Draw the Sword

Philadelphia Corn Exchange Regiment

A Fighting 300 Regiment

Location: Sickles Avenue near the Loop. Regiment’s second monument is on Big Round Top (see below).

Order of Battle: 5th Corps, 1st Division, 1st Brigade

Number Engaged: 332; 3 killed, 19 wounded, 3 missing

Commander: Lt. Col. James Gwyn (1828-1906)

Raised: Philadelphia.

Monument Specifications: Full-length uniformed infantryman stands atop a tapered pedestal and rough-hewn base. The figure holds his rifle vertically, with both hands around the barrel and the butt at his proper left foot. There is a bronze State Seal relief on the front of the pedestal, above the Maltese cross corps insignia. It indicates the position held by the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry to the right of the brigade line on the afternoon of July 2, 1863 as it sustained attacks by Kershaw’s brigade. Corn stalks are also included, denoting the regiment’s history as the “Philadelphia Corn Exchange Regiment.”

Dedication Date: September 12, 1889.

Sculptor/Artist/Company: Ryegate Granite Company, fabricator.

Other Monuments and Memorials: The 118th has a marker on the Wheatfield Road and a secondary monument on Big Round Top. Marker, Wheatfield Road. Denotes 2nd Position of 118th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Erected in 1886. Secondary Monument: Located on Big Round Top down a crumbling veterans path. Difficult to find. Granite monument decorated on front with relief of Maltese cross and shocks of corn, and at top capped with sculpture of a knapsack propped against cannon balls. Inscribed: 118TH/PENN VOLS/CORN EXCHANGE REGT./1ST BRIGADE/1ST DIVISION 5TH CORPS/ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. ENGAGED IN ADVANCE/OF ‘WHEATFIELD’ JULY 2,/AND HELD THIS POSITION/JULY 3 AND 4, 1863. This monument was dedicated on Dedicated Sept. 8, 1884. GPS location: 39° 47.243′ N, 77° 14.332′ W

Regimental History ~ Dyer’s Compendium of the War of the Rebellion:

Organized at Philadelphia May 15-30, 1862. Moved to Baltimore, Md., August 31; thence to Washington, D.C. Attached to 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to April, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Army Corps, to June, 1865.

SERVICE.–Maryland Campaign September 6-24, 1862. Battle of Antietam, Md., September 16-17. Shepherdstown Ford September 19. At Sharpsburg until October 30. Movement to Falmouth, Va., October 30-November 19. Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 12-15. Reconnaissance to Richard’s and Ellis’ Fords, Rappahannock River, December 29-30. Burnside’s 2nd Campaign, “Mud March,” January 20-24, 1863. At Falmouth until April. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1-5. Gettysburg (Pa.) Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3. Pursuit of Lee July 5-24. Wapping Heights, Va., July 23. At Warrenton and Beverly Ford to September 17, and at Culpeper until October 11, Bristoe Campaign October 9-22. Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7-8. Rappahannock Station November 7. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2. At Beverly Ford until May, 1864. Rapidan Campaign May 4-June 12. Battles of the Wilderness May 5-7; Laurel Hill May 8; Spottsylvania May 8-21. Assault on the Salient May 12. North Anna River May 23-26. Jericho Ford May 25. On line of the Pamunkey May 26-28. Totopotomoy May 28-31. Cold Harbor June 1-12. Before Petersburg June 16-18. Siege of Petersburg June 16. 1864, to April 2, 1865. Jerusalem Plank Road June 22-23, 1864. Weldon Railroad August 18-21. Poplar Springs Church September 29-October 2. Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher’s Run, October 27-28. Warren’s Expedition to Hicksford December 7-12. Dabney’s Mills, Hatcher’s Run, February 5-7, 1865. Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9. Lewis Farm, near Gravelly Run, March 29. Junction of Quaker and Boydton Roads March 29. White Oak Road March 31. Five Forks April 1. Appomattox Court House April 9. Surrender of Lee and his army. March to Washington, D.C., May 1-12. Grand Review May 23. Mustered out June 1, 1865. Regiment lost during service 9 Officers and 132 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 111 Enlisted men by disease. Total 253.