Railway cut of the Gettysburg Battlefield
 Gettysburg railway cut image with tracks
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11:15 A.M. map of attacks on railway cut
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Color image of cut from 95th NY Infantry monument
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The railway cut of the Gettysburg Battlefield was the place of an 1863 military engagement during the first Day of the Battle of Gettysburg, near the Edward McPherson farmhouse. It was an excavation in which railroad tracks had not yet been placed, but which provided a deep entrenchment. During the day, units from the Union Army of the Potomac deployed near the railway cut to contest the attacks of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The Confederates were held off during the morning and early afternoon but were able to drive off the Union army due to superior numbers.
The line of the Pennsylvania Railroad which ran from Hanover to Gettysburg ended in the northern part of Gettysburg; an additional spur was planned from to run westward from the town but at the time of the battle the proposed line was only laid out and graded. The unfinished portion cut through several ridges west of Gettysburg, the first cut running through Seminary Ridge, near the southern end of Oak Ridge, and another through McPherson's Ridge. The Chambersburg Pike ran parallel to the unfinished rail line.
At approximately 10 a.m. on July 1, the brigade of Lysander Cutler, from the I Corps division of James S. Wadsworth, deployed near the cut on McPherson's Ridge with the 76th New York and 147th New York and 56th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiments deployed north of the cut and the 84th New York (14th Brooklyn) and 95th New York Infantry Regiments south of the Chambersburg Pike. The 2nd Maine Battery deployed between the railroad cut and the pike. Minutes later the right wing of the brigade was attacked by the Confederate brigade of Joseph R. Davis with three regiments. The Confederates had a numerical advantage over the three Union regiments and consequently were able to overlap the Union right flank. The pressure on the Union regiments forced Wadsworth to order the regiments to withdraw. The 76th New York and 56th Pennsylvania managed to retreat, which allowed the Confederates to enfilade the 2nd Maine battery, forcing it to retreat as well; the 147th New York failed to receive the order and remained on the northern side of the railroad cut, suffering severe casualties as a result. The regiment retreated only after Wadsworth sent another courier through the Confederate fire.
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Wikipedia