 Gettysburg National Military Park
Virtual Tour - Day Two
Spangler's Spring
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Spangler's Spring at the southern tip of Culp's Hill.
Gettysburg NMP |
A natural spring that flows at the southern end of Culp's Hill, Spangler's Spring is one of the battlefield's most prominent landmarks and for many years prior to the battle it had provided water to quench the thirst of man and animal alike. Union troops of the Twelfth Corps occupied this area and constructed earthworks on the knoll north of the spring site. When these troops temporarily left the area on the afternoon of July 2, General Greene was forced to leave much of it unoccupied as his thin line of troops could not reach the section of works above the spring. Adjacent to the spring was a large meadow, bordered on one end by Rock Creek and at its western edge by the Baltimore Pike and Powers Hill where General Henry Slocum had established a headquarters. From this hill, Union officers and artillerymen could overlook the meadow to Rock Creek, which was effective for Union guns during the daytime, but Confederates from General Edward Johnson's Division decided to arrive in this area long after nightfall.
Gen. Steuart
Generals in Gray | Brig. General George "Maryland" Steuart's Brigade came upon these abandoned earthworks in the darkness and while Steuart's men were initially unopposed, Confederate units adjacent to his ran into Greene's men and fighting broke out. Steuart reformed his nervous men at the freshly captured works and sent the 10th Virginia Infantry forward as skirmishers into the black woods where they reached a stone wall bordering a small pasture. Darkness proved to be helpful to the Virginians but was also a detriment as the officers cold not see any Union positions and had little idea of where they actually were. "The regiment was compelled to change front to the rear and perpendicular to the wall," Steuart reported, "from behind which it repulsed a bayonet charge made by a regiment of the enemy." Threatened with another charge that may not be as easily stopped, "the brigade was ordered back to the works, where it was formed in line of battle, the First Maryland Battalion on the right and Tenth Virginia on the left, the North Carolina regiments still remaining outside the breastworks. This reconnaissance, as well as the reports of scouts and the statements of prisoners, gave us the assurance that we had gained an admirable position." Steuart's troops repelled another Union probe toward the Spangler's Spring area before 11 P.M., when the firing slowly died away and the night turned strangely quiet. Sensing that more Union opposition may lay in wait if he pursued his attack, General Johnson ordered Steuart and the rest of his command to halt and occupy the ground where they were while he requested reinforcements be sent to renew the attack the next morning.
At 4 A.M. when Johnson's men were counter-attacked by returning Twelfth Corps troops, Steuart's soldiers found themselves trapped on the knoll. His right regiments, the 1st and 3rd North Carolina were pinned down by strong Union rifle fire coming from the summit and Union regiments that slipped into the woods immediately west of his position. Union artillery on the Baltimore Pike blasted the trees around his men, defenseless against this terrible fire.
At the height of the fighting, two Union regiments- the 2nd Massachusetts and the 27th Indiana, were ordered to send skirmishers toward the knoll where Steuart's men were locked in. By the time the order was delivered to the commanders of the regiments, it called for a full scale attack. Incredulous, Lt. Colonel Charles Mudge of the 2nd Massachusetts told his officers, "Boys, it is murder. But these are our orders!" The attack was a disaster. As the two regiments charged into the the meadow just south of the spring, they were hit on three sides by musket fire, not only from Steuart but Virginians of Brig. General Walker's brigade, who had arrived to support the left of Steuart's line. Both regiments lost heavily, including Colonel Mudge who was shot dead during the charge.
Boulders and rocks like these near Spangler's Spring provided cover to some of General Steuart's Confederates during the fighting that morning.
Gettysburg NMP |
After seven hours of continuous fighting with no possibility of achieving any success, General Johnson ordered Steuart to pull his men from the positions here and reform with the division after re-crossing Rock Creek. For General Maryland Steuart, the fighting had taken a very toll on his command. His 1st Maryland Battalion had lost 189 soldiers out of 400 present and the two North Carolina regiments of his brigade, the 1st and 3rd, had both lost almost half of their numbers during the fighting. "My poor boys," the general said as his survivors crawled from the hill, "oh, my poor boys!" The earthworks were soon reoccupied by Union troops who spent the remainder of the day recovering wounded soldiers and burying the dead of both armies. "We have just concluded the most severe battle of the War," Colonel George Cobham, 111th Pennsylvania Infantry wrote to his brother on July 4th, "which has resulted in a complete victory on the Union side. The fighting has lasted two days and been desperate on both sides. All round me as I write, our men are busy burying the dead. The ground is literally covered with them and the blood is standing in pools all round me; it is a sickening sight."
The forest of healthy hardwoods on Culp's Hill bore the scars of this battle for many years afterward, objects of keen interest to visitors. "The scene of this conflict was covered by a forest of dead trees," Henry Hunt wrote of Culp's Hill in the 1880's, "leaden bullets proving as fatal to them as to the soldiers whose bodies were thickly strewn beneath them."
The Legend of Spangler's Spring
Spangler's Spring in 1863
Battles & Leaders |
Located at the southern end of Culp's Hill, Spangler's Spring is adjacent to one of the few open pasture areas in this part of the battlefield. This natural spring provided a steady supply of clear water to refresh farmer and animal alike for many years prior to the battle. With throats parched after their long trek to Gettysburg, Union soldiers of the Twelfth Army Corps relished the water of Spangler's Spring as they gathered on the wooded slopes of Culp's Hill on July 2. These thirsty troops constructed log and earthen barricades on the hillside before they were marched away to support the crumbling Union left flank at the Peach Orchard. Later that same night, the Confederates of Brig. General "Maryland" Steuart's Brigade occupied those abandoned breastworks and also used the spring to fill their canteens. The Union counterattack early the following morning placed the spring in no man's land. Because it lay in front of the reversed line, the thirsty southerners could not get back to it without running the risk of being shot by Union infantrymen who lay not more that 50 feet away. The spring site was reoccupied by Union troops late on the morning of July 3rd, finally denying it's use to the southerners.
Spangler's Spring today
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Legends sprouted soon after the battle that temporary truces were called between the sides so that men from both armies could fill their cups and canteens from this spring. This legend, no doubt, sprung from the stories told by some of the veterans who visited the battlefield years after the war when tales of cooperation between soldiers of both sides were popular. It is doubtful, when looking back at the historic evidence, that this actually occurred because of the location of the spring and the vicious fighting that raged around it. Yet, the legend of those temporary truces declared at Spangler's Spring is still very strong today.
The fame of Spangler's Spring and its legend eventually led to damage from so many visitors who trampled its banks and destroyed the stone covers. To preserve the spring, the United States War Department constructed a permanent stone and concrete cover over it in 1895, with a small metal trap door to gain access to its waters. A metal dipper was provided for visitors to quench their thirst as the soldiers had done years before. This practice was halted soon after administration of the battlefield was assigned to the National Park Service. Due to the possibility of ground water contamination, the waters of Spangler's Spring are no longer available for public consumption.
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Gettysburg National Military Park
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