14th United States Infantry

The 14th United States Infantry was divided into two battalions at Gettysburg. The 1st Battalion contained 8 companies — A, B, D, E, F, and G. The 2d Battalion contained two companies (F and G). It was formed at Fort Trumbull in New London, Connecticut in 1861.

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)

4th New York Light Artillery

The monument to the 4th New York Independent Artillery (Smith’s Battery) was damaged on the night of February 16, 2006. Vandals pulled the statue of an artilleryman down from the pedestal pictured here. The bronze artilleryman was then dragged the monument 162 feet, badly gouging it. The head and the rammer portions of the memorial were cut off and removed.

To repair this monument, the Park Service will likely use casts from an identical artilleryman created by the sculptor, Casper Buberl, that stands in Manchester, New Hampshire. The stolen pieces have never turned up so the monument cannot be fully restored without the casts.
(I believe that the Park Service is looking for the fiends who defaced the Park back in the winter of 2006, so if you have information, please contact them.)

Image of the damage at Devil’s Den from the National Park Service website.

The 4th New York Independent’s defaced monument stands along Sickles Avenue at Devil’s Den. The unit was made up of 6 Parrotts and 135 men.

Their commander was Capt. James E. Smith (1832-1893), a livestock commission merchant in New York City.

The battery was recruited from New York City, originally as part of Serrell’s 1st New York Engineers, in the fall of 1861.

4th New York Light Artillery

3d Corps Artillery Brigade

Engaged: 6 Parrotts, 135 men; 2 killed, 10 wounded, 1 missing

Monument: Devil’s Den

6th New Jersey Infantry

The 6th New Jersey monument is located in the Valley of Death near Devil’s Den along Crawford Avenue.

It is a simple white oblesik shape with an engraving of muskets on the front. It marks the regiment’s position on the afternoon of July 2d.

The 6th was raised from the counties of Burlington, Camden, Hudson, Hunterdon, and Mercer. It was commanded by Lt. Col. Stephen R. Gilkyson (1833-1892), a lumber merchant from Hightstown.

6th New Jersey Infantry

3rd Corps, 2nd Division, 3rd Brigade

Lt. Col. Stephen R. Gilkyson (1833-1892)

Engaged: 246; 1 killed, 32 wounded, 8 missing

Monument: Crawford Avenue

4th Maine Infantry

The 4th Maine monument is located among the rocks of Devil’s Den.  It is a small, simple oblesik shape that contains red granite diamonds — symbolic of the 1st Division, 3rd Corps.  The monument was designed by the regiment’s colonel.

The 4th came from the counties of Knox, Lincoln, and Waldo.  It was commanded by Col. Elijah Walker (1818-1905), a lumber merchant from Rockland.  He was wounded on July 2 and Capt. Edwin Libby (1832-1864) took command.  Libby, a sea captain from Rockland, was killed at the Wilderness.

4th Maine Infantry

3d Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Col. Elijah Walker (1818-1905)

Engaged: 332; 11 killed, 59 wounded, 74 missing

Monument: Crawford Avenue at Devil’s Den

20th Indiana Infantry

At Gettysburg, you cannot generally tell from the ornateness of a monument whether the regiment was nearly slaughtered here or whether it simply sat in reserve. Such a case is the 20th Indiana: a very simple monument that hides the fact that the regiment suffered terribly on July 2, 1863.

Raised from the counties of Cass, Lake, Laporte, Marion, Marshall, Miami, Porter, Tippecanoe, and White in the summer of 1861, the 20th was commanded at Gettysburg by Col. John Wheeler (1825-1863), an editor from Crown Point. The monument stands near where he was killed. Command then fell to Lt. Col. William C.L. Taylor (1836-1901), a lawyer from Lafayette. The monument is located on the edge of the Wheatfield along Cross Avenue.

This monument was dedicated on October 28, 1885.

20th Indiana Infantry

3rd Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Col. John Wheeler (1825-1863)

Engaged: 496; 32 killed, 114 wounded, 10 missing

Monument: Cross Avenue between Devil’s Den and the Wheatfield

86th New York Infantry

Gettysburg monuments can have many themes. The monument to the 86th New York highlights sacrifice and tragedy.

