Gettysburg National Military Park Virtual Tour Stop #1- McPherson's Ridge

Gettysburg National Military Park
Virtual Tour - Day One
McPherson's Ridge

Aerial view of the McPherson Farm looking north. The historic McPherson barn stands in the center of this view. The Chambersburg Pike is just north of the barn.
Gettysburg NMP

The Edward McPherson farm is situated on the Chambersburg Road (US Rt.30) one half mile west of Gettysburg. Typical of many Pennsylvania farms, it included a house, barn, several outbuildings, pasture and cropland as well as a small orchard. Nearby was a small forest (often referred to as "woodlots" by farmers), owned by a neighbor named John Herbst. Most of McPherson's farm was pasture though two fields were planted in corn and wheat. A significant feature of the farm is the two ridges that run perpendicular to the Chambersburg Pike and offered Union cavalry and infantry a good position to defend against the Confederate attacks which took place here on the afternoon of July 1. It was on the McPherson Farm that Brig. General John Buford's Cavalry Division camped while pickets and scouts stood watch from posts between the farm and Cashtown, Pennsylvania, eight miles away. At approximately 8 A.M. on the morning of July 1, a Union picket post manned by the 8th Illinois Cavalry on the Chambersburg (or Cashtown) Pike near Seven Stars confronted Confederate infantry commanded by General Henry Heth. Heth's men brushed aside the first Union pickets and continued their advance toward Gettysburg while outnumbered Union troopers slowly fell back toward town. Buford had wisely posted the bulk of his troops along Willoughby Run on the western border of the McPherson Farm, with his artillery and other dismounted troopers resting on the ridge overlooking the stream and the bridge that crossed it. "The two lines soon became hotly engaged," Buford reported, "we having the advantage of position, he of numbers. The First Brigade held its own for more than two hours, and had to be... dragged back... to a position more secure and better sheltered. The Brigade maintained this unequal contest until the leading division of General Reynold's corps came up to its assistance."

The Union infantry was from the First Corps commanded by Maj. General John F. Reynolds. Arriving on the scene at about 10 A.M., the Union troops threw back Heth's soldiers in a furious counterattack. General Reynolds was shot dead while leading his troops into the woods south of the farm. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Reynolds was a highly respected officer in the Army of the Potomac and well known by his Confederate counterparts.

The western edge of Herbst Woods adjacent to the McPherson Farm. The large monument marks the location where General John Reynolds was killed on July 1.
Gettysburg NMP

Gen. Archer
Generals in Gray

The vicious Union counterattack inflicted heavy losses on the Confederates, a brigade commanded by Brig. General James Archer who taken prisoner by Private Patrick Maloney, a member of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry. General Archer was being led to the rear when he encountered General Abner Doubleday, his old West Point classmate. Seeing the Archer for the first time in many years, Doubleday thrust out his hand and remarked how glad he was to see him. "Well, I'm not glad to see you by a damned sight, Doubleday," Archer vehemently replied before he was escorted back and eventually into a prisoner of war camp.

North of the Chambersburg Pike, Brig. General Joseph Davis' Brigade routed a portion of Cutler's Brigade, opening the right flank of the Union troops battling Archer's men. Quick thinking Union officers ordered a counterattack and Davis' men were driven back after a desperate struggle in an unfinished railroad bed where the Confederates had taken refuge from Union fire. A short lull in the battle gave both sides time to re-organize. Major General Abner Doubleday of New York assumed command of the Union First Corps and established a defensive line through the McPherson Farm, northward along Seminary Ridge to Oak Hill. Other troops arrived and marched into the fields north of Gettysburg. Meanwhile, two additional Confederate divisions under Robert Rodes and William Dorsey Pender arrived and went into battle formations west and north of the Union line.

Col. Brockenbrough
CWL&M

At 1 o'clock that afternoon, the Confederate assault was renewed. General Heth sent his two fresh brigades to press the attack on the McPherson Farm and heavy fighting quickly spread north and south along the ridge. Colonel John M. Brockenbrough's Virginia Brigade splashed through Willoughby Run and moved toward the McPherson buildings, surrounded by Colonel Roy Stone's Pennsylvania "Bucktail" Brigade. Positioned behind stout rail fences, Stone's men threw back repeated attacks from General Junius Daniels' North Carolina Brigade attacking through the fields north of the Chambersburg Pike. Meanwhile, Brockenbrough's men were forced to march across several hundred yards of open meadow in front of the Pennsylvanians who unleashed a withering fire into the struggling Confederates. Brockenbrough mistakenly sent in one or two regiments at a time, attempting to reserve some of his strength to exploit a break. The Virginians suffered under the Union rifle and artillery fire, and each attempt to force the Bucktails out was met with renewed defiance. Pinned by this murderous fire, Brockenbrough could only hold on and hope for support from Brig. General James J. Pettigrew's North Carolina Brigade, advancing on his right into the trees on the southern edge of the McPherson property.

