There were many important uses for buildings at Gettysburg. One of them was for military operations. Not only could they be used for headquarters, such as Meade's headquarters in Taneytown, but they could also be used as an exceptional place to survey the battle field. On the morning of July 1, Buford did exactly that. On a ridge, behind the line Buford's calvary was fighting Major General Henry Heth's (under A.P. Hill) initial attacks from, stood the Lutheran Theological Seminary. From this point, Buford was able to overlook the landscape
Another important use for the buildings was field hospitals. Had these hospitals not been made use of, more soldiers would have died at Gettysburg. In many ways, this would bring the war closer to home for the civilians of Gettysburg, but it was neccessary, even if the building wasn't designated as a hospital. Sergeant William Evans in Company H, was in such a situation. Lieutenant Colonel Rufus Dawes had collected Confederate soldiers and the regiment's colors (flag), and he entrusted them to Evans. During the fighting, Evans was severely wounded and used two muskets as crutches to move once everyone was heading back to camp. Evans wrapped the colors around his body for safe keeping. However, once in town, Evans fainted from loss of blood. Two young women found him, assisted him to their home, and cared for him. When Evans heard that the Confederates had captured Gettysburg, he begged the women to hide the colors, so they sewed it into the mattress. Once the Confederates were pushed out of the city, Evans was finally able to bring the colors back to Dawes.