Devils Den is a boulder-strewn Gettysburg Battlefield

Gettysburg Battlefield

The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the 4 acre site of the first shot & at on the west of the borough, to East...

 hill used by artillery and infantry (e.g., snipers) during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day

Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day

The Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day was an attempt by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee to capitalize on his first day's success. He launched the Army of Northern Virginia in multiple Gettsyburg Battlefield attacks on the flanks of the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George G...

. A visitor attraction since the memorial asso

Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association

The Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association was an historic preservation membership organization and is the eponym for the battlefield's memorial association era...

ciation era, several boulders are worn from foot traffic and the site includes numerous cannon, memorials, and walkways, including a bridge spanning 2 boulders.

History

Devils Den was formed with Little Round Top

Little Round Top

Little Round Top is the smaller of two rocky hills south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left flank on July 2, 1863, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg....

 (to the east-northeast) and Big Round Top

Big Round Top

Big Round Top is a boulder-strewn hill notable as the topographic high point of the Gettysburg Battlefield and for 1863 American Civil War engagements for which Medals of Honor were awarded...

 (southwest) by periglacial frost wedging of the igneous landform formed 200 million years ago when the "outcrop of the Gettysburg sill" intruded through the Triassic "Gettysburg plain"

Newark Group

The Newark Group, also known as the Newark Supergroup, is an assemblage of Late Triassic and Early Jurassic sedimentary rocks which outcrop intermittently along the United States East Coast; the exposures extend from Massachusetts to North Carolina, with more still in Nova Scotia...

. After for 25 years through 1881, a 15 ft (4.6 m) snake had been reported between the Emmitsburg Road & Devils Den, and the 1898 black snake was only 8 ft (2.4 m).http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uMk9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=JjcMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5682,5240301&dq=devil's-den+snake+gettysburg&hl=en Named before the battle, some soldiers' accounts used the name "Devil's Cave", and a depression on a boulder that collects water resembles a flying horned bat.

Battle of Gettysburg: On July 2, 1863, Smith's Union battery used the hill to counterfire on Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 artillery prior to McLaws' Assault

McLaws' Assault

McLaws' Assault was a Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day, military engagement of infantry and artillery at the Stony Hill McLaws' Assault was a Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day, military engagement of infantry and artillery at the Stony Hill McLaws' Assault was a Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day,...

 at 5:30 pm. Against Hood's Assault that started at 4 pm, Devils Den was defended by Birney's

David B. Birney

David Bell Birney was a businessman, lawyer, and a Union General in the American Civil War.-Early life:Birney was born in Huntsville, Alabama, the son of an abolitionist from Kentucky, James G. Birney. The Birney family returned to Kentucky in 1833, and James Birney freed his slaves...

 1st Division as the far left position from The Peach Orchard Salient of the the III Corps

III Corps (ACW)

There were four formations in the Union Army designated as III Corps during the American Civil War.Three were short-lived:*In the Army of Virginia:**Irvin McDowell ;**James B...

. The hill was captured when the "First Texas Regiment, having pressed forward to the crest of the hill and driven the enemy from his battery", and Anderson's Confederates used the hill for the first attack on The Wheatfield. From near the Slaughter Pen

Slaughter Pen

The Slaughter Pen is a narrow portion of the Plum Run valley with diabase boulders between Big Round Top and Devil's Den where on the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day, the 40th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment forced the 17th and 2nd Georgia Regiments of Benning's Brigade from near the...

, the 40th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment

40th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The 40th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, also known as the "Mozart Regiment" or the "Constitution Guard", was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:...

 forced the 2nd & 17th Georgia regiments of Benning's Brigade to retreat to Devils Den.

The 124th NY monument with Ellis statue was dedicated near Devil's Den in 1884.http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F60F13FF3F5B10738DDDAA0894DF405B8484F0D3 Postbellum avenues were constructed to Devil's Den such as Sickles' Avenue from the west, Crawford Avenue in 1895 (north), and Warren Avenue across Plum Run (east). From 1894-1916, the Gettysburg Electric Railway

Gettysburg Electric Railway

The Gettysburg Electric Railway was a borough trolley that provided summer access to Gettysburg Battlefield visitor attractions such as military engagement areas, monuments, postbellum camps, and recreation areas...

 operated on a curve crossing Plum Run (Rock Creek)

Plum Run (Rock Creek)

Plum Run is a Pennsylvania stream flowing southward from the Gettysburg Battlefield between the Gettys-Black Divide on the east and on the west, the drainage divide for Pitzer Run, Biesecker Run, Willoughby Run, and Marsh Creek...

 around the south base of the hill with the Tipton Station

Tipton Station

Tipton Station was a Gettysburg Battlefield trolley stop of the Gettysburg Electric Railway for passenger access to Crawford's Glen to the north, Devil's Den , and Tipton Park...

 providing Devil's Den services.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Zz0mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0v4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3212,4235594&dq=tipton-park+gettysburg&hl=en In 1916, a Devil's Den boulder was used as a Satterlee Hospital

Satterlee Hospital

Satterlee U.S.A. General Hospital, which existed from 1862 to 1865 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was one of the largest Union Army hospitals of the Civil War....

 memorial at Philadelphia's Clark Park

Clark Park

Clark Park is a municipal park in the Spruce Hill section of West Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its are bordered by 43rd and 45th streets, and by Baltimore and Woodland Avenues....

.

The nearby 1933 comfort station was demolished in 2009, and its access bridge over Plum Run remains to the east. In 1952, ROTC students conducted a mock battle at the site,http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tY8lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yfIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3114,2205238&dq=devil's-den+gettysburg&hl=en and the "Devil's Den Access Committee" was formed in 1988.http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Devil's+Den%22+Gettysburg&tbs=nws:1,ar:1&source=newspapers The site's ID Tablet was designated a Historic District Contributing Structure in 2004, and the Devil's Den barricade is structure WA35 on the Gettysburg National Military Park

Gettysburg National Military Park

The Gettysburg National Military Park is an administrative unit of the National Park Service's northeast region and a subunit of federal properties of Adams County, Pennsylvania, with the same name, including the Gettysburg National Cemetery...

's List of Classified Structures.