STOP 2. OAK HILL.
(Please face southward with the Peace Memorial to your rear.)
The Battle of Gettysburg, which began at 8 a. m., on the two ridges a mile south of here, halted at noon, and the Confederates withdrew. At 1 o’clock, a strong Confederate force arrived from the north on this hill and fired into the flank of the Union men on the ridges to the south. Faced with this powerful fire and with renewed attack from the west, part of the Union forces were shifted to Oak Ridge (see monuments on the ridge to your left) to meet the attack from this direction. Union troops on the plain east of this ridge were soon forced by another strong Confederate charge to retreat headlong through the streets of Gettysburg, opening the Union line on Oak Ridge to flank and rear attack. By mid-afternoon, the Union position on Oak Ridge was abandoned, and the Confederates pursued the retreating Union troops through Gettysburg, halting in the western part of the town.
The gap in the South Mountains to your right is Cashtown Pass where Lee’s army crossed the range.