Battlefield of Gettysburg - T. Ditterline / SOLD

Battlefield of Gettysburg - Inventory Number: GET 183 / Sold

Published by P.S. Duval & Son, Philadelphia, 1863.  This is one of the earliest printed plans of the battle, possibly the earliest.  It was originally issued as bound into Ditterline's Sketch of the Battles of Gettysburg, a 24-page pamphlet published within months after the events it describes.  Lower right corner box inscription: "Field of Gettysburg / July 1st 2nd & 3rd 1863 / Prepared / by T. Ditterline".  Lower left corner "Remarks" explain each day's troop movements.  The lithograph is lightly soiled, but in otherwise excellent condition.  Frame measures 27 7/8' x 24 1/2", map measures 18 3/4" x 15 1/4". This map was originally displayed at the Roundtop Museum in Gettysburg. 

This schematic map condenses the three-day Battle of Gettysburg into a single image. Though this format of necessity cannot convey the complexity and fluidity of the events, it does capture both the enormous scale of the encounter as well as the fundamental tactical position: the preliminary encounter on July 1 in the hills northwest of town, the overnight consolidation of the Union Army in a vast arc along Cemetery Ridge and Culps Hill, the Confederate assault on the Union flanks on the 2nd, and the climactic “Pickett’s Charge” against the Union center on the 3rd.  A distinctive image of the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil, believed by many to have marked the turning point of the Civil War.  Extremely scarce Gettysburg collectable!

Inventory Number: GET 183 / Sold