Peach Orchard - W. Wheatfield Road

The Peach Orchard was the salient of Union General Daniel Sickles' Third Army Corps line after his controversial advance on July 2nd. It stood on a small ridge about two-thirds of the way between Pitzer's Woods and Cemetery Ridge, and Sickles felt that it dominated the ground he had been ordered to hold. He placed four batteries there, but the extra ground he had to occupy as a result was far more than his corps could adequately cover. Longstreet's attack in the afternoon resulted in desperate fighting, and Sickles' position collapsed, resulting in near-disaster for the Union army.