Our construction crew is hard at work on Little Round Top, planting historically-placed trees and bushes.

“The Boys Are Still There” features detail from period photos and the current rock formations on the battlefield.  On several occasions, we visited Little Round Top and took photos of the rocks, including a wintertime visit that meant less visual obstruction from trees and underbrush (if a bit of snow).

Rebecca then compared our photos to those taken in the days after the battle, as well as later in 1863 and around the 1880s.  In some cases, we were able to recreate treelines such as a clearing near the 20^th Maine.

Now, Rebecca is working to complete the wartime appearance of the open western face of Little Round Top, adding bushes and trees seen in the old photos.  Sometimes, trees are obvious, such as the little trees to the left rear of the construction crew which are visible in a photo by William H. Tipton in 1888.  Other trees take a bit of deduction and some work at analyzing rock clusters, such as the pine tree our construction crew is helping to plant.  It is best visible in photos taken from Devil’s Den by Timothy H. O’Sullivan (July 6, 1863) and Peter Weaver (November 11, 1863).

Sources:

Tipton’s photo is in Gettysburg’s Battlefield Photographer—William H. Tipton by Timothy H. Smith.

O’Sullivan’s photo is in Gettysburg: A Journey in Time by William A. Frassanito.

Weaver’s photo is in The Gettysburg Then & Now Companion, also by Frassanito.