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

15th New York Artillery

The 15th New York Artillery was assigned to the Artillery Reserve.  The Battery was recruited from New York City and mustered in at Throgs Neck as part of the Irish Brigade on December 9, 1861.

At Gettysburg, the 15th was commanded by Capt. Patrick Hart (1827-1892), of Irish birth and a soldier in the regular army in a variety of departments.

The battery consisted of 4 Napoleon cannons and 99 men.  They suffered 16 casualties, most of them in action near the Peach Orchard on July 2 where their monument now stands along the Wheatfield Road.  A secondary marker is located along Hancock Avenue that marks the July 3d position.

15th New York Artillery

Artillery Reserve, 1st Volunteer Brigade

Engaged:  4 Napoleon cannons and 99 men; 3 killed, 13 wounded

Monument: Wheatfield Road near the Peach Orchard

114th Pennsylvania Infantry

The 114th Pennsylvania monument is located near the Peach Orchard in the Sherfy farm yard off of the Emmitsburg Road. This was one of the monuments damaged by vandals in February 2006; fortunately, the damage was easily repaired.

The regiment was known as Collis Zouaves; the monument features an excellent bronze statue of a Zouave soldier loading his rifle. A secondary monument is located on Hancock Avenue marking the unit’s July 3d position.

Raised from Philadelphia in September 1862, the 114th was commanded by Lt. Col. Frederick Cavada (1832-1871). Cavada, a native of Cuba, was captured on July 2. He later served as Chief of General Staff of the Cuban forces against Spain; captured by the Spanish, he was executed on July 1, 1871.

After Cavada was captured, Capt. Edward R. Bowen (1839-1906), a clerk from Philadelphia, took command of the regiment.

114th Pennsylvania Infantry

3d Corps, 1st Division, 1st Brigade

312; 9 killed, 86 wounded, 60 missing

Monument: Emmitsburg Road at the Sherfy house. Secondary monument on Hancock Avenue

2nd New Hampshire Infantry

The pyramid shaped monument to the 2nd New Hampshire is located at the Peach Orchard. New Hampshire’s monuments on the battlefield are generally simple and relatively unadorned. Although it’s monuments may be simple, the “Granite State” fought well at Gettysburg and suffered significant casualties amongst its various units.

The 2nd was raised from the counties of Cheshire, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, and Strafford in June 1861. It’s commander at Gettysburg was Col. Edward L. Bailey (1841-1930), one of the longest lived officers to serve at Gettysburg. The monument is located where the regiment defended the Peach Orchard salient on the afternoon of July 2, 1863.

The monument was sculpted by Thomas Nahn. This memorial was dedicated on July 2, 1886. The monument is designed thusly: “Granite cone-shaped monument with reliefs of muskets at edges with muzzles pointing toward the apex, and diamond shapes below rifle butt. The monument is set upon a three-tiered base, the top polished level has text inscriptions.”
2nd New Hampshire Infantry

3rd Corps, 2nd Division, 3rd Brigade

Col. Edward L. Bailey (1841-1930)

Engaged: 354; 20 killed, 137 wounded, 36 missing

Monument: Peach Orchard

1st Pennsylvania Artillery Battery C & F

1st Pennsylvania Artillery Batteries C & F were members of the Artillery Reserve. It was an Allegheny County unit. It’s commander was Capt. James Thompson (1812-1906), an Irish born officer who had served with the British artillery. The battery consisted of 6 Ordnance Rifles and 105 men.

This unit was known as Hampton’s Battery.

The unit’s main monument is located at the Peach Orchard along the Wheatfield Road. The monument cost $1,940.00 and was dedicated in November 1890. The main feature is a 6′ tall bronze statue of an artilleryman holding a rammer. The base of the monument is made of Westerly granite. The statue was sculpted by C.F. Hamilton. There is also a marker on Hancock Avenue for Hampton’s Battery.

1st Pennsylvania Artillery Battery C & F

Artillery Reserve, 1st Volunteer Brigade

Engaged: 6 Ordnance Rifles, 105 men; 2 killed, 23 wounded, 3 missing

Monument: Peach Orchard

63rd Pennsylvania Infantry

The 63d Pennsylvania came from the counties of Allegheny and Clarion. The commander at Gettysburg was Maj. John A. Danks (1826-1896), an iron worker in Etna.

The relatively simple regimental monument is located along the Emmitsburg Road at the intersection with the Millerstown Road near the Peach Orchard.

The monument’s main features include a red granite diamond (the regiment was in the “Red Diamond” Division of the 3d Corps, formerly Kearny’s) as the capstone. The monument has an interesting column shape. It stands where the unit was placed and did most of it’s fighting on the afternoon of July 2, 1863.

63rd Pennsylvania Infantry

3d Corps, 1st Divison, 1st Brigade

Maj. John A. Danks (1826-1896)

Engaged: 296; 1 killed, 29 wounded, 4 missing

Monument: Emmitsburg Road

Battery C & F Pennsylvania Artillery

Located on “Artillery Avenue” near the Peach Orchard is the interesting carved stone cannon of Batterys C & F, Pennsylvania Artillery, also known as Thompson’s Battery.  This unit hailed from Allegheny county in Pennsylvania.   It was temporarily consolidated during the Gettysburg Campaign.

The commander was Capt. James Thompson (1821-1906).  The battery consisted of 6 Ordance rifles and 105 men.  A marker is also along Hancock Avenue.