Brockenbrough's troops at the McPherson Farm
Battles & Leaders

The scene today.
Gettysburg NMP

Yet Pettigrew's men had also run into a stone wall. When his "tarheels" waded Willoughby Run and ascended the wooded slope of the Herbst Farm woods (mistaken called "McPherson's Woods" by some participants), they ran headlong into the "Iron Brigade". Major Jones of the 26th North Carolina recalled: "The fighting was terrible- our men advancing, the enemy stubbornly resisting, until the two lines were pouring volleys into each other at a distance not greater than 20 paces." During one of the last charges, the 26th's twenty one year-old colonel, Harry Burgwyn, grasped the regimental flag and led his men up to the faces of the 24th Michigan Infantry. As Burgwyn turned to see his men follow him, he was struck through the side by a bullet that spun him around and flat to the ground. Lt. Colonel Lane picked up the flag and continued to encourage his men in the charge leaving the 26th's mortally wounded commander to the care of others. Within minutes, Lane was also shot, the bullet passing through his neck muscles, shattering his jaw and knocking out several teeth. Remarkably Lane survived his horrible wound, though Colonel Burgwyn died that evening.

The Iron Brigade's soldiers were down to their last cartridges and the position was beginning to break. Heavy losses and the arrival of fresh Confederate units compelled the Union regiments to give way, but losses in the Confederate ranks were equally bad and included many regimental and company officers. Among those severely injured was General Heth, wounded while directing his troops around the stubborn Union defense on the McPherson Farm. A Union bullet struck the general a glancing blow to the head though it could have been much worse- he was wearing a new hat that he had stuffed the interior sweat band with newspaper for a proper fit. The bullet hit at such an angle that it ringed the inside of his hat, knocking him senseless and leaving a mark around his scalp similar to a burn. General Pettigrew took command of the division as the dazed Heth was helped from the field.

General Lee arrived on the field by mid-afternoon, disturbed that a major battle had been initiated against his orders. Despite the fact that a large portion of his army was still miles away from the battle site, the general quickly realized that he had an advantage in numbers and was anxious to press the attack on the Union positions. Lee immediately ordered his generals to continue the attack and drive back the Union troops north and west of Gettysburg. After several hours of bitter fighting, the northerners withdrew from the McPherson Farm area to Seminary Ridge where they made one final stand prior to retreating to Cemetery Hill south of Gettysburg.

The fighting which swirled around this farm was heavy and bloody for both sides. After the battle, the McPherson buildings were used as a temporary hospital by Confederate surgeons. Of the original McPherson buildings only the McPherson Barn remains. Time and the elements had taken a heavy toll on the barn until 1978 when it was restored by the National Park Service. The barn is currently under lease to a local farmer who also uses land around it for pasture under a Park Service lease agreement.

"The Old Gettysburg Hero"

John Burns
Library of Congress

One of the more interesting personalities to participate in the battle that day was Gettysburg civilian John Burns. The 70 year-old veteran of the War of 1812 took up his flintlock musket and walked out to the scene of the fighting that morning. Approaching an officer of a Pennsylvania Bucktail regiment, Burns requested that he be allowed to fall in with the officer's command. Not quite believing his eyes nor ears, the officer sent the aged Burns into the woods next to the McPherson Farm, where he fought beside members of the Iron Brigade throughout the afternoon until he was wounded. Injured and exhausted, the old man made his way through groups of victorious Confederates who remarkably allowed him to go home unmolested. After the battle, he was elevated to the role of national hero. Hearing about the aged veteran, Mathew Brady photographed Burns while recuperating at his home on Chambersburg Street and took the story of Burns and his participation in the battle back home to Washington. Others soon became interested in the story and when President Lincoln came to Gettysburg to dedicate the Soldiers National Cemetery that fall, it was John Burns who the president wished to meet. Burns' fame quickly spread and a poem about his exploits was published in 1864. His notoriety faded after the war, but Burns was proud of his service to his country and his hometown. John Burns died in 1872 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg.

Monument to John Burns
Gettysburg NMP

"John Burns, although past his three score years and ten, learning of the enemies army approach took down his flintlock rifle, joined our troops in defence of his home and fireside..."

The popularity of John Burns' participation in the battle grew in the post war years. His home on Chambersburg Street was razed after his death and veterans of the battle remarked that something should be done to commemorate his services. Reacting to a proposal by a Pennsylvania chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans, the state enacted legislation to provide funds for a fitting monument. The Pennsylvania Board of Commissioners on Gettysburg Monuments desired that the monument be placed on the field where Burns had fought with the 150th Pennsylvania and 2nd Wisconsin regiments, and a site was chosen on McPherson's Ridge next to Herbst Woods. Sculptor Albert G. Bureau chose to depict a defiant Burns with clenched fist, stubbornly carrying his flintlock musket in battle. In reality, Burns used a rifle musket borrowed from a wounded Union soldier. Placed upon a boulder taken from the battlefield, the monument was dedicated on July 1, 1903, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the battle.

Close this Window

or visit
The Railroad Cut

Gettysburg Virtual Tour Home

National Park Service
Gettysburg National Military Park
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA 17325