The Wheatfield and Peach Orchard
Source: Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.
A Costly Error
After the fighting on the first day of the battle, the Union troops retreated to high ground on Cemetery Hill, Culp’s Hill, and Cemetery Ridge. They spent the night digging in and building defenses.
In the morning, General Daniel Sickles and his III Corps were ordered to take a position on the southern part of Cemetery Hill. Sickles thought the position was too vulnerable, and thought that the wheatfield and peach orchard a half mile to the west provided somewhat higher ground. So he moved his troops there. However, this actually exposed him, because he was so far ahead of the rest of the Union troops.
Meanwhile, General James Longstreet spent a good part of the day marching his two divisions via a roundabout route in an attempt to sneak up on the southern flank of the Union army on Cemetery Ridge. Longstreet was surprised to find III Corps occupying the wheatfield, peach orchard, and a boulder-strewn area to the south called Devil’s Den. Longstreet attacked. The fighting in all three areas was intense, with many casualties, especially for the Union troops. The Confederates briefly broke through the Union lines in the wheatfield and peach orchard, and the Union forces were forced to retreat to Cemetery Ridge, where General Sickles’ troops were originally supposed to have been positioned.
The photo below shows part of the wheatfield in the foreground, and the peach orchard in the background. You can see that there is a slight rise to the ground in this area. However, General Meade, the Union commander at the Battle of Gettysburg, reprimanded General Sickles, saying, “General Sickles, this is in some respects higher ground than that of the rear, but there is still higher in front of you, and if you keep on advancing you will find constantly higher ground all the way to the mountains!” (Williams, 2007)
Source: Photo by Ken Wilson (2005). Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.
Questions
- Having higher ground is usually an advantage in battle. Why was it a mistake for General Sickles to move his men from Cemetery Ridge to the slightly higher ground in the wheatfield and peach orchard?
- How might the battle have been different if General Sickles had followed his original orders to station his men on Cemetery Ridge?
