Some 5,500 Confederates from Major General John Bell Hood's division ultimately captured Devil's Den from 2,400 defenders drawn from Major General David Bell Birney's division. It was one of the few Southern successes in that day's fighting.
Devil's Den, a boulder-strewn hill on the south end of Houck's Ridge, was once the backdrop for intense carnage brought about by artillery and infantry fighting on the second day of the battle. On July 2, 1863, more than 5,000 soldiers from nine states fought a bloody battle at, arguably, Gettysburg's strangest place.