June 2012 Travel Photo: Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill at Dusk

This months travel photo is on Cemetery Hill at dusk with Culp's Hill in the background.  Cemetery Hill was the fallback point for the Union troops at the end of the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg.  Both Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill were the seen of intense fighting the second day into the night as Confederate troops learned the hard lessons of attacking an entrenched force on the high ground.

Union General George Meade ordered his troops to hold a series of hills and ridges outside the town of Gettysburg.  He was a topographic engineer (geographer) who knew the value of terrain in a battle.  His victory turned the tide of the Civil War and was the first significant defeat for Confederate General Robert E. Lee.