Devil's Den Revisited--Gettysburg Part 2

I had more to write on Gettysburg but the last few weeks have been extremely busy. I have four drafts waiting but no time to edit.

July 2, 1863. Union troops held Little Round Top and Confederate troops approached from a large outcropping of rocks known as Devil's Den. The two groups of men shot at each other until thousands of bodies lay in the valley along a creek, an area that became known as the Slaughter Pen. The first picture above is looking down from Little Round Top and the second is looking up from Devil's Den.

We stood in each of these areas on a beautiful spring morning, imagining the young men stumbling along the rocky ground, tripping over bodies, the air thick with smoke. We are told the landscape looks very much the same as it did in 1863.

Fred and I came here years ago with the boys. Back then we came to play, not study history. Scrambling over the rocks at Devil's Den led to an ultimate game of Hide-and-Seek. We were fearless as we jumped around the huge boulders, finding narrow crevices to stuff ourselves into so no one could find us. Today we are cautious, fearing broken legs or skulls, or maybe even finding snakes! After all, Devil's Den was a named for a large snake that slithered among the cool caverns long ago. I did not share the girls' thrill of climbing on the rocks because I worried they would fall. Oh, how twenty years changes your perspective!

I looked for one of the best hiding spots where Fred and I hid and Damien and Dominic never did find us. As I peered behind the massive rock blocking the entrance, I decided I would never attempt to crawl in there now. But Fred and the girls were more brave and climbed under the boulder and found the shelf where Fred and I sat so long ago, holding our breath as the boys searched for us. The girls loved the story about the fun we had that day. Now we make new memories and new stories.