing on the rock where he’s said to have stood when he realized nobody was guarding this hill. He got troops up here just in time. Now he gets the view forever.
View down from Little Round Top over boulders and a blooming white dogwood to the valley and fields below
The view off Little Round Top. The valley down there earned the nickname Valley of Death. The dogwood didn’t get the memo.
Huge boulders of Devil's Den piled on a grassy slope, with a small sign reading Devils Den
Devil’s Den, in case you thought it was just some rocks. In 1863 a photographer dragged a dead soldier into these boulders to set up a better shot. Today they just give you a sign.
Grassy field scattered with large boulders behind a split-rail fence, under streaky gray clouds
Boulders scattered around Devil’s Den like a giant got bored and walked off. Sharpshooters loved this place. Everybody else, not so much.
Granite relief carving of a Union cavalryman on horseback on the face of a regimental monument
A cavalryman carved into granite. He’s been riding at a walk for well over a century and still hasn’t gotten anywhere.
Lone cannon on a grassy field with split-rail fences and trees behind it under gray clouds
One of roughly 400 cannons on the battlefield, most of them parked where the batteries actually stood. This one has the whole field to itself.
Black and white view up the steps of the Pennsylvania State Memorial, a domed granite arch topped by a bronze goddess
The Pennsylvania Memorial, the biggest state monument on the field. The bronze tablets around the base name 34,530 Pennsylvania soldiers. The goddess on top was cast from melted-down cannons.
View down from the Pennsylvania Memorial onto a parking lot, white canvas tents of a Civil War living history camp, and red farm buildings beyond
The view from the deck of the Pennsylvania Memorial. Somebody set up a Civil War camp right next to the accessible parking.
Red barn with two white cupolas seen between spring trees, behind a split-rail fence and a board fence
A red barn behind two fences, in case one fence wasn’t enough to keep you from bothering it.
Wagon with a white canvas cover sitting in a tan hayfield, with a split-rail fence and farm buildings behind
A covered wagon parked in a hayfield, like somebody stepped away in 1863 and never came back for it.
Metal gate across a gravel lane in the woods with a sign reading no trespassing or relic hunting, violators will be prosecuted
No trespassing or relic hunting. People have been digging up this battlefield for souvenirs since about five minutes after the battle ended, so the sign has a point.
Granite dome over Spangler's Spring with a bronze name plaque, iron railing and stone steps
Spangler’s Spring. Legend says soldiers from both sides called a truce here to fill their canteens. Historians say probably not. Either way the water’s shut off now, so nobody gets any.
Marble figures of a bearded Union soldier and a laurel-crowned woman at the base of the Soldiers' National Monument, inscribed Gettysburg July 1, 2, 3, 1863
The base of the Soldiers’ National Monument in the National Cemetery. The bearded soldier is War. He’s telling the story of the battle to History, who sits around the corner taking notes.
Two green bronze Napoleon cannons flanking a granite marker in front of a black iron fence
Two bronze Napoleons guarding an iron fence. The green is what bronze does when you leave it out in Pennsylvania long enough.
American robin standing in green grass beside a long row of small white grave markers in the National Cemetery
A robin walking the rows in the National Cemetery. Somebody has to keep them company.
Massive old tree trunk with a hollow opening, with a granite monument and a cannon on the lawn behind it
An old tree in the National Cemetery with a hole in it big enough to move into. It’s earned the right.
Bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln on a granite pedestal between two bronze tablets in a curved granite memorial
The Lincoln Address Memorial, one of the few monuments anywhere built for a speech instead of a person. The left tablet is his invitation, which asked for ‘a few appropriate remarks.’ He took them at their word.
Brick pillars holding up a white open-slat roof on a raised brick platform, the Rostrum in the National Cemetery
The Rostrum in the National Cemetery, where they hold the Memorial Day speeches. Coolidge and Hoover both spoke here. It’s a brick stage with a pergola for a roof.