Herr Ridge was the westernmost of John Buford’s three delaying ridges west of Gettysburg.
Buford’s Union cavalry division used Herr Ridge, McPherson Ridge, and Seminary Ridge as successive defensive positions on July 1, 1863. Their west-to-east arrangement allowed dismounted cavalry to slow the approaching Confederate infantry while buying time for Union infantry reinforcements to reach the battlefield.
Herr Ridge was the first of the three positions encountered by Confederate forces advancing from the Cashtown direction. By about 10:20 a.m., Heth’s infantry had pushed Buford’s troopers eastward from Herr Ridge toward McPherson Ridge. When Union I Corps troops arrived under Major General John F. Reynolds, the fighting intensified around McPherson Ridge and Herbst Woods.
Cemetery Ridge was not one of Buford’s western delaying ridges. It lay south of Gettysburg and became part of the Union’s main defensive position later in the battle. Seminary Ridge was the easternmost of Buford’s three western ridges, not the westernmost.