2nd United States Sharpshooters Part 3 With Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips
October 5, 2011
First Sergeant Wyman White of Company F, 2nd United States Sharpshooters joined the unit in November of 1861. White never missed an engagement in which the 2nd United States Sharpshooters fought, with the exceptions of South Mountain (September 14, 1862) and Antietam (September 17, 1862). He kept a diary throughout the war. It has been published and is now called The Civil War of Wyman White: First Sergeant, Company F 2nd United States Sharpshooters. This image was taken in the 1860s.
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips is our host for a series on the 2nd United States Sharpshooters. Gar is a retired police officer from Columbus, Ohio (25 years on the force), and has been a Licensed Battlefield Guide since 2006. He still lives in Ohio. Gar’s first visit to Gettysburg was 25 years ago and he was “hooked.” He had to come back every year on what his wife called Gar’s “Annual Mecca to Gettysburg.”
In our first post, Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips introduces us to the series on the 2nd United States Sharpshooters and shows where they were first deployed at Gettysburg.
In our second post, Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips provides some background of the qualifications to be a sharpshooter and shows us their targets (10 inches in diameter) at 100 yards and 200 yards.
In today’s United States Sharpshooters’ post, Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips shows the positions of the 2nd United States Sharpshooters along the Slyder Lane.
This map shows the location of where our United States Sharpshooters videos were produced. Videos #1-#6 were shown in our previous Sharpshooter posts. Videos #7 and #8 were taken at the John Slyder Farm near the monument to Companies E and H of the 2nd United States Sharpshooters. Video #9 was taken in the Slyder Lane approximately 300 yards from the Emmitsburg Road. This map was created facing north at approximately 6:30 PM on Saturday, October 1, 2011.
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips is the host for our program on Berdan’s Sharpshooters. He is standing by the monument to Companies E and H of the 2nd United States Sharpshooters, who were from Vermont. In the background is the Slyder Lane, along which the 2nd United States Sharpshooters were positioned on July 2, 1863, facing to the southwest or left and northwest, straight ahead. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 5:00 PM on Friday, September 30, 2011.
In Video #7 (Videos #1-#6 were shown in our previous posts, Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips is by the monument to some Vermont members of Berdan’s 2nd United States Sharpshooters. He shows the position of First Sergeant Wyman White between the John Slyder House and Barn. This view was taken facing northwest to south to southwest at approximately 5:00 PM on Friday, September 30, 2011.
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips is standing in the area where First Sergeant Wyman White was positioned on July 2, 1863. The John Slyder House is the stone structure on the left. The John Slyder Barn is the largest white structure in the left background. This view was taken facing south at approximately 5:00 PM on Friday, September 30, 2011.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips is standing by the monument to Companies E and H of the 2nd United States Sharpshooters, who were from Vermont. This image was taken facing south at approximately 5:00 PM on Friday, September 30, 2011.
In Video #8 Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips is standing by the monument to Companies E and H of the 2nd United States Sharpshooters. He explains why there is a hornet’s nest on their monument. This view was taken facing south at approximately 5:00 PM on Friday, September 30, 2011.
A closer view of the hornet’s nest on the monument to the Vermont Sharpshooters. This image was taken facing south at approximately 5:00 PM on Friday, September 30, 2011.
Gar Phillips is standing in the Slyder Lane. The structures in the background are at the Samuel Bushman Farm. Warfield Ridge is behind the structures. This image was taken facing southwest at approximately 5:00 PM on Friday, September 30, 2011.
In Video #9 Gar Phillips is standing in the Slyder Lane. He reads a quote from another soldier in the Second United States Sharpshooters as the Confederates moved from Warfield Ridge to this position. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 5:00 PM on Friday, September 30, 2011.
Gar Phillips is reminding us that at the time of the battle, stone walls were on both sides of the Slyder Farm Lane. This image was taken facing northwest at approximately 5:00 PM on Friday, September 30, 2011.
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Gar Phillips quotes from Wyman S. White’s Diary. The complete diary covers many of the eastern theater battles from the beginning of the war, except for South Mountain and Antietam.
To see other posts by Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guides,click here.
