Bronze Union soldier statue on rock overlooking Gettysburg battlefield

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The bronze Union soldier that stands on a granite pedestal above the Gettysburg battlefield is one of the best-known monuments on the field, and this view places him against a rocky outcrop from which the surrounding fields can be read. Monuments of this kind began appearing on the Gettysburg battlefield in the decades after the 1863 battle, as veterans' groups and states sought to mark where their regiments had fought. The rough stone beneath the figure, rather than a plain plinth, suggests the ridgeline terrain the men once held and gives the statue a sense of standing guard over ground that was costly to take and hold.

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