DEVIL'S DEN

Main articles: Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day


'Devil's Den' is the nickname for a terrain feature south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that was the site of fierce fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War.

Contents

Description

Battle of Gettysburg

Sharpshooters

See also

References

Notes

External links

Description

Devil's Den is a rocky expanse of shrubs and scrub trees, the southernmost part of Houck's Ridge, directly west of Little Round Top across the Plum Run Valley (also known to the soldiers as the "Valley of Death"). The central feature of Devil's Den is an outcropping of massive boulders. This igneous rock, similar in appearance to granite, is an outcrop of diabase sill, known to geologists as "Gettysburg Sill", that is about a mile (1,600 m) wide, 1,800 feet (550 m) thick, and runs for almost 40 miles (64 km), directly through the Gettysburg Battlefield. It was formed over 180 million years ago under and within the beds of sandstone and shale that covered the area and over time was forced upward between existing strata. Where the sheet has been exposed to the seasonal freezing of water in the crevices and cracks, it has broken into smaller pieces that have been weathered over the years into separate boulders.^[1]
The origin of the name "Devil's Den" is uncertain. All documented references to it are post-battle, although historian John B. Bachelder claimed in his 1873 travel book, ''Gettysburg: What to See and How to See It'', that "it was a name given to the locality before the battle."^[2] Stories by local resident Emanuel Bushman, first documented in 1884, claim that a "monster snake" resided there. An account by Salome Myers Stewart in 1913 referred to a snake named "The Devil", which was never caught and thus became legendary.^[3] Some accounts by soldiers after the battle began using the name "Devil's Cave" or "Devil's Den" because of the appearance of the area. The boulders, tumbled together loosely, form numerous natural caves—the "den" of the name. On the upper horizontal surface of one of the uppermost boulders is a depression used as a cistern. When viewed from higher ground, the depression resembles a gigantic horned bat in flight—the "devil" of the name. The natural caves and galleries among the boulders provided cover for sharpshooters from both sides throughout the battle. By the late 19th century, the name "Devil's Den" became universal.

Battle of Gettysburg

This landmark gained importance in the second day of the fighting near Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, with a Confederate assault by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's First Corps through this terrain. Conducted by the division of Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood, the charge was directed towards the left flank of the Union Army of the Potomac and hit Devil's Den as well as the high ground at Little Round Top. Devil's Den was defended by the Union III Corps division of Maj. Gen. David B. Birney, later reinforced by the V Corps.

Sharpshooters

Today, public attention is generally focused only on the sharpshooter activity that characterized Devil's Den later in the battle. In fact, Devil's Den has become something of a legend among snipers because of a specific engagement that took place during the second day of the battle. A Confederate sharpshooter had taken up position, harassing the Union artillery battery, preventing them from firing.

See also

References

★ Adelman, Garry E., and Smith, Timothy H., ''Devil's Den: A History and Guide'', Thomas Publications, 1997, ISBN 1-57747-017-6.

Notes

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External links

★ ''The Devil's Den Sharpshooter Re-Discovered''