02 General Sickles Tree
How to Find Witness Tree 01
Witness Tree 01, a swamp white oak, is directly across the road (United States Avenue) from the Trostle Barn.
What This Tree Witnessed
This incredible historical image from the early 1890s captures not only the scattered buildings of the Trostle Farm, but also Witness Tree 02, the already massive swamp white oak known informally today as “The Sickles Tree.” Note how all three surviving primary branches of the tree (including, as an example, the branch labeled “A”) can be picked out in the historical photo. The famous hole, supposedly caused by an errant Confederate shell, can be seen in the gable of the barn below the two diamond-shaped vents.
Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles had been instructed multiple times on July 2, 1863, to deploy his 3rd Corps on Cemetery Ridge, so as to connect with the remainder of the Union line to the north. Unhappy with the order, however, Sickles moved his men forward, so that they instead ended up in an unsupported line, their right occupying the Emmitsburg Road, the left extending south through the Peach Orchard, the Rose Woods, and Houck’s Ridge.
Sickles himself set up his headquarters on the property of the Trostle family near the large, still-extant barn. When the Confederate attack began that evening, southern artillery made the Trostle yard a dangerous place to be. While on his horse, Sickles was struck by a shell which severely damaged his right leg. Sickles slid off his horse, and, recognizing the critical nature of the wound, instructed his aide to tell Maj. Gen. David B. Birney (commander of the 1st Division) to take command of the corps.
As Sickles was carried off the field on a stretcher, he made a point of smoking a cigar in a nonchalant manner so that his men would not be alarmed. a surgeon soon after amputated the leg, which the general donated to the Army Medical Museum.
Another dramatic event took place later in the evening in front of the Trostle barn. The Mississippi brigade of Brig. Gen. William Barksdale had been on a rampage, destroying one Union regiment after another as it raged up the Emmitsburg Road. Now, with the 21st Mississippi Infantry (which had separated from the rest of the brigade) heading towards the Trostle Farm from the Wheatfield Road, Capt. John Bigelow, commanding the 9th Massachusetts Light Artillery, was ordered to make a stand at the Trostle farm. Bigelow deployed his guns in front of the wall that ran south from the Trostle farm lane (today’s United States Avenue), and when the rebels appeared from over the ridge to the southwest, Bigelow’s men blasted the foe with cannister. The Mississippians came on time and again, and, with numbers on their side, eventually forced the Bay State battery to retreat.
The slaughter was inconceivable. Bigelow’s battery had lost 27 men, and 80 horses were shot down. Bigelow himself was severely wounded, but thanks to the efforts of his bugler, Charles Reed, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions, he was saved from capture. Four guns were abandoned to the rebels, only two saved. (1)
(1) Browne, Patrick. Historical Digression website. 9th Massachusetts Battery at Gettysburg. Retrieved May 27, 2023: https://historicaldigression.com/2013/06/23/9th-massachusetts-battery-at-gettysburg/.
Witness Tree 02
Sketch of Sickles Witness Tree by bugler and Congressional Medal of Honor winner Charles Reed.
One of the most famous witness trees on the battlefield at Gettysburg, this swamp white oak is known informally as the “Sickles Witness Tree”, due to its proximity to 3rd Corps Headquarters.
Witness Tree 02 Statistics
Tree Species: Swamp White Oak
Circumference 2024: 194”
Diameter: 62”
Estimated age: 250+ years
Estimated diameter in 1863: 6-9”
Other Then-and-Now Comparisons
William Tipton is the photographer who took this shot along Untied States Avenue in 1896, facing west. Witness Tree 02 stands alone on the south side of the road. United States Avenue was rerouted slightly at some point early in the 20th century, curving away from and then around the Trostle barn. In the category of random barnyard animals, please note the solitary chicken appearing at label “A”.
This 1940 image of the Trostle Farm was taken from the west. The Trostle Barn is labeled “A”.
The moon can be seen hovering above the Sickles Tree in this 2023 photograph.
An 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper provides context by which to get a sense of the immense trunk of this witness tree.
Famous photograph taken by Timothy O’Sullivan in front of the Trostle Farm just days after the battle, showing many of the horses killed during the fight between the 21st Mississippi and Capt. John Bigelow’s 9th Massachusetts Artillery. Note the still extant hole in the gable of the barn, made by a Confederate shell. Image downloaded from the Library of Congress.