Considered a curiosity by local residents long before the battle, the huge granite formations and steep cliffs of Devil's Den provided height and protection for the Union battery placed on the summit.

Confederates struck the den from three directions at once. Southerners were awe struck by the terrible nature of the ground. One veteran of the battle described it as, "a wild, rocky labyrinth which, from its weird, uncanny features, has long been called by the people of the vicinity the 'Devils Den.' Large rocks from six to fifteen feet high are thrown together in confusion over a considerable area and yet so disposed as to leave everywhere among them siding passages carpeted with moss.

After the battle, the area between Devil's Den and the Round Tops was nicknamed "The Slaughter Pen" and Plum Run Valley referred to as the "Valley of Death". The names have remained to this very day.

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