The Peach Orchard

The advanced Union line arranged by General Sickles stretched from Devil's Den to the Peach Orchard, then angled northward on the Emmitsburg Road. This orchard at the intersection of Wheatfield Road and the Emmitsburg Road was owned by Joseph Sherfy whose house sat on the west side of the Emmitsburg Road. Mr. Sherfy maintained a substantial orchard of peach and apple trees and operated a small fruit canning business from his home. He got his wife and five children away from the place before the shooting started. Not only were Mr. Sherfy's orchards ruined during the battle, but his house was ransacked, his fences torn apart by Union troops and then Confederate artillerymen, his fields were covered with the dead, and his barn burned to the ground at the height of the fighting. To make the Peach Orchard a strong position, four Union batteries were initially posted here. These guns bombarded southern forces on Warfield Ridge and fired on Kershaw's men crossing the Rose Farm to attack the Wheatfield. The batteries continued firing until about 6:30 P.M. when a final Confederate charge by General William Barksdale's Mississippi brigade shattered the position.

Barksdale's soldiers snapped through the thin Union line after overpowering two Union regiments placed just west of the Sherfy house. The house was riddled with bullets as the combatants swept around it. Wounded men crawled into the house and barn for protection. The fiery Barksdale whipped his men forward across the Emmitsburg Road, north of the Peach Orchard where Union gunners and infantrymen found themselves surrounded. In the melee that followed, Union General Charles Graham was knocked from his horse and captured as his line disintegrated. The "Excelsior Brigade" of New York regiments, positioned in the orchard and along the Emmitsburg Road, fought back furiously and temporarily blocked the centre regiments of the Mississippi brigade.

The 73rd New York Infantry raced into fill a sudden gap in the line and hit Barksdale's soldiers head on. It was no use- within minutes the fight in front of the Sherfy House was over and the New Yorkers were ordered to retreat so that they would not be outflanked by the Confederates who were then sweeping around the tightening knots of Union defenders.

With the positions at the Peach Orchard crushed, Sickles' delicate line could no longer be held. Closely followed by General Wofford's Georgia brigade, the Mississippi brigade seemed unstoppable as they pushed through the Peach Orchard and into the valley toward Cemetery Ridge. The fields ahead were filled with confused, splintered Yankee regiments and retreating artillery, an inviting prize for the battle hardened men.

General A.A. Humphreys, in command of the Union division on the Emmitsburg Road, resolved to fight a stubborn withdrawal and slowly pulled his men back, stopping to turn and fire on Barksdale's men who were soon joined by two additional southern brigades from A.P. Hill's Corps. The field between the road and Plum Run was soon covered with blue-clad bodies as Humphreys' men stubbornly bought time with their lives. Yet they gave most of the Union artillery the precious time they needed to get away and reform on Cemetery Ridge.

Union batteries positioned on the Wheatfield Road had only seconds to spare to make their escape. South Carolinians rushed from the Rose Farm toward the road, shooting as they ran while desperate gunners dragged their heavy guns to the rear by hand. The 5th Massachusetts Battery had lost so many horses that guns, limbers and caissons had to be dragged off by man power, stopping only long enough to load and hastily fire canister at their pursuers. The last battery to leave was the 9th Massachusetts Battery. Horses and gunners tow their guns across the pasture toward the Trostle Farm buildings, stopping just long enough blast rounds of canister into pursuing infantry. The South Carolina soldiers were soon joined by the 2 1 st Mississippi of Barksdale's brigade who joined in the pursuit of the fleeing artillerymen.

The artillerymen could only delay the inevitable. The Confederate attack was sweeping over and around the Peach Orchard from three directions. As the Third Corps line crumbled, the vulnerable center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge was exposed. Only a token force of Union infantry and several batteries were available to fill this inviting gap. It was Lt. Colonel Freeman McGilvery, whose artillerymen had already been fought to pieces, who recognized the emergency. He dashed off to gather what batteries he could to fill the gap as the Confederates swarmed through the Trostle Farm and Plum Run area.

The Peach Orchard today is on the same ground where part of the original orchard stood. The orchard was much larger in 1863, the bulk extending northward of the Wheatfield Road in front of the Sherfy House. Sherfy's orchard was heavily damaged by the fighting, the trees broken and cut. Sherfy repaired and salvaged as many of the trees as possible, then planted new ones to replace those lost. He also sold canned peaches from his orchard with an advertisement authenticating them from his original peach trees on the battleground. Strategically, the southern capture of the Peach Orchard and Emmitsburg Road gave Confederate artillerists an excellent position to fire on the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Yet there was also a disadvantage- cannon, gunners, and horses alike were exposed on the top of the ridge and vulnerable to accurate Union artillery. On July 3rd, the Washington Artillery of New Orleans was positioned in the northem section of the orchard and fired two signal guns to open the cannonade prior to ''Pickets's Charge".

The Peach Orchard in 2007

The above article first appeared in the ACWS Newsletter, Autumn 2007