The unit was made up of 122 men and 6 Ordnance Rifles. It suffered three casualties. Their commander was Capt. William M. Graham (1834-1916), a nephew on his mother’s side to General Meade. Graham was a professional soldier and an astronomer born in Washington D.C.

Battery K’s monument is located on the South Cavalry battlefield along the Emmitsburg Road.

1st United States, Battery K

Horse Artillery

Engaged: 122 men and 6 Ordnance Rifles; 2 killed, 1 wounded

Monument: South Cavalry Battlefield

The men were recruited from New York City, Providence (Rhode Island), and Onondaga and Chemung (both in New York). This was a large regiment with over 600 members at Gettysburg. They were commanded by Maj. Grotius R. Giddings (1834-1867), the son of a prominent Whig Congressman from Ohio. The regimental monument is located along Crawford Avenue in the Valley of Death.

14th United States Infantry

5th Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade

Engaged: 601; 18 killed, 110 wounded, 4 missing

Monument: Crawford Avenue (between Crawford and Ayres Avenue; grass access path through growth near Devil’s Den at Crawford Avenue)

The monument at Gettysburg is inscribed as follows:

THIS REGIMENT WAS ENGAGED IN THE BATTLES AND SKIRMISHES OF THE CAVALRY CORPS UNTIL THE BRIGADE REACHED HANOVER JUNCTION, JUNE 30, 1863 WHEN IT WAS MOVED HASTILY TO MANCHESTER TO GUARD TRAINS AGAINST RUMORED MOVEMENTS OF THE ENEMY, AND PICKETED THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY. JULY 4, JOINED THE 3D DIVISION IN PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY AND PARTICIPATED IN THE CAVALRY ENGAGEMENTS UNTIL THE ENEMY RETREATED INTO VIRGINIA.

The monument is located in the area set aside for regiments that participated in the campaign but not on the battlefield proper along Pleasanton Avenue near the Pennsylvania Monument.  (Monument detail.)

2d New York Cavalry

Cavalry Corps, 2nd Division, 2nd Brigade

Not engaged at Gettysburg.

Monument: Pleasanton Avenue

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.

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.”

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

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

Enlisted from New York City and Suffolk County, Massachusetts, this unit was originally organized in 1821. At the start of the Civil War, it was stationed at Fort Mackinac in Michigan.

It suffered no loss at Gettysburg.

2nd United States Artillery Battery G

6th Corps Artillery Brigade

Engaged: 6 Napoleons and 113 men; no loss

Monument: Near the old Cyclorama building in Ziegler’s Grove

I had my CT scan on Monday as planned. Sunday night, my stomach was upset. Nothing major, just your typical upset stomach. It was still upset Monday morning when I had my scan. I figured it was nerves. After all, cancer “restaging” scans are not the most pleasant things — they cause a lot of anxiety and stress over the results.

My stomach remained mildly upset up until my Wednesday afternoon appointment with my oncologist. I even had to stop running on Wednesday morning due to some stomach cramps. (I attributed said cramps to dehydration. I ran indoors on the treadmill on Monday and I don’t think I hydrated back up adequately afterwards.)

My oncologist’s first question this time wasn’t “any lumps or bumps?” or “how’s your chest?” but rather “how does your stomach feel?” That was a new one, but hey maybe Dr. S gets tired of asking the same questions all the time. Or maybe he just wanted to make sure I was awake. I told him it had been a little upset.

Turns out he had a reason to ask.

The CT scan came back good on the chest. The lymphadenopathy in my chest (i.e. those baseball size masses) had stayed the same size and is even starting to calcify. My spleen remains enlarged, but it hasn’t grown or anything. All and all good.

But of course I can’t have a normal CT scan. The scan came back with this:

In the left upper quadrant, there is a loop of proximal small bowel, likely jejunum, which has concentric appearance of an intussusception. This is anterior to the left kidney and medial to the spleen. This may be a transient phenomenon, however, given the history of lymphoma, a pathological lead point cannot be excluded. Small bowel follow through is suggested. No evidence of bowel obstruction is seen supporting a transient etiology.

An intussusception is basically an obstruction of the small intestine. It most often occurs in children. When it occurs in an adult, it’s likely due to a benign or malignant neoplastic growth.

Adding to the problem, I happen to be one of an apparent handful of people in the entire world who is allergic to oral contrast. A “small bowel follow through” involves drinking barium and then making sure it doesn’t get stuck along the way (if it did, that would suggest an obstruction). Kind of hard to do when you’re allergic to oral contrast.

Since I had none of the acute symptoms one would expect of a person with a bowel obstruction, it obviously was not an emergency or anything. That was the good news.

To make a long story short, it appears that it turned out to be nothing to worry about. Basically, the doctor concluded it’s a watch and wait type of issue, just like my baseball sized masses in my chest and my giant spleen. As long as nothing goes wrong, we don’t do anything. That type of thing. We let sleeping dogs lie so to speak.

But of course my stomach has remained mildly but persistently upset all through the weekend, which raises an interesting issue as to whether there is something going on or not. If not for the scan result, I would not even be complaining in the least about this mild stomach upset. So now what? Even though it didn’t appear to be a problem, do I go back to my oncologist (which would mean more tests)? Or should I just sit tight and wait it out. That is what I mean by …. ugh.

The regiment was commanded at Gettysburg by Lt. Col. Edward Carroll (1825-1864).  Carroll was a Philadelphia carpenter killed leading the 95th on May 5, 1864 at the Wilderness.

The regiment numbered 356 and suffered 2 casualties at Gettysburg.  Their monument is located along the Wheatfield Road in the Valley of Death.  It marks the regiment’s location on July 2 until the end of the battle.

95th Pennsylvania Infantry

6th Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Engaged: 356; 1 killed, 1 wounded

Monument: Wheatfield Road