GDG- Iverson's Pits Question

[Jack Kelly]

Greetings, Bill,

The REAL experts on Iverson's Pits are the brothers Lawrence, as proved in 
the infamous 1996 (or was it 1997?) Muster "Iverson's Pits Ghost Tour". 
However, I will attempt to answer your inquiry.  The field in front of the 
stone wall was, as you know, the scene of Iverson's attack.  The Pits were 
in the middle of the field, and the interred remains were removed in the 
late 1800's (1880's IIRC).  The land itself was continuously farmed until 
fairly recently, so there would be little evidence of the Pits surviving.
However, some 20-25 years ago, I was on a November Gettysburg tour with the 
old Civil War Society and we visited the Pits area.  Most of the grass in 
the field was brown, but there were some roughly rectangular areas about 
100-200 feet in front of the stone wall where the grass was very green.  We 
opined at the time that this may have been the site of the burial pits 
(richer soil than in the surrounding area?).  Other than this occasion, I 
have never seen any surviving evidence of  Iverson's Pits.

Regards,

Jack Kelly


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "William Nolan" <wjn100 at hotmail.com>
To: "GDG" <gettysburg at gdg.org>
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 11:52 PM
Subject: GDG- Iverson's Pits Question


Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:


Hello...   We spend last weekend at Gettysburg and wanted to find Iverson 's 
Pits.    We spend several hours walking the field at Iverson's attack and 
found nothing that looked to be shallow pits.   I came to the conclusion 
that the pits are filled in and are no longer an identifiable landmark where 
you can point to them and say "Aha, here they are!"   Is that correct, or 
did I simply miss them.   So, where are/were Iverson's pits in relation to 
other landmarks, such as the 99th PA monument (with Sallie the dog), the Oak 
Ridge tower, or the 88th Pa monument which is located in an advanced 
position?    There was a small Confederate flag located within 10 paces of 
the 88 PA monument and I though that might mark the approximate location of 
the burial trench.   Anyone know?

I want to also confirm that the view from the top of Houck's ridge is 
awesome with the trees gone!  Incredible!   To be able to look west from 
Houck's ridge and see clear across the Emmitsburg road is a sight I am glad 
I have lived long enough to see.   It certainly gives a whole new 
perspective to that area of the battlefield.   For example, I had no idea 
that the Slyder farm is as close to the Slaughter pen as it actually is. 
This is a view that you just simply want to sit there and drink it all in.

Bill
_________________________________________________________________
Explore the seven wonders of the world
http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=7+wonders+world&mkt=en-US&form=QBRE     
               ----------------------------------------------------------------
You may unsubscribe by going to 
http://mailman.arthes.com/mailman/listinfo/gettysburg

You can add yourself to the GDG map at: 
http://www.frappr.com/gettysburgdiscussiongroup

View archived posts from May 2004 -  present at 
http://mailman.arthes.com/pipermail/gettysburg/