Slaughter at Spangler's Spring

At Spangler's Spring, a glade once used as a picnic ground became a scene of fierce fighting on July 2, when soldiers of the Union Twelfth Corps built breastworks of logs, rocks, and earth extending from here 1/2 mile north to the top of Culp's Hill and beyond. Late that day, the Federals here were ordered south to help with the crisis near the Peach Orchard and Little Round Top, and in their absence Confederates of Ewell's Second Corps crossed Rock Creek and occupied part of the breastworks. About midnight the weary Union soldiers returned to find much of their trench line in enemy hands. About 4:00 a.m. the battle along the breastworks began, and for the next several hours the opposing forces struggled to dislodge each other. About 7:00 a.m., the 2nd Massachusetts and 27th Indiana, positioned across the meadow, were ordered to retake the breastworks on the wooded slopes ahead. Charging into the heavy fire of well-concealed Confederate marksmen, these two Union regiments suffered grievous losses, with 242 of the 655 Federals engaged killed or wounded. A line of breastworks along the drive to the top of Culp's Hill was built after the war to mark the locations of the soldiers' original breastworks.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania · United States