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Finding Where Milo Grow fought at the Battle of Gettysburg |
Gettysburg: The Marker
At the National Park headquarters at Gettysburg, we asked a ranger where we would find information on the Georgia 51st. She looked it up in a little book and told us to look on the Semmes markers, and where they were located. We found two markers, containing essentially the same information. One marked where the troops assembled, and one marked where they crossed the road during the fighting on the second day, on the way to the ravine, loop, and wheatfield.
The main marker reads:
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C.S.A. Army of Northern Virginia. Longstreet's Corps McLaw's Division SEMMES'S BRIGADE. 10th, 50th, 51st, 53rd Georgia Infantry. July 2. Arrived about 3:30 p.m. and formed line 50 yards west of this. Advanced about 5 p.m. in support of Kershaw and Anderson and took a prominent part in the severe and protracted conflict on Rose Hill and in the Ravine and Forest east of there and in the vicinity of the Loop. Participated also in the general advance late in the evening by which the Union forces were forced out of the wheatfield and across Plum Run Valley. Brig.-Gen Paul J. Semmes fell mortally wounded in the ravine near the Loop. July 3. During the forenoon, Anderson's Brigade being withdrawn for duty elsewhere, the brigade was left in occupancy of the woodland south of the Wheatfield. At 1 p.m. under orders it resumed its original position near here. July 4. About midnight began the march to Hagerstown, Md. Present about 1200. Losses 430. |
This marker is about 100 yards south of the observation tower on West Confederate Avenue, adjacent to the tall marble obelisque to Georgia Confederate Soldiers.
Gettysburg: Directions
It is easy to drive to the place where the Georgia 51st fought. Take the road passing south of Little Round Top and turn west before reaching Big Round Top. Go left on Crawford Avenue, past Devil's Den. At the next crossroad, take a left, off the main route of the auto tour.
At this road's westernmost stretch, a series of large momuments appear on the right commemorating Northern troops: an obelisque to the 64th N.Y. Infantry, an impressive bronze soldier atop the memorial to the 53rd Pennsylvania Infatry. On the left facing the bronze soldier is a metal plaque, about three by three feet, close to the ground and dwarfed by the granite memorials across the road. It marks the path of Semmes's brigade, including the Georgia 51st and, presumably, Milo Grow.
From this marker, you can walk through the woods downhill to the little stream at the bottom of the ravine. Or you can drive around the next bend and look closely on the left side of the road for the sign "DeTrobriand Avenue." Directly opposite this sign, a wide footpath starts downhill to the ravine and a small wooden footbridge. Uphill, a faint path leads about 50 yards to The Loop and Wheatfield.
This is where Milo's regiment, the 51st Georgia, fought at the Battle of Gettysburg.
An Imaginative Reconstruction of Milo Grow's experience at Gettysburg