Shelter From Attack

On July 2, 1863, Union soldiers of the Twelfth Army Corps built formidable breastworks on Culp's Hill under the orders of General George S. Greene, a civil engineer who valued defensive works despite his superior's objections. His men cut trees, stacked rocks, felled timber, and shoveled dirt for three or four hours, creating defenses from the summit to the base of the hill. By the end of the day, these breastworks provided crucial shelter for the Union battle line against Confederate attack, and a New York officer later said that without them the line would have been swept away instantly by bullets. The breastworks were key to the Union defense, and when one regiment exhausted its ammunition, fresh troops rotated into the line to maintain continuous fire on the enemy. On July 15, 1863, from near this spot, Mathew Brady's photographic team captured an image of the Union breastworks.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania · United States