magnifier
Image
magbottom
 
Detail of The Death of General Reynolds, by Peter Frederick Rothermel
Close Window

Detail of Peter Frederick Rothermel's <i>The Death of General Reynolds.</i> The first day's fighting at Gettysburg.  Painting detail of Soldiers carrying a stretcher with the body of Union General John Reynolds.

Credit: Courtesy of the State Museum of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

"How goes it John" came the familiar voice calling up from below. Up in the observatory on the Seminary roof watching the early stages of the fighting unfold, General John Buford immediately recognized his friend and Union First Corps commander John F. Reynolds. "The devil's to pay!" Buford called down. After conferring with Buford, Reynolds decided McPherson's Ridge was the best place to establish an artillery and infantry battle line. Peter Frederick Rothermel's dark painting shows the dead General Reynolds being carried off the battlefield as his troops repel the initial Confederate attacks, at McPherson's Ridge, on July 1, 1863.

Back to Top