Gettysburg Daily

Lee’s Headquarters: Civil War Trust Restoration Part 2

This map shows the location of the 1863 structures at the Thompson property, acquired and restored by the Civil War Trust. This image courtesy of the Civil War Trust.

Our host for this series is Licensed Battlefield Guide Garry Adelman (right), along with some help from Licensed Battlefield Guide Tim Smith. Here they are in 2012 discussing the Harvest of Death series at the Rose Farm. We’ll hear an update from Garry and Tim about the Harvest of Death photographs in an upcoming series.This image was taken on Wednesday, February 18, 2012.

LBG Garry Adelman tells us about John Burns and the cellar door at the Riggs House, across from the Mary Thompson House along the Chambersburg Pike. Garry is standing in the red rectangle marking the Riggs House in the first photo of this post. The Riggs House foundation is next to the James Thompson House, along the southern side of the Chambersburg Pike. This video was taken on Thursday, August 18, 2016.
The cellar door where John Burns reportedly called for people to get his wife and take him home.

In the background of Garry’s video is a headquarters marker for Robert E. Lee. It was placed by the War Department. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 8:00 PM on Saturday July 23, 2016.

LBG Tim Smith tells us about the renewed controversy surrounding the location of Robert E. Lee’s Headquarters during the Battle of Gettysburg. This video was taken on Thursday, August 18, 2016.

As Tim asked, “Did Robert E. Lee use the Thompson House as his headquarters, or did he have his headquarters setup somewhere in a field NEAR the Thompson House?” If we had to guess, where was Lee’s Headquarters? This video was taken on Thursday, August 18, 2016.