1st United States Sharpshooters (A, B, D, and H)

The monument to the 1st United States Sharpshooters (Companies A, B, D, and H) is located on Berdan Avenue, a small cul-de-sac located in Pitzer’s Woods off of West Confederate Avenue (the road the runs the length of Seminary Ridge).  The monument to Company F (Vermont) of the 1st U.S.S. is also located nearby as is a stone to the 3rd Maine Infantry.

On the afternoon of July 2, Third Corps commander Dan Sickles ordered the Sharpshooters and the 3rd Maine Infantry to scout these woods.  A brief fight occurred here between this Union detachment and Confederates from General Cadmus Wilcox’s command.

Companies A, B, D, and H of the 1st U.S.S. were recruited from the state of New York.  This is their main monument at Gettysburg.

1st United States Sharpshooters - Companies A, B, D, and H (New York)
Members of the 3rd Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Commanded by Col. Hiram Berdan (1824-1893)

Engaged: 371; 6 killed, 37 wounded, 6 missing

Monument: A, B, D, and H Companies located along Berdan Avenue, Pitzer’s Woods

1st Vermont Cavalry

The 1st Vermont Cavalry was raised from the counties of Chittenden, Addison, Bennington, Franklin, Lamoille, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, and Windham in November 1861.

It was a large regiment, numbering just under 700.

It’s commander at Gettysburg was Lt. Col. Addison W. Preston (1830-1864), a farmer from Danville. Preston was killed at the battle of Haw’s Shop on June 3, 1864.

The regimental monument is rather simple in design. It is located in the “D shaped field” on the Slyder Farm, west of Big Round Top (it can be viewed from a distance from Confederate Avenue). It was dedicated in October 1889.

The monument marks the position where the regiment fought in an ill-advised charge on July 3. Near this spot, General Elon J. Farnsworth was killed leading his brigade in that charge. Also nearby is a monument to Maj. William Wells, a Medal of Honor winner from this regiment.

1st Vermont Cavalry

Cavalry Corps, 3rd Division, 1st Brigade

Lt. Col. Addison W. Preston (1830-1864)

Engaged: 687; 13 killed, 25 wounded, 27 missing

Monument: Slyder Farm

4th United States Artillery Battery E

4th U.S. Artillery, Battery E, was known as “Clark’s.” It was a horse artillery battery.

The original unit was recruited in 1821; the men mainly came from New York City and St. Louis, Missouri. When Fort Sumter was fired upon, this battery was located at Fort Randall in the Nebraska Territory.

The battery was made up of 4 Ordnance Rifles under the command of Lt. Samuel S. Elder (1830-1885), a teacher and regular soldier from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The unit had 64 men. The monument is located on a hill southwest of Big Round Top and requires a walk down a single track trail to reach.

4th United States Artillery Battery E

Cavalry Corps (attached to 3rd Division)

4 Ordnance Rifles, 64 men; 1 killed

Monument: Near Big Round Top, accessible off Confederate Avenue

Texas State Monument

The Texas State Monument honors the 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Regiments. It is located along South Confederate Avenue, just south of the Emmitsburg Road near the Bushman Farm. It cost $1,000.00 and was dedicated in September 1964.

The monument was constructed of red Texas granite and features the “Lone Star.” It was designed by Harold Simpson, the historian for the Texas State Civil War Centennial Commission.

Identical monuments were erected to honor Texas’s Civil War contributions at ten other battlefields: Sharpsburg, the Wilderness, Bentonville, Chickamauga, Fort Donelson, Kennesaw Mountain, Mansfield, Pea Ridge, Shiloh, and at Anthony (Texas). Only the inscriptions differ. A large scale monument to all Confederate Texans was erected at Vicksburg.

Located near the Texas State Monument on South Confederate Avenue is a small stone dedicated to Robertson’s Texas Brigade.

This was the very first Confederate monument at Gettysburg, placed here in 1913 (thus predating even the Virginia state monument) through the effort of a group of private citizens. In addition to honoring the 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas Regiments, this monument also honors the 3rd Arkansas Regiment.

(The monument is difficult to read because it is badly in need of repointing.)

10th Pennsylvania Reserves (39th Infantry)

  One of two Pennsylvania regimentals cast entirely of bronze (the other belongs to the 56th Pennsylvania), the 10th Reserve monument stands along South Confederate Avenue in the area between Big and Little Round Top.  The staute depicts a soldier at the position “trail arms” advancing up the slope of the hill.  The monument cost $3,000.00 and was dedicated in September 1890.  The soldier is larger than life at seven feet tall.

Raised from the counties of Beaver, Crawford, Clarion, Mercer, Washington, Warren, and Venango, the regiment was commanded at Gettysburg by Col. Adroniram J. Warner (1834-1910), the head of the Union school in Mercer.  He later served in the U.S. Congress.

10th Pennsylvania Reserves (39th Regiment)

5th Corps, 3rd Division, 3rd Brigade

Col. Adroniram J. Warner (1834-1910)

Engaged: 420; 2 killed, 3 wounded

Monument: South Confederate Avenue, base of Big Round Top

E&H 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters

The monument to companies E & H of the 2nd United States Sharpshooters is located near the Slyder House at the base of Big Round Top.

The monument is accessible via the Slyder Farm lane (today a horse trail) off the Emmitsburg Road and Confederate Avenue. This is one of the monuments that you need to walk to get to at Gettysburg.

Companies E & H were both from Vermont. The monument is a plain granite structure. The main features on the front of the die are a pair of crossed rifles and the state seal. A granite scroll tells what the two companies did at Gettysburg.
But by far the real highlight of th is monument is the hornet’s nest.

