9th Massachusetts Artillery

The 9th Massachusetts Artillery is more commonly known as Bigelow’s Battery. Raised from Middlesex County in the summer of 1862, the Battery was commanded by Capt. John Bigelow (1841-1917), a youthful graduate of Harvard University. Bigelow was wounded on July 2 and Lt. Richard S. Milton (1840-1904), a book keeper from West Roxbury took command. The battery consisted of six Napoleans and 110 men.

The main monument is located along the Wheatfield Road marking the position of the battery from 4:30 to 6:30 on July 2. It was dedicated on October 19, 1885 at a cost of $1,000.00. It was designed by Capt. Bigelow and Charles Reed and consists of Quincy Granite.

There are also markers along Hancock Avenue on Cemetery Ridge at Ziegler’s Grove and near the Trostle House (shaped like an ammunition chest) marking other positions held by the battery during the battle.

9th Massachusetts Artillery

Artillery Reserve, 1st Volunteer Brigade

Capt. John Bigelow (1841-1917)

Engaged: 6 Napoleans 110 men; 8 killed, 18 wounded, 2 missing (Battery lost 60 of 86 horses as well)

Monument: Wheatfield Road

13th Massachusetts Infantry

The beautiful monument to the 13th Massachusetts is located on the slope of Oak Ridge near the Robinson staute. The monument cost only $500.00 and was dedicated on September 25, 1885. It depicts a color bearer and is said to stand where the 13th’s color sergent was killed.

The regiment was raised form the counties of Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Worchester in the summer of 1861. Their commander was Col. Samuel H. Leonard (1825-1902). When Leonard fell wounded, Lt. Col. Nathaniel W. Batchelder (1825-1868) took command.

13th Massachusetts Infantry

1st Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade

Col. Samuel H. Leonard (1825-1902)

Engaged: 284; 7 killed, 77 wounded, 101 missing

Monument: Oak Ridge, Robinson Avenue

7th Massachusetts Infantry

The 7th Massachusetts has one of the simplest monuments on the field.  Located on Sedgwick Avenue, it is a simple granite stone with carved crossed rifles that lacks inscription.

The regiment was recruited from the counties of Bristol, Norfolk, and Plymouth.  It’s commander was Lt. Col. Franklin P. Harlow (1827-1905), a mechanic from South Abington.  The regiment was positioned approximately 100 yards behind the monument.

7th Massachusetts Infantry

6th Corps, 3rd Division, 2nd Brigade

Lt. Col. Franklin P. Harlow (1827-1905)

Engaged: 369; 6 wounded

Monument: Sedgwick Avenue

37th Massachusetts Infantry

The 37th Massachusetts monument is located on Sedgwick Avenue, along with the rest of Eustis’s brigade. The monument stands approximately 100 yards in front of where the line of battle was. The monument consists of a carved tree stumped draped with a soldier’s equipment.

Like most Massachusetts monuments, detailed inscriptions are not found.

The 37th came from the counties of Berkshire, Hampden, and Hampshire. Their commander was Col. Oliver Edwards (1835-1904). After the War, he served as the Mayor of Warsaw, Illinois.

37th Massachusetts Infantry

6th Corps, 3rd Division, 2nd Brigade

Col. Oliver Edwards (1835-1904)

Engaged: 593; 2 killed, 26 wounded, 19 missing

Monument: Sedgwick Avenue

16th Massachusetts Infantry

The 16th Massachusetts monument is one of the most simple at Gettysburg. The only notable feature of the monument is the diamonds that make up the monument’s capstone. This regiment suffered severe casualties, however.

Raised from Middlesex county in the summer of 1861, the regiment was commanded by Lt. Col. Waldo Merriam (1839-1864). Merriam was wounded on July 2. (He was later killed at Spotsylvania.) Capt. Matthew Donovan (1830-1876), a painter from Lowell, took command from Merriam.

The monument is located where the regiment fought on July 2 along the Emmitsburg Road.

16th Massachusetts Infantry

3d Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade

Lt. Col. Waldo Merriam (1839-1864)

Engaged: 307; 15 killed, 53 wounded, 13 missing

Monument: Emmitsburg Road

1st Massachusetts Cavalry

The eight companies of the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry (A-H) were temporarily attached to Sixth Corps headquarters during the battle of Gettysburg.  Raised from the counties of Essex, Hampden, and Suffolk, the regiment was commanded by Lt. Col. Greely S. Curtis (1830-1897), a Boston engineer.

