7th West Virginia Infantry

The 7th West Virginia Infantry was the only infantry regiment from the Union’s newest state present at Gettysburg.

Raised from the counties of Grant, Hardy, Marshall, Monogalia, Preston, and Tyler, the regiment also included men from Monroe County, Ohio. Mustered in during late 1861 in Wheeling, the regiment was part of the Gibralter Brigade.

The commander at Gettysburg was Lt. Col. Jonathan H. Lockwood (1808-1892), a businessman in Moundsville. The regiment was engaged mainly on the night of July 2 in defense of East Cemetery Hill.

West Virginia became a state on June 20, 1863. As such, the only Federal regiment at Gettysburg with the appropriate number of stars on their flag was the 7th West Virginia (a flag was “borrowed” from the neighboring 14th Indiana).

The monument features a Union soldier in full winter dress and stands next to the guns of Rickett’s Battery, which the unit helped to save. The back of the monument features the slogan “Sons of the Mountains.” The Spotswood Award, a horsehoe with the statement “We have crossed the mountains,” also appears on the monument. A colonial governor of Virginia, Spotswood awarded folks travelling west with horsehoes.

The memorial was dedicated on September 28, 1898.

7th West Virginia Infantry

2nd Corps, 3rd Division, 1st Brigade

Commanded by: Lt. Col. Jonathan H. Lockwood (1808-1892)

Engaged: 319; 5 killed, 41 wounded, 1 missing

Monument: East Cemtery Hill.  Marker on Wainwright Avenue.

Tags: East Cemetery Hill, Gettysburg, II Corps, Monument Project, west virginia