The farm of Charles Zepheniah Taney was across Rock Creek from Spangler’s Spring. Taney had enlisted in Company K of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves Regiment (who fought at Gettysburg near the Wheatfield), but he had been injured and captured during the Seven Days Battles in 1862 and had been discharged.
Ruins of the farmhouse of Charles Zepheniah Taney at Gettysburg
The farmhouse was part way up the hillside overlooking Spangler’s Spring. It was used by Confederate sharpshooters to fire at the Union troops of Silas Colgroves’ Brigade. The house was taken under fire on July 3 by Union artillery from the 1st New York, Battery M on the east side of the Baltimore Pike. The artillery placed several shells into the front of the farmhouse, driving the sharpshooters out.
The farm today is owned by the National Park Service, but is hard to get to and rarely visited. Only the ruins of the house and barn remain.