It was on this field on July 1, 1863, that the first shots of the Battle of Gettysburg were fired.
The area is near McPherson Ridge and Buford Avenue. Confederates fought their way across the field, led by Brigadier General Joseph Davis, the nephew of Jefferson Davis.
Union General John Buford, leading a dismounted calvalry clashed with the Confederates.
Eventually, General John Reynolds, a Lancaster native, arrived with reinforcements.
The nearby railroad cut was also a scene of fierce fighting the first day. The railroad was not complete at the time, but the ground had been prepared.
While Union troops initially held the ground, they retreated. As the Confederate Iron Brigade hunkered down, the Union returned, surrounded them and killed most of them. Of the 1,883 men in the Iron Brigade, 1,212 were casualties after the fight.
Much of what happened during the three-day battle can be traced back to this building. This is where General Robert E. Lee set up his headquarters, which was along Chambersburg Pike in Gettysburg.
And this is where Union General George Meade set up his headquarters. The home was along Gettysburg's Cemetery Ridge.
On the first day of the battle, Union General John Buford gained a high ground vantage point ...
… here at the Lutheran Theological Seminary. In this photo, taken in 1863, you can see a cupola at the top of the seminary. That is where Buford kept watch until he had to fall back.
Seen here, McMillan Woods, was another area where Confederates were able to advance on days 1 and 2 of the battle.
On days 2 and 3, this home, known as the Klingle Farm, was the center of Confederate attacks. The house is now being refurbished.
Klingle's farm and orchard became an open graveyard during the fight.
On day 2, the Confederates made an assault here at Culp's Hill. The assault was rebuffed.
Also on day 2, Union General Dan Sickles made one of the battles more controversial decisions. While he was ordered to hold a position on Cemetery Ridge, he saw a slighter higher piece of land here -- near the Peach Orchard. The orchard has been replanted as part of the National Park Service's restoration.
Sickles disobeyed his order and moved the men to the other position. It diminished the Union defense and allowed Sickles men to be attacked from multiple sides.
Sickle's himself lost his leg to cannon fire near this barn.
Years later Sickles, center, would revisit the battlefield. This shot was taken in 1886, near the very spot (you can see the barn in the background) where Sickles lost his leg.
This is the former Triangle Field, another key piece of terrain during the day 2 fighting. Confederates pushed through here toward Devil's Den, which is behind the photographer. This area has been cleared recently, again as part of the National Park Service's restoration.
This shot was taken from Devil's Den, looking up at Little Round Top, where Union troops mounted a defense, firing down on Confederate troops that were trying to take the hill.
Here's a shot of Devil's Den from 1909.
This image was taken from Devil's Den, looking up at Little Round Top. It was taken on the 50th anniversary of the battle in 1903.
Here's a look at Little Round Top, photographed in 1863.
Today, at the top of Little Round Top sits this monument to the 44th and 12th New York. Fittingly, the monument has a 44 foot tall tower and a 12-foot-wide platform next to it. It's one of only two monuments at the battlefield that you can climb.
If you go up these stairs inside the monument ...
... it emerges on this landing.
Here is a view from the landing on top of the monument to the 44th and 12th New York.
This is the only other monument on the battlefield that you can climb. It's the Pennsylvania Monument.
A short trip up these stairs affords some impressive views of another key area of the battlefield.
As seen from a perch atop the Pennsylvania Monument, this is the field where Pickett's Charge happened on day 3 of the battle. Pickett's Charge was the final, and failed, assault by Confederate troops.
While the charge is named for this man, Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett, he did not order the charge, nor was he the primary general who led it.
The actual charge was ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It was led by ...
... this man, Lt. General James Longstreet.
Pickett's charge ended here. A monument to the right of this image marks the place.
It is this monument, dedicated to "Longstreet's Assault," which is commonly known as Pickett's Charge. The monument marks the highwater advance of Confederate troops at Gettysburg.
Nearby is this monument. It's where Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Addison Armistead was mortally wounded during Picket's Charge. It's the farthest any Confederate officer advanced during the battle.
This area, aptly known as Cemetery Ridge, was an important place throughout the 3-day Battle of Gettysburg. It was a defensive position for Union troops, some of whom hid behind these tombstones to take cover from Confederate fire.
After the fight, more graves were added. All of the stones seen here mark the resting places of unknown soldiers.
In some cases, the graves are numbered.
There are also a few places of interest on the battlefield with a more recent history. This is one of them.
It's called the witness fence. Some have misinterpreted that to mean that it witnessed the battle. But that's not the case. It 'witnessed' another act, which does have a connection to the battle.
This is Dan Sickles, the same Union general who disobeyed orders and weakened the Union line, then lost his leg in the fighting on day 2. The witness fence at Gettysburg witnessed a killing that happened at the hands of Sickles.
When the killing happened, the fence was in Washington D.C. That's where Sickles shot and killed his wife's lover. The fence witnessed that killing. Sickles later had the fence moved to Gettysburg, where it is today. Sickles was acquitted of the killing on the grounds that his wife's affair had driven him temporarily insane.
Adding to the confusion of the witness fence is this tree -- known as the witness tree. As one might expect, this tree was actually in Gettysburg at the time of the battle, unlike the witness fence.
And then there is this much more recent addition to the battlefield. This is the old cyclorama. It was scheduled to be torn down …
… much like the old visitors' center, which once stood here.
But before the cyclorama could be torn down a court intervened, declaring that it itself was a historical structure and could not be destroyed. So it sits vacant, as the weeds, trees and grass around it slowly reclaim the territory.