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Food for thought . . The monuments and flank markers that are scattered throughout Gettysburg National Military Park were for the most part installed in the decades following the Civil War. Because the battle had been fought over a three day period, often over the same ground, with different units from both sides sometimes occupying the same position at different times, it was frequently difficult to resolve disputes about where individual monuments should be placed. In general, every effort was made to mark and memorialize each unit's contribution on or near the spot where they fought or made a stand.
These two versions of the story of the 90th Pennsylvania's monument reveal one of the difficulties of historical study. Which of the two stories do you prefer to believe? Do you know of any episode from the past about which some myths or some stories that might not be actually true have arisen? Why does this happen? And finally, what is an allegory? |
The Surrender of the 16th Maine at Gettysburg
"Flank
Markers" are small granite slabs that you will find throughout
the Gettysburg Battlefield. They indicate the extreme right and left
flanks of a unit's position during a significant phase of action in
the three days of the battle. Here you can see how compressed the 16th
Maine was at the moment the Confederates surrounded them. This is quite
a contrast to their morning action due west of this location, where
their right and left flanks were some 450 feet apart! The small white
monument at the center marks the spot where the Color Bearers stood. The odd looking monument depicting a tree stump behind the 16th Maine's markers belongs to the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry, who had retreated from this spot before the arrival of the 16th Maine. The Park Guides and Rangers will tell you two stories about this monument that have come down to them over the years. One story is that during the battle, the 90th Pennsylvania was fighting near a tree during an intense artillery shelling. They noticed that the concussions of the artillery fire had knocked a bird's nest containing some baby birds out of the tree, so some of the men rushed over and carefully replaced the nest. Years later, it is said, the 90th Pennsylvania decided to commemorate this incident with this monument. The other story is that no such incident ever occurred - or at least there is no proof that it did. Rather, they will tell you, the monument is allegorical. The lifeless tree stump represents the destruction of war, while the vine that you can see twisting around the trunk represents survival; and the little bronze nest with the baby birds that you can just make out at the top left of the stump represents renewed life. |
This page was last 
on
September 24, 2002.
Maine State Archives
