GDG- Copes of Trees

[Gettysburg Engineering]

There is often a discussion on the height and number of the trees in the
Copse at the time of the battle..
This discussion is sometimes  basis on the few photos taken shortly after
the battle.. I have seen a few references made to how cannon fire destroyed
this wood lot. It is reasonable to believe that both artillery and musket
fire would have had destroyed many of these trees, they being in a place of
intense concentrated firing.  As Dave mentioned, cutting a path for
artrillery
firing would also cleared some of the area.  For these reasons I believe the
Copse may have had more significant growth and size then some believe.

Regards

Dean Shultz


>  The "Copse of Trees" known today as the "High Water Mark of the
Confederacy"
> was not as small as the majestic Oaks represented today suggest. That
> particular unkept woodlot appears to have been unused for quite some time
with thick
> underbrush and saplings ranging as far north as the wall separating
Cushing
> and Arnold. That brush was quite high and quite thick around the then
10-foot
> oaks. Infantry were turned into pioneers to help cut, break, a field of
fire for
> Cushing.

> Dave
>