Beyond the Book
Following in Sam Johnston’s Footsteps:
Modern Photos of the Reconnaissance Route
(Click photos to enlarge)
McMillan’s Hill, from the north. This is the view Johnston or J.P. Smith would have had heading south from town, or Lee’s headquarters.
The McMillan Orchard offered an expansive view of the field, from Cemetery Hill (left) to the Round Tops (right). The one glaring exception was the ground between the Emmitsburg Road Ridge and the Round Tops.
The view toward Cemetery Hill from McMillan’s Hill. The sunrise survey started here, near where Lee and Longstreet viewed the reforming Federal position on the evening of July 1.
The Emmitsburg Road Ridge (and eventual Federal position) as seen from the Point of Woods.
The ground covered by the sunrise survey, from right to left along the tree line in the distance, viewed from Cemetery Ridge near the Bryan house. The grove of trees to the right marks the current housing development, blocking the view of McMillan’s Hill.
Cemetery Hill viewed from the Point of Woods.
Hill’s headquarters, as seen from Seminary Ridge between McMillan’s Hill and the Point of Woods. (The current farm is privately owned. This view is from NPS property).
The Round Tops stand in “bold relief,” as Coupland Page remembered from his morning reconnaissance with William Pendleton on July 2.
The western slope of Seminary Ridge, which was one of the possible routes Johnston took from the sunrise survey to the Emmitsburg Road.
The Round Tops from the intersection of the Slyder farm lane and the Emmitsburg Road. The farm lane fits Johnston’s description of heading “in the direction of the Round Top across the Emmitsburg Road.”
The entrance to the Slyder lane along the Emmitsburg Road.
Johnston’s view from the proximity of the Snyder farm, near the intersection of modern Confederate Avenue and the Emmitsburg Road. Note the distance from the Peach Orchard and the cover the rolling ridges provide.
Looking in the direction of Hood’s planned crossing of Willoughby Run and where Johnston waited for McLaws’s column on the afternoon of July 2, 1863.
Where Hood’s Division rested before forming up for the march to the Federal left flank, taken from Meredith Avenue.