Devil's Den is a boulder-strewn hill on the south end of Houck's Ridge at

Gettysburg Battlefield The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the site of the first shot & at Knoxlyn Ridge ...

, used by artillery and sharpshooters on the second day of the 1863

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. A

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

since the memorial association era, several boulders are worn from foot traffic and the site includes numerous cannons, memorials, and walkways, including a bridge spanning two boulders.

History

Devil's Den was formed with

Little Round Top Little Round Top is the smaller of two rocky hills south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—the companion to the adjacent, taller hill named Big Round Top. It was the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left ...

(to the east) and Big Round Top (southeast) by periglacial frost wedging of the

igneous Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial ...

landform formed 200 million years ago when a

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-gra ...

sill intruded through the Triassic Gettysburg plain. The feature acquired its foreboding name prior to the 1863 battle. Throughout the mid-19th century, local residents believed that the crevices between the boulders were home to a large snake. The size of the reptile varied between accounts, but reports ranged from to as large as . The snake became known as "

The Devil Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or 'e ...

", and thus the area he was believed to inhabit became known as "The Devil's Den".

Some soldiers' accounts used the name "Devil's Cave", and a depression on a boulder that collects water resembles a flying horned bat.

Battle of Gettysburg

On July 2, 1863, Smith's Union battery, with six Napoleon smooth-bores, used the hill to counterfire on Confederate States Army, Confederate artillery prior to McLaws' Assault at 5:30 pm. Against Hood's Assault that started at 4 pm, Devil's Den was defended by Birney's 1st Division as the far left position from

The Peach Orchard The Peach Orchard is a Gettysburg Battlefield site at the southeast corner of the north-south Emmitsburg Road intersection with the Wheatfield Road. The orchard is demarcated on the east and south by Birney Avenue, which provides access to var ...

Salient of the III Corps. The hill was captured when the " First Texas Regiment, having pressed forward to the crest of the hill and driven the enemy from his battery", and Anderson's Confederates used the hill for the first attack on

The Wheatfield During the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 2, 1863) Confederate States of America, Confederate General (CSA), Gen. Robert E. Lee attempted to capitalize on his first day's accomplishments. His Army of Northern Virginia launched multi ...

. From near the Slaughter Pen, the 40th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment forced the 2nd & 17th Georgia regiments of Benning's Brigade to retreat to Devil's Den. Confederate sharpshooters were stationed between the rocks to fire upon Union soldiers at Little Round Top, among their victims being General Stephen H. Weed and Lieutenant Charles E. Hazlett. Hazlett's guns counter-fired upon them, and many were killed from the concussion of air. The 124th NY monument with Ellis statue was dedicated near Devil's Den in 188

Postbellum avenues were constructed to Devil's Den such as Sickles' Avenue from the west, Crawford Avenue in 1895 (north), and Warren Avenue across Plum Run (east). From 1894 to 1916, the Gettysburg Electric Railway operated on a curve crossing Plum Run (Rock Creek) around the south base of the hill with the Tipton Station providing Devil's Den service

In 1916, a Devil's Den boulder was used as a Satterlee Hospital memorial at Philadelphia's Clark Park. The nearby 1933 comfort station was demolished in 2009, and its access bridge over Plum Run remains to the east. In 1952, ROTC students conducted a mock battle at the sit

and the "Devil's Den Access Committee" was formed in 198

The site's ID Tablet was designated a Historic District Contributing Structure in 2004, and the Devil's Den barricade is structure WA35 on the

Gettysburg National Military Park The Gettysburg National Military Park protects and interprets the landscape of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought over three days between July 1 and July 3, 1863, during the American Civil War. The park, in the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania area, is m ...

's List of Classified Structures. File:Confederate Dead at Devil's Den Gettysburg.jpg, '' Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter'' - Post-battle Confederate sharpshooter body staged behind the "Devil's Den barricade" illustrating "a sharpshooter…of Devil's Den" such as the one presumed killed by a percussion of a cannon shot from

after Weed and Hazlett had been sniped. Tenatively identified 2018 as a Georgia soldier. File:Devil's Den sharpshooter 2018.jpg, The area of Devil's Den where the "Sharpshooter" image was staged. (May 25, 2018) File:View of dead at Devil's Den, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg, Taken in Devil's Den of PA militiamen playing "Dead" in November 1863!See W. Frassanito "Early Photography at Gettysburg" .pp.294-299 File:Alfred_Waud_by_Timothy_H._O%27Sullivan.jpg, Civil War artist

Alfred Waud Alfred Rudolph Waud ( ; October 2, 1828 – April 6, 1891) was an American artist and illustrator, born and raised in Hackney, London, England. He is most notable for the sketches he made as an artist correspondent during the American Civil War ...

sketching for the

at Devil's Den. File:Devil's Den 101215.jpg, Devil's Den in 2015. File:Devils Den from Little Round Top.jpg, Devil's Den viewed from Little Round Top. File:1904 Cope map - Gettysburg Electric Railway.png, Devil's Den (left) is across Sickles Av & Plum Run from the trolley railbed.

References

External links

History.Net :Devil's Den
{{Battle of Gettysburg Hills of Pennsylvania Landforms of Adams County, Pennsylvania Gettysburg Battlefield