Ben Crippen, Sam Peiffer, and the defiant fist

I will be featuring the 143rd Pennsylvania’s monument with it’s own capsule post in June.  I occasionally come across a story behind a monument that’s more in-depth that deserves a longer feature than the more standardized monument entries — each basically designed just to be a capsule about the regiment and it’s memorial.  Anyway when researching to write about the 143rd Pennsylvania’s monument I found the 143rd has a little extra story behind their Gettysburg monument, and so I decided to give the story behind the monument it’s own post separate from the standard entry that will appear later.

Most people familiar with the battle of Gettysburg are aware that the bas relief on the front of the monument to the 143rd Pennsylvania located on the Chambersburg Pike near the intersection with Reynolds Avenue depicts Color Sgt. Ben Crippen.

Most people are not, however, aware that there is some controversy behind the monument.

As Stone’s Brigade retreated from McPherson’s Ridge on July 1 under the onslaught of Daniel’s North Carolina Brigade and Brockenbrough’s Virginia brigade, Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle, an observer from the British Army with the Confederate troops was watching the progress of the fighting along with General A.P. Hill and other officers. Fremantle kept a diary and later wrote in his diary that:

A Yankee color bearer floated his standard in the field and the regiment fought around it, and when at last it was obliged to retreat, the color bearer retreated last of all, turning around now and then to shake his fist in the face of the advancing Confederates. He was shot. General Hill was sorry when he met his fate.

Fremantle, of course, did not identify the soldier or his unit; no official report mentioned the brave act of the color bearer either. The identity of the brave color sergeant sparked a controversy between two of Stones’ regiments, the 143rd and 150th Pennsylvania regiments.

The 143rd was sure that the color bearer seen by Fremantle was Sgt. Benjamin H. Crippen. The 21 year old color bearer was killed carrying the regimental colors on the first day. Sergent Simon Hubler of the 143rd recalled that ” It was in the field between the Chambersburg Pike and Gettysburg where Crippen our color bearer fell, defying the enemy.”

The 150th Pennsylvania, also of Stones’ brigade, disagreed. They thought that their color bearer, Sgt. Samuel L. Peiffer, had to be the defiant soldier seen by Fremantle. Like Crippen, Peiffer was killed on July 1, 1863. Colonel Huidekoper noted that Peiffer fell “bleeding from a mortal shot, while proudly flaunting the colors in the face of the foe”.

In this case, the fact that the 143rd had staked Crippen’s claim some 20 years before was convincing to the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association. They approved the 143rd’s monument design — a block of granite with a large bas relief of Crippen, shaking his face defiantly in the face of the on-coming enemy.

Although Crippen’s contribution was honored in stone and Peiffer’s contribution was mostly lost to history, nevertheless it is obvious much valor was expended by the Union troops as they retreated on the afternoon of July 1. They may have been defeated, but they were obviously still very much defiant.

Cavalry Field Monument

The Cavalry Field Monument is also sometimes known as the Gregg Cavalry Shaft Monument. Made of light gray New Hampshire granite, it stands on the East Cavalry battlefield at the location where the 1st Michigan of Custer’s brigade clashed with Stuart’s charging troopers.

The monument was dedicated on October 15, 1884. It honors the troops of both the blue and gray who fought here. The monument consists as follows: “Four-sided obelisk stands on a square pedestal and tiered base. Midway up the shaft on each side of relief images of crossed cannons, flags of carbines. The obelisk is topped by a sphere.”

134th New York Infantry

The 134th New York Infantry was raised from the counties of Schenectady and Schoharie counties and mustered in at Camp Vedder, Schoharie, New York on September 22, 1862.

Numbering almost 500, the men were commanded by Lt. Col. Allan H. Jackson (1836-1911), a graduate of Harvard Law School and a lawyer from Schenectady.

The 134th suffered severe casualties both on July 1 in defense of the Brickyard and then later in the battle on East Cemetery Hill. The main monument is located on East Cemetery Hill; a secondary monument is located on Coster Avenue “where it suffered the greatest casualties of any battle in which it was ever engaged.”

(Apologies for the poor quality photograph; this regiment is on the list to “re-shoot.”)

134th New York Infantry

11th Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade

Engaged: 488; 42 killed, 151 wounded, 59 missing

Monument: East Cemetery Hill; secondary marker on Coster Avenue

141st Pennsylvania Infantry

The 141st Pennsylvania Infantry was recruited from the counties of Bradford, Susquehanna, and Wayne. It mustered in at Harrisburg in August 1862.

Their commander at Gettysburg was Col. Henry J. Madill (1829-1899), a native of Hunterstown and a lawyer in Towanda.

The regiment numbered 283 men at Gettysburg and suffered fearful casualties on the afternoon of July 2 in defense of the Peach Orchard.

The regimental monument is located at the Peach Orchard along the Wheatfield Road. This was the unit’s position from 4 until 6 PM on July 2.

141st Pennsylvania Infantry

3d Corps, 1st Division, 1st Brigade

Engaged: 283; 25 killed, 103 wounded, 21 missing

Monument: the Peach Orchard

150th Pennsylvania Infantry

The 150th Pennsylvania’s monument is located along Stone Avenue near the McPherson barn on western McPherson’s Ridge. The monument features a large bas relief on the front of the die.

This was the “Third Bucktails” of Stone’s brigade. It was raised at Harrisburg from men from Philadelphia and the counties of Crawford, McKean, and Union. The regiment had nine companies at Gettysburg; Company D was detailed as guard to President Lincoln.

