As a gentle spring sun nudges away the bitterness of winter,
only the wind moves over the once contested northern slopes of
Cemetery Hill. Some 140 years past however, the dark blanket of
night slowly covered the field. On July 2, 1863, Confederate
soldiers of CSA Major General Richard Ewell's Second Corp
advanced towards the Union lines, the taking of this hill
serving as their goal. Red fire from Federal and Southern
muskets flashed in the darkness as both sides fought an enemy
they could barely see. As their foe gained the hill's crest,
Union cannoneers fought hand to hand, using anything they could
grasp to protect their guns. Despite the brief success of their
bold advance, the Confederates could not hold the ground they
had struggled so hard to gain. In the dark, with the Union
reinforcements coming over from Major General Winfield S.
Hancock's 2nd Corps now adding to the weight of Northern fire,
Southern soldiers grudgingly backed down the hill. This ground
would remain in Union hands for the remainder