15-19 – Ross’s Battery Group

How to Find Witness Trees 15-19

The next Confederate battery south of the Fredericksburg Artillery is Ross’s Battery. Five white oaks are intermingled with the four guns here. All are witness trees.

What These Trees Witnessed

Brig. Gen. Joseph Davis’ all-Mississippi Brigade sheltered behind Seminary Ridge here during the cannonade that shattered the unusual silence on the field at about 1 P.M. on the afternoon of July 3, 1863. Davis’ men then crossed the ridge and passed by these trees as they headed out to try to do their part to capture Cemetery Ridge in the famous assault known as Pickett’s Charge.

Then-and-Now Comparison #1

Three interesting then-and-now comparisons are presented here; the years of the original images are spread out in time across half a century.

This casual tourist’s photograph from 1913 comprises the earliest known photograph of the group of Witness Trees that grow amidst the guns of Ross’s Battery. 

While it is not easy to discern each tree clearly in the 1913 picture, some do stand out, especially Witness Trees 17 and 19.

Label “A” marks the cast iron tablet for Ross’s Battery; Label “B” marks gun #4, the southernmost cannon, of Ross’s Battery.

The 1913 photograph is from the Joe Maroney collection.

Then-and-Now Comparison #2

The next then-and-now comparison comes to us courtesy of a 1930s era National Park Service photo. 

Here we have a much clearer view of four of the five witness trees at the Ross’s Battery location.

Note how little the trees have changed in nine decades – they have increased their width by perhaps only 50%. Some of these witness trees could easily be 240 or even 250 years old – dating back to the American Revolution.

The 1930s image appears courtesy of NPS, GNMP, Museum Collection, Gett #41135, 21P-2184A.

Then-and-Now Comparison #3

On March 31, 1963, President John F. Kennedy took a helicopter to Gettysburg, along with the First Lady, the president’s friend Under Secretary of the Navy Paul Fay and his wife, and a few of their children. Battlefield guide Colonel Jacob Sheads escorted the Presidential party around the battlefield – but with a twist: President Kennedy did the driving!

One of the group’s stops was at the North Carolina State Monument. In this then-and-now comparison, three of the trees from Ross’s Battery group can be identified (see the three red arrows).

Below is a close-up of JFK and the Witness Trees in question.

A lovely review of the Kennedy trip to Gettysburg can be found at the Gettysburg Daily website.

Our photo of JFK appears here courtesy of Tim Sheads, son of Col. Sheads.

Other Photos