13 Burl Tree

Witness Tree 13 stands on the east side of Sykes Avenue on the northern slope of Little Round Top. It can be found just a few feet south of the granite and bronze 5th Corps tablet.

How to Find Witness Tree 13

Witness Tree 13 is across Sykes Avenue from the monument to the 121st New York. It stands just south of the tablet to the 5th Corps. The tree is distinguished by three burls (benign tumors) of varying sizes growing on its trunk.

Witness Tree 13 Statistics

Tree Species: White Oak
Circumference 2024: 101”
Diameter: 32”
Estimated age: 240+ years
Estimated diameter in 1863: 10-12”

Then-and-Now Comparison

There is but a single known older image of Witness Tree 13 in existence, a photograph published very early in the 20th century. The picture is of the 121st New York monument, and it appeared in volume 2 of the New York Monuments Commission’s Final Report of the Battlefield at Gettysburg.

Sykes Avenue cannot be seen due to the slope of the landscape behind the 121st New York monument, but it runs between Witness Tree 13 and the monument. A large branch of Witness Tree 12 (label “A”) leans into the shot behind the statue atop the monument.

Other Photographs

Witness Tree 13 is unique on the battlefield, for it possesses three separate burls – benign or harmless tumor-like growths much prized by woodworkers – on its trunk. Two of them (one large and one small) adorn the tree’s south side, and a third, medium-sized one grows a little higher up than the first two on its north side.