Tree B

Tree B stands in between the tablet to Pegram’s Battalion (far left background) and Crenshaw’s Battery. The cannon – a bronze Napoleon – in the foreground is the northernmost gun of the battery.

Not yet appearing in any known old photograph, this large white oak tree – which we label as “Tree B” – stands next to the stone wall, about 25 feet to the right (south) of the tablet to Pegram’s Battalion. With a circumference of 111.5 inches, and a diameter of just about a yard, it is fairly certain that this is a witness tree, but we will wait until we come across an old image of this old fellow before we grant it witness tree status.

This tree is unique in that it possesses both a bronze inventory tag and a lightning suppression cable; the apparently copper cable can be traced well up the trunk of the tree.

A lengthy article on the old Gettysburg Daily, which calls this the Pender Tree, described at length the effects of a lightning strike upon the tree during a storm back in 2010 can be found here.

At the bottom of this photograph, below where the copper lightning suppressor cable has been frayed, we can see how the section of the trunk which burned during the lightning strike of 2010 has somewhat healed.