Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Finding the Ghosts Amidst the Beauty

Landscape photography takes on a different feel when there is history in the scenes that you compose. On a recent trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania that history became overwhelming at times. Gettysburg was the scene of a gruesome battle during the American Civil War. For 3 days in July of 1863, the Union and Confederate armies fought resulting in more than 50,000 casualties. The site is now a National Historic Park which preserves this key battle of the Civil War.

While looking out at the idyllic rural countryside of Gettysburg, it is hard to believe that it preserves a place where so much blood was spilled. As I photographed here the sense of what happened in 1863 was unavoidable. It tempered the beauty of the landscape, especially early in the morning when I had the park and its ghosts to myself.

The photographs below, thanks to the National Park Service, probably show scenes similar to what greeted the two opposing armies when they converged on Gettysburg.

Gettysburg Sunset by Richard Lewis 2024

Gettysburg Battlefield Panoramic View by Richard Lewis 2024

Gettysburg Sunrise by Richard Lewis 2024

Sunrise Over Brian Farm, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

The Witness Tree

A witness tree is a tree that was standing during the battle. This tree above Devil’s Den was here during a very bloody struggle over difficult rocky terrain on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Devil’s Den Witness Tree, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

Little Round Top

Little Round Top was a small bald topped hill with commanding views of the Gettysburg countryside. This high ground provided a strategic advantage during the battle. The Union army held the hill and the Rebels wanted to drive them off. The resulting battle gave birth to many a hero, but tactical errors on both sides caused a tremendous loss of life.

Later Afternoon On Little Round Top, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

Little Round Top Morning, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

Codori Farm

It is hard to believe that this beautiful farm and the misty fields surrounding it divided two armies. It was in the center of the disastrous Pickett’s charge that ended the Battle of Gettysburg. It’s said that hundreds of Confederate soldiers are buried on the farm’s property.

Codori Farm, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

Cemetery Hill View of Codori Farm, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

Luck or Fate?

Accounts of the battle talk about the misty mornings in the summer of 1863. Mist only happened on our last day in Gettysburg. As usual, when the sun rises, the mist started to dissipate. Taking as much advantage of the mist as possible, I moved randomly around the battlefield to where it was still visible and happened upon this scene.

At the time, I didn’t know what this memorial represented. It is one of many monuments on the battlefield. With the mist waning, there wasn’t time to figure it out. I knew this was going to be the defining photograph of the trip, but wondered if the subject would be important to me as the photographer.

Later I found out that it memorializes the First New Jersey Light Artillery, Battery B, also known as Clark’s Battery, named after its commander, Captain Adoniram Judson Clark. I wonder if this photograph was a happy accident or something that was meant to happen to honor my state’s civil war veterans.

Clark’s 1st NJ Light Artillery Battery B, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis

Cannons, so many Cannons

Artillery played a major role in the battle of Gettysburg and there are cannons all over the park. They provide an interesting juxtaposition in this otherwise idyllic landscape. I also noticed this odd juxtaposition when photographing abandoned Cold War era Nike missile bases.

The cannon in front of the Trostle Barn is from the 9th Massachusetts Battery. The men of this battery were known to name their cannons after their wives. Note the hole in the barn that is the result of a cannon ball.

Abraham Trostle Barn, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

Abraham Trostle Barn Detail, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

A cannon on Cemetery Ridge that was part of the high ground the Union Army held during the battle of Gettysburg. Here is that interesting juxtaposition between the beauty of the landscape and the weapon designed to tear it apart while defending this position.

Cemetery Hill, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

A Union army cannon on top of Little Round Top commanding a view of the fields below. On the second day of the battle of Gettysburg it would have rained down death to rebel soldiers’ bloody attack through this beautiful landscape.

Cannon on Little Round Top, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

A Confederate army cannon facing the Little and Big Round Top hills. One wonders if this cannon dueled with the one in the previous photograph.

Confederate Cannon, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

Cannons along Seminary Ridge, the main Confederate army stronghold . The appearance of this cannon battery in a corn field next to a farm building, shows the odd feeling one gets being in Gettysburg. So much death and destruction happened amidst a normally quiet, scenic and peaceful community.

Confederate Battery, Gettysburg by Richard Lewis 2024

The Takeaway from Gettysburg

Landscape photographers tend to photograph and share the feelings of beauty, peace and serenity one feels when out in nature. The hope is that we will help others feel that peace and serenity we feel. Gettysburg has all of that, with the specter of  two armies leaving a scar that is still felt today. It was great to walk around these fields early in the morning, but it was tempered by the feeling that wherever I walked may have been a spot where someone took his last breath.