The simple monument is located in front of the large equestrian to General Sedgwick along Sedgwick Avenue.

A nicely carved relief of a horse’s head, crossed sabers, and a lucky horseshoe are the monument’s most prominent features.

1st Massachusetts Cavalry

Sixth Corps Headquarters

Lt. Col. Greely S. Curtis (1830-1897)

Engaged: 292; no loss

Monument: Sedgwick Avenue

9th Massachusetts Infantry

Located in the woods along Sykes Avenue in the “saddle” between Little and Big Round Top, the 9th Massachusetts monument’s major feature is the capstone which is carved into the shape of the Fifth Corps Maltese Cross with the state seal carved within the larger Cross.

The commander at Gettysburg was Col. Patrick R. Guiney (1835-1877), a native of Ireland and a lawyer from Roxbury.  He lost an eye at the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864.

The regiment was raised from the counties of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Worcester.

There were almost 475 men at Gettysburg.

While the rest of the brigade fought in the Wheatfield, the 9th Massachusetts was detached.

This monument marks the position held by the regiment during the battle between Big and Little Round Tops.

(This monument is one of the many at Gettysburg badly in need of refurbishment.  As you can see, there are actually cobwebs on the capstone.  Much of the lettering on the monument has also faded with the passage of time.)

9th Massachusetts Infantry

5th Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

Col. Patrick R. Guiney (1835-1877)

Engaged: 474; 1 killed, 6 wounded

Monument: Sykes Avenue

22nd Massachusetts Infantry

Known as the Henry Wilson Regiment (a former colonel and senator), the 22nd Massachusetts came from the counties of Bristol, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Suffolk. Their commander at Gettysburg was Lt. Col. Thomas Sherwin, Jr. (1839-1914), a Harvard educated teacher in Bolton who would become later a pioneer in the telephone industry. The 2nd Company of Massachusetts Sharpshooters was also attached to this unit.

In the fight near the Wheatfield, the regiment suffered over 30 casualties on July 2, 1863.

The monument is a simple granite memorial that features the state seal carved on the front ot the die.

22nd Massachusetts Infantry

5th Corps 1st Division 1st Brigade

Lt. Col. Thomas Sherwin, Jr. (1839-1914)

Engaged 348; 3 killed, 27 wounded, 1 missing

Monument: Sickles Avenue, “The Loop” - Wheatfield

11th Massachusetts Infantry

The 11th Massachusetts Infantry sadly reflects the effects of vandalism on the battlefield.  The top of the regimental monument depicted the rather unique feature of an arm swinging a saber.  On February 15, 2006, vandals ripped the top of the monument off.  It has not yet been repaired.  Also vandalized were the nearby 114th Pennsylvania monument and the 4th New York Battery at Devil’s Den.  While the 114th monument has been repaired, the staute of an artilleryman from Smith’s 4th New York also has not yet been replaced.  For more information and pictures, see Brother’s War: Acts of Desecration.

The 11th Massachusetts was raised from the counties of Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk.  Its commander at Gettysburg was Lt. Col. Porter D. Tripp (1826-1873).  The 364 men of the 11th Massachusetts fought at this position on the Emmitsburg Road and suffered over 100 casualties here.

11th Massachusetts

3rd Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade

Commanded by: Lt. Col. Porter D. Tripp (1826-1873)

Engaged: 364; 23 killed, 96 wounded, 10 missing

Monument: Intersection of the Emmitsburg Road and Sickles Avenue

2nd Massachusetts Infantry

Raised from the counties of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Worcester in the spring of 1861, the 2nd Massachusetts was filled with blue blood.  Their commander at Gettysburg was Harvard graduate Lt. Col. Charles R. Mudge (1839-1863), who was killed when a bullet passed through his throat during an ill-fated and ill-thought out charge on July 3.  Command fell to Maj. Charles F. Morse (1839-1926), an architect from Jamaica Plain.

The monument is a small granite structure located at the edge of the Spangler Meadow on Colgrove Avenue.  It was the first regimental monument erected on the Gettysburg battlefield, dedicated May 1879.  The veterans association purchased the land on the Spangler Farm and erected this memorial which contains the names of those killed at Gettysburg on the reverse side.

2nd Massachusetts Infantry

12th Corps, 1st Division, 3rd Brigade

Lt. Col. Charles R. Mudge (1839-1863)

Engaged: 401; 23 killed, 109 wounded, 4 missing

Monument: Culp’s Hill, Carman Avenue