Gettysburg is not famous like Shiloh for having the Hornet’s Nest, but this monument features a tree branch with a large wasp nest with angry granite hornets coming out.

This is symbolic of the hot spot that these companies found themselves in on the afternoon of July 2, 1863 when the Confederates advanced straight towards this position and on to Devil’s Den.

2nd United States Sharpshooters - E&H (Vermont)

3rd Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Maj. Homer R. Stoughton (1836-1902)

Engaged: 200; 5 killed, 23 wounded, 15 missing

Monument: Slyder House (E&H only)

5th New York Cavalry

One of the least accessible monuments at Gettysburg belongs to the 5th New York Cavalry.  The 11 companies were raised from New York City and the counties of Essex and Tioga.  Known as the “First Ira Harris Guard,” Company I was in Washington during the battle.

The back of this monument features a plaque detailing the unit’s service.  The front contains an excellent relief carving of a calvary man mounted upon his horse.  The New York seal is also featured.

The monument is stained green from the trees around it.  It is nearly impossible to keep it clean for a long time.

One of the circa 1890s bronze Park Service signs points out the single track path to this monument and an associated battery of United States artillery (E - 4th US Horse).  The path takes the visitor back through the woods and up part of Big Round Top.  This monument is probably one of the least visited at Gettysburg.

The commander of the 5th New York Cavalry at Gettysburg was Maj. John Hammond (1827-1889), a iron manufacutuer in Crown Point who later served in Congress during  1879 to 1883.

5th New York Cavalry

Cavalry Corps, 3rd Division, 1st Brigade

Maj. John Hammond (1827-1889)

Engaged: 468; 1 killed, 1 wounded, 4 missing

Monument: knoll southwest of Big Round Top.  Accessible via South Confederate Avenue

Major William Wells

Located on South Confederate Avenue, this monument is a staute of Major William Wells, who won a Medal of Honor, for his role in the futile charge of Farnsworth on the afternoon of July 3, 1863.

Costing $6,000.00, the monument was sculpted by  J. Otto Schweizer.  Schweizer took care to use several of Wells’ possessions (including his uniform, hat, revolver, boots, and belt) to make the monument more authentic and true to life.  The larger-than-life memorial stands at 8′ high.  An exact replica of this monument was erected in Battery Park in Burlington, so pleased were the friends of Wells with the likeness.

The monument was also meant to honor the men of the 1st Vermont Cavalry who had participated in the charge.  To that end, an additional $2,000.00 was raised.

The bronze plaque’s faces are actually modeled after photographs of men who participated in the charge.  Wells is depicted out in front of the charge, with sword drawn.  Next to him, General Farnsworth falls mortally wounded.

(The First Vermont Cavalry has a monument located not far away from this which will be featured as a future monument study.)

The monument to Wells was dedicated on July 3, 1913.

The Longstreet Monument

One of the newer bronze monuments on the battlefield — and the only bronze dedicated solely to a Confederate General — is the monument to General James Longstreet.

Executed by sculptor Gary Casteel, this monument is located in what are known as Pitzer’s Woods, just behind West Confederate Avenue on Seminary Ridge.

Longstreet (January 8, 1821 – January 2, 1904), commanded Lee’s First Corps.  Longstreet is well known by Gettysburg and Civil War afficiandados, so a description of his life and career (as well as his time at Gettysburg) is a bit beyond the scope of this brief entry.

The monument was dedicated on July 3, 1998.  The monument has been criticized for the horse seems disproportionately small.  Also the lack of a pedestel makes the monument unlike others on the battlefield.

The monument fund was started by North Carolina Division Sons of Confederate Veterans.  The site of the monument was chosen in part because of its proximity to Longstreet’s headquarters; the monument site is approximately .2 of a mile north of Longstreet’s headquarters on the Pitzer Farm.

The fact sheet for the monument notes:

The monument will be a life size equestrian statue which has been designed by Mr. Gary Casteel, noted sculptor from Maurertown, VA. It will consist of a bronze horse and rider at ground level. This will give the appearance of movement in a classical design. The bronze inscription will be mounted on two stone pedestals placed in front of the monument. The reforestation will continue up to the monument giving the appearance of the General observing the lines on the third day of battle. Approval of the monument and landscaping designs was granted by the National Park Service on September 13, 1995. A sign marking the site of the monument was erected by the Longstreet Memorial Fund and National Park Service personnel on September 25, 1995.

As previously stated, this is the only monument at Gettysburg dedicated solely to a Confederate general.  The only other CSA general depicted is Robert E. Lee on the top of the Virginia State Monument.

Company F, 1st United States Sharpshooters

Today’s monument is the marker to company F, 1st United States Sharpshooters.

Each of the different companies of the two sharpshooter regiments has a monument in a different location at Gettysburg.  F company of the 1st U.S.S. was from the state of Vermont.

The monument to F company is situated in Pitzer’s woods off Berdan Avenue.  Berdan Avenue is located off of West Confederate Avenue and is a small cul-de-sac.  This marks the location where the company helped to check Longstreet’s march towards the Union left.

The monument consists of a white marble column topped by an eagle with spread wings.  The inscription denotes Company F’s service at Gettysburg.  This monument shows some age, but is one of the more striking at Gettysburg because of its bright white color.

1st United States Sharpshooters - Company F (Vermont)
Members of the 3rd Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Commanded by Col. Hiram Berdan (1824-1893)

Engaged: 371; 6 killed, 37 wounded, 6 missing

Monument: F Company located along Berdan Avenue, Pitzer’s Woods