GDG- Hancock's Monument

[John Baniszewski]

Hancock's monument may seem to be in a backwater location now, but that was not the case when it was built.  East Cemetery Hill used to be prime real estate from a visitation viewpoint.  It was the site of one of the earliest observation towers.  

It is unfortunate East Cemetery Hill does not get more visitors.   Few people appreciate its importance in the battle, and the July 2 action there gets fairly little written about it.  If one views ECH from the southeast, one gets a much better appreciation of how it looked in 1863, but not many folks see it from that angle.  

Unfortunately, as much as I would like to stop there while giving my tours, ECH is hard to visit. in a two-hour tour.  This is due to the one-way road network in the park, and the lack of parking near ECH.  On many occasions I have been asked to focus on a specific place on the battlefield, rather than do an "overview" tour, but no one has ever requested that I take them to ECH.

It would be nice if some of the monuments could be relocated.  In particular, I would like to see the Maryland Monument moved to Culp's Hill.  Maybe now that the Maryland monument will no longer be in a prime tourist location, someone in Maryland will start a movement to relocate it.

John Baniszewski


John Baniszewski