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Carved to represent a tree on the field that had been torn and shattered by artillary fire, bronze accoutrements, a knapsack, a rifled musket, and a canteen are slung over one of the shattered branches. Ivy, Also sculpted in bronze has begun to climb the remaining trunk at the top of which is a bronze nest with baby birds resting inside. Perched on the nest, the mother watches over her brood.
A variation of the story behind this monument has been handed down through the years. No written source for it has yet been found. The story relates that during the heat of the battle one of the large oak trees near the position of the 90th Pennsylvania was hit by a shell and splintered. A large piece of the tree and many small branches came raining down on the men. On the ground among the debris, was a robin's nest filled with unharmed, but quite shaken babies. A soldier witnessing the scene picked up the nest.
Under heavy fire and at great risk to his own life , the soldier climbed up the shattered stump and replaced the nest. Whether or not the incident actually took place, the tree and the nest combine to form a unique record of the 90th Pennsylvania's participation at Gettysburg.
Information taken from Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments as told by Battlefield Guides by Frederick W. Hawthorne
