Study Areas

Enslavement

Year of Jubilee (1863)

Gettysburg Battlefield, Adams County, Pennsylvania

Visit the Gettysburg Battlefield if you are able. Confederate General Robert E. Lee's June 1863 invasion of Pennsylvania ended in a three-day battle that resulted in over 51,000 casulties in killed, wounded, captured or missing. No studies of African American history should overlook the events and aftermath that took place in this small southcentral Pennsylvania border town. While no regiments of the United States Colored Troops were involved in this battle, African Americans were present in large numbers as support personnel, servants, enslaved workers and civilians.

Places

For a first visit, an organized tour is the most useful. Understanding the events of the three days of fighting that took place on July 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 1863, and merely finding your way around, is easiest if using the free map and route planned by the National Park Service, using the services of a hired official Gettysburg Battlefield Guide, or simply with a knowledgable friend.

If you are able, explore as much as possible on foot. Walk the fields and avenues, examine the monuments up close, explore some of the many paths that often end up at a small marker in an out-of-the-way location.

Explorations

The Devil's Kitchen
Seldom visited, the Devil's Kitchen is a large formation of boulders on the western slope of Big Round Top. Bloody skirmishing took place near and around these rocks in the late afternoon of July 2, 1863. Captain Lucius Larrabee of the 44th New York Infantry died in a fight with advancing Texans. (video, 5:52)

Captain Henry Fuller's Death
In search of the marker for the spot where Henry V. Fuller of the 64th New York Infantry died on July 2, 1863 in Rose Woods at Gettysburg. We're taking a recently marked path from the old trolley trace to avoid having to tramp through the marshy terrain surrounding Rose Run. (video, 4:19)