Nicknamed the “Steuben Rangers,” the 86th was raised mainly from the counties of Steuben and Chemung. The commander at Gettysburg was Lt. Col. Benjamin L. Higgins (1826-1891), the chief engineer of the Syracuse fire department. When he fell wounded on July 2, Maj. Jacob H. Lansing (1824-1885) took command of the approximately 300 men in the regiment.

The regiment suffered 11 killed, 51 wounded, and 4 missing in action on July 2 in the woods between the Devil’s Den and the Wheatfield.

The monument appears rather plain and is generally just past by visitors shuttling between Devil’s Den and the Wheatfield areas; this area is literally filled with monuments ranging from boring to interesting.

However, this rather ordinary looking granite monument features a unique and poignant bronze relief on the front that makes it distinguishable from the many similar looking monuments that proliferate this area of the field. The relief shows a woman — a mother — mourning the loss of her son who has fallen on the battlefield. The relief contains the words: “I yield him unto his Country and to his God.” Few monuments at Gettysburg reflect the sacrifice made here more.

Other features include the state crest and a diamond — symbolic of the Union third corps.

86th New York Infantry

Members of the 3rd Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Commanded by:  Lt. Col. Benjamin L. Higgins (1826-1891)

Engaged: 286; 11 killed, 51 wounded, 4 missing

Monument: Sickles Avenue; woods between the Devil’s Den and the Wheatfield

124th New York Regiment

Today’s Gettysburg monument is one of my personal favorites on the battlefield: the monument to the 124th New York Infantry.

Located along Sickles Avenue near the “Triangular Field” at the upper part of Devil’s Den, this monument protrays the unit’s commanding officer, Colonel Augustus van Horne Ellis (1827-July 2, 1863). A sea captain with an interesting and varied past, Ellis was killed near where the staute now stands when a bullet slammed into his forehead.

The regiment itself was nicknamed “The Orange Blossoms” because they were recruited in Orange County. There were 279 men in the regiment at Gettysburg.

Interestingly, the full-length portrait staute of Colonel Ellis is the only such staute of a regimental commander at Gettysburg. This also was the first New York regimental monument on the battlefield.

Grateful citizens of Orange County raised most of the funds to erect the monument. Consisting of granite and bronze, it was dedicated on July 2, 1884. According to Frederick Hawthorne’s book on Gettysburg monuments, the memorial cost $2,714.00.

The monument has a total height of just over 16′ with Ellis standing at a larger-than-life height of 7.’ The staute depicts the colonel with his arms folded, cool and calm in the face of a hail of bullets.

The unit also has a marker located on Cemetery Ridge along Pleasanton Avenue.

124th New York Infantry “Orange Blossoms”

Members of the 3rd Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Commanded by Colonel A.V.H. Ellis (1827-1863)

Engaged 279; 28 killed, 57 wounded, 5 missing

Monument: Sickles Avenue, above the Devil’s Den. Marker on Pleasanton Avenue.

Focus: the 99th Pennsylvania Infantry

The Civil War monument series continues (and probably will continue until I run out of motivation or monuments) with yet another Keystone state memorial: that to the 99th Pennsylvania at the famous Devil’s Den.

The 99th Pennsylvania’s monument is located along Sickles Avenue at the “upper” Den (Houck’s Ridge), near Smith’s New York Battery and the Triangular Field.

The regiment’s nickname was the 32d Volunteers. At Gettysburg they were commanded by Major John W. Moore, who was later killed at the battle of Fort Fisher.

It was raised in Lancaster County and from Philadelphia. The 99th Pennsylvania took 339 men into battle at Gettysburg and lost 18 killed, 81 wounded, and 11 missing. It occupied the extreme left of Ward’s brigade at the battle of Gettysburg.

Members of the 3rd Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Commanded by Maj. John W. Moore (1836-1865)

Engaged 339; 18 killed, 81 wounded, 11 missing

Monuments: Sickles Avenue (above Devil’s Den). Secondary monument along Hancock Avenue.