The nearly 400 men of this regiment were hotly engaged on July 1. This monument marks their most advanced line. The regiment went through several commanders. The first was Col. Langhorne Wister (1834-1891). Wister was promoted to command of the brigade after Stone fell wounded and Lt. Col. Henry S. Huidekoper (1839-1918) took command. Huidekoper, fresh from Harvard University (he was an 1862 graduate) later received a Medal of Honor for Gettysburg; his right arm was lost on July 1. Command then fell to Capt. George W. Jones (1833-1913), a carpenter from Philadelphia.

This regiment has a secondary monument on Hancock Avenue.

150th Pennsylvania Infantry

1st Corps, 3d Division, 2d Brigade

397; 35 killed, 152 wounded, 77 missing

Monument: Stone Avenue

1st Rhode Island Artillery Battery B

1st Rhode Island Artillery Battery B was part of the 2nd Corps Artillery Brigade. It was also known as Hazard’s Battery. It was recruited in Providence County in the summer of 1861. On July 1, it was assigned to the 2nd Corps from the Artillery Reserve.

The commander was Lt. Thomas F. Brown (1842-1928), a diminutive (he stood only five foot) student from Brown University. When Brown was wounded on July 2, Lt. William S. Perrin took command. Perrin (1839-1876) survived Gettysburg only to lose his right leg during the Petersburg Campaign. He died in 1876 of an overdose of morphine related to this wounding.

The battery consisted of 6 Napoleons and 103 men. It suffered 28 casualties at Gettysburg. The simple monument to Battery B is located near the Angle along Hancock Avenue.

1st Rhode Island Artillery Battery B

2d Corps Artillery Brigade

Engaged: 6 Napoleons and 103 men; 7 killed, 19 wounded, 2 missing

Monument: Hancock Avenue

84th New York (14th Militia)

The 84th New York was also known as the 14th Brooklyn or the 14th militia. It was recruited from Kings County and mustered in during May and August 1861. (The militia unit itself traced back to 1844.) Sometimes also called the Brooklyn Chasseurs, the regiment numbered 356 at Gettysburg under the command of Col. Edward B. Fowler (1828-1896), a bookkeeper from Brooklyn.

The monument to the 84th is topped by an 8′ tall soldier in the position “handle cartridge.” It is made of Westerly granite. It depicts a soldier in chasseur garb; the chaussers were the light infantry of the French army. The kepi of the 84th was red, while the coat was blue and trimmed with red piping. The men also wore white gaiters. At Manassas, the Confederates nicknamed the 84th New York “The Red Legged Devils.”

Lieutenant Henry W. Mitchell posed as the model for the statue at Gettysburg. Mitchell was wounded on July 1. The regimental monument was dedicated on October 19, 1887. The sculptor was R.D. Barr and it cost $3,510.00. It is located off Reynolds Avenue near the Railroad Cut.

There are also markers to this unit along Stone Avenue and on Slocum Avenue (Culp’s Hill).

84th New York (14th Brooklyn)

1st Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Engaged: 356; 13 killed, 105 wounded, 99 missing

Monument: Reynolds Avenue

Fluffed.

Running down by Baldwin Lake in Berea yesterday (my second run of the day), I spotted this guy. So of course I had to stop and try and get a picture of him. I think I annoyed him because he fluffed up at me. I also got a picture of him stalking along the water and just standing looking all impressive.

I also went exploring very briefly in an old cemetery and took some pictures of a few graves of Civil War soldiers buried there. For example, Drummer Hiram Vaughn who served with the 65th Ohio Infantry. The 65th Ohio had a fairly impressive combat record. Here is their combat record from Larry Stevens’ fine website Ohio in the Civil War. After the War, Vaughn was prominent with the G.A.R. locally.

As you’ll notice, I’m a member of Flickr.  I use it to store my digital photographs.  Some areas that might be of interest to my Civil War visitors include my best of the Civil War sets, sets from Gettysburg (working on adding more), and two “kitchen sinks” sets — every picture I’ve taken digitally at Sharpsburg and at and around Gettysburg.  Of course, there are “throw away” shots in the kitchen sink collections, but if you dig through there are all sorts of different angles and shots of the battlefields in there, especially at Gettysburg.

(I’m basically trying to distract myself from worrying about a “routine” CT scan on Monday. There never seems to be anything “routine” about my CT scans, hence the anxiety.)

154th New York Infantry

The monument to the 154th New York Infantry is located along old Coster Avenue in an area known during the battle as the Brickyard. This small, isolated piece of battlefield property is located off of Stratton Street amongst the town of Gettysburg. It was briefly held by the men of Coster’s Brigade on the afternoon of July 1. This area is more heavily visited now due to the large mural that was painted here that depicts the battle between the Confederates and Coster’s men.

The 154th New York was raised at Jamestown from the counties of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. It’s commander was Lt. Col. David B. Allan (1839-1934), a lawyer from Olean. The regiment suffered massive casualties due to capture.

154th New York Infantry

11th Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade

274; 1 killed, 21 wounded, 178 missing

Monument: Coster Avenue

5th Pennsylvania Reserves

The 5th Pennsylvania Reserves were also known as the 34th Regiment. It was raised from the counties of Bradford, Centre, Clearfield, Huntingdon, Lancaster, Lycoming, and Union and mustered in at Harrisburg on June 20, 1861. The regiment numbered 334 at Gettysburg and suffered 2 casualties.

Their commander was Lt. Col. George Dare (1836-1864), a storekeeper from Huntingdon. He was killed leading the regiment at the battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864.

The 5th Reserve’s monument is located at the summit of Big Round Top. This was the position held by the regiment from the evening of July 2 until the end of the battle.

5th Pennsylvania Reserves

5th Corps, 3d Division, 3d Brigade

Engaged: 334; 2 wounded

Monument: Big Round Top