Confederate Hospital and Burial Ground

— Gettysburg: July 1, 1863 —

The land in front of you has changed considerably since 1863. During the battle of Gettysburg, Jacob Kime and his family lived in a farmhouse located several hundred yards farther down this lane.

During the afternoon of July 1, 1863, the Confederate brigade of General John B. Gordon launched an attack from the Kime farm's fields that was directed at the Union stronghold across Rock Creek on Barlow Knoll, a half mile to your left. Gordon wrote that his brigade moved forward "under heavy fire over rail and plank fences...crossing a creek whose banks were so abrupt as to prevent a passage excepting at certain points...." The brigade then "rushed upon the enemy with a resolution and spirit...rarely excelled."

Almost immediately, the Kime farmhouse and barn were turned into a Confederate hospital for the wounded and dying Georgians of Gordon's brigade. Before the battle, the family had left their property for safety, but Mr. Kime remained in the basement and "plainly heard the mad cry of the soldiers for morphine when the operations were being performed. However, except in rare cases the morphine was too scarce to be used." The Kime family returned after the battle and discovered that their floors were "piled high with arms and legs that had been amputated from the wounded soldiers."

Three Confederates are known to have been temporarily buried on the Kime farm, including Captain William L. McLeod, 38th Georgia Infantry. He was mortally wounded on July 1, during the climactic afternoon attack. These graves were located in an orchard east of the Kime farmhouse.

Written and Researched by Andrew I. Dalton, GAHS Class of 2015

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Jacob Kime Farm
Jones's Artillery Battalion
Carrington's Battery - Jones's Artillery Battalion
Josiah Benner Farm
Garber's Battery - Jones's Artillery Battalion
Tanner's Battery - Jones's Artillery Battalion
Green's Battery - Jones's Artillery Battalion
54th New York Infantry
153d Pennsylvania Infantry
Battery G Fourth U.S. Artillery

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