The
igneous hill
was formed 200 million years ago when the
outcrop of the
Gettysburg sill intruded through the
Triassic Gettysburg plain. Subsequent
periglacial frost wedging during the
Pleistocene formed the hill's extensive
boulders. on the slope of Big Round Top and established a burial ground about one mile southwest.
prior to the 1736 British purchase of the region.
Civil War and turned to pass behind the Confederates (red) on the spur of Big Round Top. •Right: After the
"20th ME" had 'refused the line' (4th & 5th TX were temporarily under Law).[http://www.civilwarhome.com/robertsongettysburgor.htm
Earlier on July 2 from Big Round Top, 2 of
Law 's CSA (red) regiments assaulted the 20th ME. During the
Battle of Gettysburg, Big Round Top's slope, timber, and boulders precluded
placement of artillery on the summit. when "
it was growing dark", Big "
Round Top was still in [the]
possession of the [Confederate]
skirmishers, who were firing upon our men. It was important to hold this hill, as…it commanded…our line. I directed Colonel Fisher to occupy it at once. He immediately detached [3 regiments]
, who advanced promptly, driving the enemy before them" (
Crawford's report). to carry the hill and earn Wells' 1891
Medal of Honor. By September 1863,
David McConaughy had begun to acquire a portion of Big Round Top for battlefield preservation. The
Elon J. Farnsworth monument was erected before 1896 at the base of Big Round Top, and statues of
William Wells (1931) and
John Michael Tobin are also on the hill.
Reconstruction era Kilpatrick Avenue when the gravel South Confederate Avenue was constructed across the northwest slope. In 1903, Wright Avenue was constructed along the northeast slope,
Harry Truman visited Big Round Top in 1946.In 1964, the Big Round Top Nature Trail was created around the hill and provided access to the Devil's Kitchen.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3B8mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8P0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4785,1837654&dq=tower+round-top&hl=en The 1895 Big Round Top Observation Tower was dismantled in 1968 and the
foundation was named a historic ruin in 2004.
Observation Tower Late in the day of July 3, Union brigadier general Judson Kilpatrick ordered the cavalry brigade of Brigadier General Elon Farnsworth to charge Confederate infantry of Major General John Bell Hood’s division who were on and near the slopes of Big Round Top. Hood had been wounded the previous day, and his division was under the command of Brigadier General Evander Law. One after another, three of the four regiments of Farnsworth’s brigade charged over broken ground into Confederate fire and were repulsed. The final regiment, the 1st Vermont, then made the attempt. Farnsworth divided it into three battalions and personally led the second battalion. The tower was built in the late 19th century. Fred Lyons of Baltimore led the construction team that moved the foundation's granite blocks to the Big Round Top summit using block and tackle driven by a 12-horsepower engine. Constructed on the
Gettysburg Battlefield's highest hill, the Big Round Top tower was to be replaced for the
1938 anniversary reunion by a stone "Gettysburg Peace Memorial" with a 75-foot-high
observation deck above the summit and a flame 30 feet higher. (The
memorial was instead erected on
Oak Hill.)
Destruction During 1968
tower maintenance, the Schlesser Demolition Co dismantled the Big Round Top tower as uneconomical due to "
its condition and the very limited use [due to an uphill, lengthy, and
serpentine trail.]
Most who started the climb gave out en route, and upon reaching the tower decided against continuing the climb to the top of the metal observatory" (GNMP Superintendent George F.
Emery). The foundation ruin (park structure RU05) of the "national landmark" tower, ==See also==