Pausing near the monument to the 38th Pennsylvania at the southern base of Little Round Top lends to the somber reflection on the grim realities of what was then two years of brutal war. The elegant bas relief on the monument's western face depicts for all time a soldier solemnly mourning the death of a comrade, his head bowed silently near the simple, modest headstone.

Late on July 2nd, the 38th Pennsylvania assisted with securing the Union lines in the saddle between Little and Big Round Top. They did so from that evening until the battles end. As you can see to the bottom left of the monument, the men of the 38th stacked rocks which had been strewn over the ground in order to allow for some protection and to further secure this area. Throughout the remainder of the fighting, they weathered sharpshooter fire from well protected Confederate forces in Devil's Den, just a few hundred yards away.

Brigade Commander Colonel Joseph W. Fisher said about the position on the Round Tops, "In the morning I discovered that the hill was of immense importance to us, inasmuch as that if we had not taken it the enemy most undoubtedly would have done so, and in that event our left would have suffered very much, if, indeed, it could have held its position at all."[5]