Gettysburg Daily

Signal Stations at Little Round Top and Devil’s Den



The Signal Corps of the James, and Union and Confederate reenactment group visited Little Round Top and Devil’s Den today to practice sending signals. The Federal “branch” of the group is on Little Round Top near the position of a Union signal station on the second and the third days of the Battle of Gettysburg. The statue to Gouvenour K. Warren is to the left. Licensed Battlefield Guide Ed Guy is talking to his group behind the signalmen and signalwomen. This view was taken from the southwest facing northeast at approximately 12:00 PM on Friday, July 4, 2008.

The 4th of July weekend has brought many reenactors to Gettysburg for the 145th anniversary of the battle. Some reenactors decided to stay on the battlefield instead of the reenactment site this morning. Included in that group were the Signal Corps of the James. This is a Confederate reenactment group that also has a Federal “branch” in case someone prefers to work with the United States signal corps. The Gettysburg Daily took photographs of the group around noon Friday, as they signaled to each other from Little Round Top to Devil’s Den.



The group practiced signalling to Devil’s Den, approximately 550 yards from this position on Little Round Top. The Confederate signalmen at Devil’s Den momentarily had their flags rolled up as it began to sprinkle. This view was taken from the northeast facing southwest at approximately 12:00 PM on Friday, July 4, 2008.



The Confederate signalmen at Devil’s Den, looking back to Little Round Top. There are three colors of flags, the white background with a red square in the middle as we showed you in the previous pictures, red with a white square in the middle, shown here, and black with a white square in the middle, not shown. This view was taken from the southwest facing northeast at approximately 12:00 PM on Friday, July 4, 2008.



The flag holder with the red flag is reading the signals from Little Round Top, so that the person in the red sergeant stripes behind him can write down the code, and then decode it. This view was taken from the southeast facing northwest at approximately 12:00 PM on Friday, July 4, 2008.

To get the attention of another signal station, a signalman waves the flag back and forth as shown here. This view was taken from the southeast facing northwest at approximately 12:00 PM on Friday, July 4, 2008.