'Hidden' Gettysburg: Where Confederate soldier left his mark

In 2011, I shot this image of A.L. Coble's name and regiment carved into a Gettysburg boulder.

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Deftly avoiding dangerous plant life, I recently re-discovered the site near Spangler's Spring where A.L. Coble carved his name and regiment into a boulder. A 20-year-old private in the 1st North Carolina at Gettysburg, he probably did his handiwork during a veterans' gathering well after the battle. Spangler's Spring meadow once was a popular picnic ground.

Years ago, a local old-timer -- a volunteer battlefield guide -- showed me this spot, one of many on the field where soldiers left their mark. As he was walking through this area once, the guide told me he spied what he suspected were relic hunters. Instead it was a couple looking for the Coble carving. They said they were direct descendants of the North Carolina soldier, whose last name is pronounced COH-bull.

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