3rd West Virginia Cavalry

The 3d West Virginia Cavalry was represented by two companies at Gettysburg. (A and C). The regiment was raised from all over the state; Company A was organized at Wheeling while Company C was organized at Brandonville. The various companies of this regiment were not combined as one unit until 1864.

The approximately 60 men of the regiment were commanded by Capt. Seymour B. Conger (1825-1864), who recruited A company. Conger was killed at Moorefield on August 7, 1864.

The simple regimental monument is located near Oak Hill.

3rd West Virginia Cavalry

Cavalry Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

59; 4 missing

Monument: Buford Avenue

1st West Virginia Artillery Battery C

The monument to West Virginia Battery C is located in the National Cemetery. This monument is nearly identical to the monument erected to the 3d West Virginia Cavalry (though of course the inscriptions vary).

Known as the “Pierpont Battery,” this unit actually came from Washington County, Ohio, but it was formed by the governor of West Virginia in March 1862. It’s commander was Capt. Wallace Hill (1839-1895), a farmer from Marietta, Ohio. The battery consisted of almost 125 men and 4 Parrotts of the 10 pounder variety.

1st West Virginia Artillery Battery C

Artillery Reserve, 3d Volunteer Brigade

Capt. Wallace Hill (1839-1895)

Engaged: 4 Parrotts and 124 men; 2 killed, 2 wounded

Monument: National Cemetery

7th West Virginia Infantry

The 7th West Virginia Infantry was the only infantry regiment from the Union’s newest state present at Gettysburg.

Raised from the counties of Grant, Hardy, Marshall, Monogalia, Preston, and Tyler, the regiment also included men from Monroe County, Ohio. Mustered in during late 1861 in Wheeling, the regiment was part of the Gibralter Brigade.

The commander at Gettysburg was Lt. Col. Jonathan H. Lockwood (1808-1892), a businessman in Moundsville. The regiment was engaged mainly on the night of July 2 in defense of East Cemetery Hill.

West Virginia became a state on June 20, 1863. As such, the only Federal regiment at Gettysburg with the appropriate number of stars on their flag was the 7th West Virginia (a flag was “borrowed” from the neighboring 14th Indiana).

The monument features a Union soldier in full winter dress and stands next to the guns of Rickett’s Battery, which the unit helped to save. The back of the monument features the slogan “Sons of the Mountains.” The Spotswood Award, a horsehoe with the statement “We have crossed the mountains,” also appears on the monument. A colonial governor of Virginia, Spotswood awarded folks travelling west with horsehoes.

The memorial was dedicated on September 28, 1898.

7th West Virginia Infantry

2nd Corps, 3rd Division, 1st Brigade

Commanded by: Lt. Col. Jonathan H. Lockwood (1808-1892)

Engaged: 319; 5 killed, 41 wounded, 1 missing

Monument: East Cemtery Hill.  Marker on Wainwright Avenue.