Batterys C & F Pennsylvania Artillery (Thompson’s)

Members of the Artillery Reserve, 1st Volunteer Brigade

Commanded by:  Capt. James Thompson (1821-1906)

Engaged: 105 men, 6 Ordance rifles.  2 killed, 23 wounded, 3 missing

Monument: Peach Orchard

1st Rhode Island, Battery E (Randolph’s)

One of the many artillery units posted at the Peach Orchard salient, 1st Rhode Island Artillery Battery E was part of the Third Corps Artillery Brigade. Raised from Providence County, the battery was commanded at Gettysburg by Lt. John K. Bucklyn (1834-1906), a school teacher who won the medal of honor at Chancellorsville. When Bucklyn was wounded at Gettysburg, 2d Lieutenant Benjamin Freeborn took command of the battery (1835-1874). The unit had 116 men and six 12lb Napolean cannons.

The monument sits near the Peach Orchard on the Emmitsburg Road line. It is a simple stone structure that features a carving of crossed cannon swabs around the Rhode Island state seal and anchor.

1st Rhode Island Battery E

Third Corps Artillery Brigade

Commanded by: Lt. John K. Bucklyn (1834-1906)

Engaged: 116 with six 12 lb Napoleans; 3 killed, 26 wounded, 1 missing

Monument: Emmitsburg Road near the Peach Orchard

The Excelsior Brigade

In the vast sea of granite and bronze that makes up the monument forest at Gettysburg, relatively few monuments (speaking, well, relatively) are actually devoted to entire brigades. The Excelsior Brigade monument is a notable exception.

Located, appropriately enough, in “Excelsior Field” just to the north of the famous Peach Orchard, this monument honors the five regiments of the Excelsior Brigade, the 70th through 74th numbered regiments of New York Volunteers. (Of these regiments, only the 73rd has a separate monument and it will be treated individually in another post.) The brigade famous for being raised by everyone’s favorite Gettysburg general infamous III Corps commander Dan “The Man” Sickles, the cornerstone of this monument (the largest in the area) was laid on the 25th anniversary of the battle. Dedicated July 2, 1893 at a cost of $7500.00, it is made of Concord, New Hampshire granite and was sculpted by Theodore Bauer. Shaped like a pentagon, each of the five sides and each of the five columns represent the five regiments of the brigade. Other features include a bronze eagle that sits atop the monument’s dome, symbolic of the brigade’s readiness to strike.

The regiments did their main fighting at Gettysburg near here on the afternoon of July 2. The 70th New York was commanded by Col. John E. Farnum (1824-1870), a New Jersey native who was famous prior to the War for commanding the slave ship Wanderer. Farnum was actually indicted in Savannah courts for carrying out the slave trade! Not exactly the type of resume you would think would earn you a colonelcy in the Union army, but … I suppose it goes to show you can’t always judge someone by their uniform color.¹

The 71st was commanded by Col. Henry L. Potter (1828-1907), a lawyer. The 72nd was commanded by Col. John S. Austin (1817-1865) who was wounded on July 2. Command then fell to Lt. Col. John Leonard (1835-1902), an Irish born hatter. Finally the 74th was commanded by Lt. Col. Thomas Holt (1831-1897), a native of Machester England who made carriages in Watertown.

The monument’s interior was supposed to feature a bust of Sickles. However, Sickles embezzled something to the tune of $28,000.00 from the New York Civil War monument fund and as such the bust was never erected and the spot for it sits empty, a testament to an “incredible” man who did much to help preserve the battlefield and to shape the fighting here, but also was a thief.

So for having an embezzler and the captain of a slave ship, the Excelsior Brigade stands out for some of the really wrong reasons.

The Excelsior Brigade - Specifically 70th, 71st, 72nd, 74th New York

3rd Corps, 2nd Division, 2nd Brigade “Excelsior Brigade”

70th New York commanded by Col. John E. Farnum (1824-1870); engaged 371; 20 killed, 93 wounded, 4 missing

71st New York commanded by Col. Henry L. Potter (1828-1907); engaged 243; 10 killed, 68 wounded, 13 missing

72nd New York commanded by Col. John S. Austin (1817-1865); engaged 366; 7 killed, 79 wounded, 28 missing

74th New York commanded by Lt. Col. Thomas Holt (1831-1897); engaged 275; 12 killed, 74 wounded, 3 missing

(73rd New York has its own monument and will have its own post)

1. Farnum was actually not only a colonel, he was later brevetted brig. gen. His biography over at Appletons Encyclopedia states that he regretted this episode in his life. [↩]

3rd Maine Infantry

The 3rd Maine Infantry fought at the Peach Orchard on July 2, 1863.

The regiment came mainly from the counties of Kennebec, Sagadahoc, and Somerset and was mustered in during June 1861. Their commander was Colonel Moses B. Lakeman (1828-1907). When Lakeman took command of the brigade, Capt. William C. Morgan (1830-1864), a printer in Boston, commanded the 3rd Maine. Morgan was mortally wounded at the Wilderness in 1864.

The regiment number just over 250 at Gettysburg; it suffered severe casualties. The red granite monument is rather plain except for a large red diamond shaped block balanced on the top of the shaft. The shaft briefly explains the 3rd Maine’s role at Gettysburg. There are also markers along Hancock Avenue and Berdan Avenue for this regiment.

3rd Maine Infantry

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

Commanded by: Colonel Moses B. Lakeman (1828-1907)

Engaged: 266; 18 killed, 59 wounded, 45 missing

Monument: The Peach Orchard. Markers on Berdan and Hancock Avenues.