03 04 Hardaway Artillery Trees
How to Find Witness Trees 03 and 04
This is the view you should see as you approach the stone wall. Witness Tree 03 is a pignut hickory tree, Witness Tree 04 is a white oak. The two Whitworth Cannon were removed in the late 1960s or 1970s. The tablet and granite pads upon which the cannon sat remain.
Drive down West Confederate Avenue until you reach Red Patch house, the last home on the left (it is the 5th home counting from the traffic light). Park in the pulloff on the right. Walk towards the stone wall and Shultz Woods directly opposite from the Red Patch house. Across the stone wall you will see a cast iron tablet to the Hardaway Artillery, but no cannon. The two trees closest to the wall standing on either side of the tablet are Witness Trees 03 (on the right, closest to the tablet), and 04 (on the left).
What These Trees Witnessed
These trees witnessed various units, north and south, passing through this woodlot – known as the Schultz Woods – and occupying this section of Seminary Ridge, over the course of the three-day battle.
On July 1, 1863, after the Federal 1st Corps had finally been driven off of McPherson Ridge, elements of the Iron Brigade and other survivors of the morning’s fight made a stand on Seminary Ridge by the Lutheran Seminary. At this time, the cavalry brigade of Col. William Gamble (1st Division, Cavalry Corps) occupied the western edge of these small woods. His presence diverted the attention of Brig. Gen. James H. Lane, who out of excessive caution did not participate in the Confederate attack on Seminary Ridge. As the battle for Seminary Ridge raged, Gamble was driven out of the woods by the 12th and 13th South Carolina Infantry of Col. Abner Perrin’s Confederate brigade, after which the South Carolinians were ordered to move forward towards to the town, vacating the woods and ridge.
Two Whitworth guns like the one shown here standing on Oak Hill once stood in the Schultz Woods at the position of the Hardaway Artillery, but are long gone. Their disappearance has been a puzzle for many years.
On July 2 and 3, the position was occupied by several Confederate artillery units, who took part in the massive artillery bombardment of Cemetery Ridge that preceded Pickett’s Charge. This group included the guns of the Hardaway (Alabama) Artillery commanded by Capt. William B. Hurt. (1)
The Whitworth Guns
The Army of Northern Virginia owned two powerful cannon known as Whitworths, the only breech-loading pieces to be found at Gettysburg in July 1863 in either army. As can be seen in the then-and-now photographs on this page, two of these Whitworth guns once stood in Schultz Woods along with the other artillery that remain there today. The question is, what happened to those cannon? Are the Whitworths now standing on Oak Hill near the Peace Memorial the same guns?
Find out more about these unusual cannon by clicking on The Mystery of the Whitworth Guns.
(1) Gottfried, Bradley M. Brigades of Gettysburg. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2012. Pp. 641-6.
Witness Tree 03 Statistics
Tree Species: pignut hickory
Circumference 2024: 64”
Diameter: 20.5”
Estimated age: 250+ years
Estimated diameter in 1863: 8”
Witness Tree 04 Statistics
Tree Species: white oak
Circumference 2024: 64.5”
Diameter: 20.5”
Estimated age: 200-210 years
Estimated diameter in 1863: 4-5”
Then-and Now-Comparisons
The earliest known photograph of the Whitworth guns and Witness Trees 03 and 04 come from a 1909 publication, Historic Views of Gettysburg, and was taken by Gettysburg battlefield photographer J.I. Mumper. Label “A” marks the cast iron tablet for the Hardaway Artillery. Note the matching rocks in the foreground at the very bottom of the picutres. The stone wall has tumbled down significantly over the past 110 years.
This historical image appeared in William Storrick’s 1930 publication The Battle of Gettysburg. “X” marks a no longer extant tree. Note the stack of shells (label “A”) that once stood next to the Whitworth cannon. The shells are long gone (removed due to repeated vandalism in the 1960s), but the pads upon which they rested remain.
Additional Photos
The tail of a Whitworth cannon was screwed into a granite pad to keep the gun in place. The wheels of each gun rested in grooved granite pads. Most of these pads remain in place next to Witness Trees 03 and 04.
