The Wheatfield lays halfway between Little Round Top and the Peach Orchard, it’s an area of approximately 25 acres, which is bordered on the north and south by woodlands, and to the west there is a wooded rocky outcrop known as Stony Hill. The Wheatfield and Stony Hill formed the center of the battle line of Union General David Birney’s division of Sickle’s 3rd Corp. There were 3 brigades involved on the Union side in this battle. Under the command of General Hobart Ward was the left hand brigade holding Houck’s Ridge and the Valley of Death, in the center under command of Colonel Regis de Trobriand was the center brigade holding the Wheatfield and Stony Hill. Lastly on the right side there was General Charles Graham at the edge of the Peach Orchard.

As the Confederate’s under General Hood’s division attacked Devil’s Den and Little Round Top another brigade

from the 3rd Arkansas came to reinforce the Confederate’s, this led to a lengthy firefight in which de Trobiand’s forces sent the Arkansas contingent back out of the Wheatfield. After sending in Hood’s division Longstreet sent two brigades toward the Peach Orchard but they were held back on the command of General Lee. Hood’s brigades were separated into two groups because of the terrain and circumstances of the battle; South Carolina regiments were in the same predicament. After the South Carolinians crossed Emmitsburg Road they came upon the backside of Stony Hill, half the forces marched toward Stony Hill while the other half marched at the Union batteries, which were occupying the space between Stony Hill and the Peach Orchard.

Looking back at the Union side de Trobiand’s troops were up against the ropes. After fighting off the southerners of the 3rd Arkansas they were left with roughly a third of their fighting force, in the last engagement nearly 500 were killed or wounded out of 1400 engaged. Two additional Union brigades were sent to the assistance and reached him without much resistance. At this point in the engagement all Union forces were trying to fall back and regroup, with the loss of Ward’s command on Houck’s Ridge the Confederates were in control of the 3rd Corps line from Devil’s Den to Stony Hill. This didn’t last for long as the Union forces were coming on the counteroffensive.

The battle for the Peach Orchard was no less deadly for both sides. General Layfayette McLaws commanded the second division of Longstreet’s Corps. He was a solid Georgian who was known more for a strong defense rather then an aggressive offense, but on this day his forces attacked like tigers. He sent two brigades to fight for Stony Hill and the Wheatfield while his other regiments were advancing into artillery fire from the

Some topics in this essay:
Stony Hill, Pickett’s Division, Peach Orchard, Looking Union, Road Confederates, Union Confederate, Battle Gettysburg, Confederate Lines, Round Top, Pickett’s Charge, peach orchard, stony hill, union forces, civil war, emmitsburg road, pickett’s charge, confederate lines, battle gettysburg, union artillery, union forces trying, brigade holding, wheatfield stony hill, stony hill wheatfield, stony hill half, wheatfield peach orchard,