6th United States Infantry

The 6th United States Infantry’s monument is located with the rest of the U.S. Regular Infantry monuments along Ayres Avenue near the Wheatfield.   There were five companies at Gettysburg (D, F, G, H, and I).  The regiment was enlisted from New York City and Suffolk County Massachusetts.  It was originally organized in 1815; in 1861, headquarters for the 6th were at Benicia Banks, California.

The 236 men of the 6th at Gettysburg were commanded by Capt. Levi C. Bootes (1809-1896), a Mexican War veteran who rose from the rank of private to lieutenant colonel in 1874.

6th United States Infantry

5th Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade

Engaged: 236; 4 killed, 40 wounded

Monument: Ayres Avenue

62nd Pennsylvania Infantry

The 62d Pennsylvania Infantry was also known as the 33rd Pennsylvania Independent Regiment.

It was recruited from the counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Blair, Clarion, and Jefferson and mustered in at Pittsburgh on July 4, 1861.

Members of the Fifth Corps, they fought in the Wheatfield on July 2. Their monument is relatively simple and located in the Wheatfield along De Trobriand Avenue.  It was dedicated on September 11, 1889. The monument consists of a tiered base.  A relief depicts crossed swords, a hat, and the Bible.

At Gettysburg, the 62nd was commanded by Lt. Col. James C. Hull (1828-1864). Hull was a carpenter in Allegheny county. He was mortally wounded on May 12, 1864 at Spotsylvania and died 10 days later.

62nd Pennsylvania Infantry

5th Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade

426; 28 killed, 107 wounded, 40 missing

Monument: De Trobriand Avenue

2nd United States Infantry

The 2nd United States Infantry was recruited at New York City, Suffolk County (Massachusetts), and from St. Louis, Missouri. Organized in 1815, the regimental headquarters in 1861 was at Fort Kearny in the Nebraska Territory. There were six companies at Gettysburg (B, C, F, H, I, and K). The first commander was Maj. Arthur T. Lee (1814-1879), who was wounded on the 2d. Command devolved upon Capt. Samuel A. McKee, Jr. (1841-1864). He was killed by guerrillas near Greenwich, Virginia on April 11, 1864. The monument is located along Ayres Avenue near the Wheatfield.

2nd United States Infantry

5th Corps, 2nd Division, 2nd Brigade

Engaged: 237; 6 killed, 55 wounded, 6 missing

Monument: Ayres Avenue

17th United States Infantry

The 17th United States Infantry’s monument is located near Ayres Avenue at Day’s Hill behind the Wheatfield.

The 17th was nicknamed the Maine Regulars. It consisted of 7 companies; the 1st Battalion contained companies A, C, D, G, and H; the second Battalion contained companies A and B. It was enlisted from the counties of Aroostook, Cumberland, and Penobscot in Maine, as well as from Erie County (New York) and Wayne County (Michigan). It was organized in Maine in 1861 at Fort Preble.

The 17th was commanded by Lt. Col. James D. Greene (1828-1902). Greene, an 1849 graduate of Harvard, invented a breech loading rifle.

17th United States Infantry

5th Corps, 2nd Division, 2nd Brigade

Engaged: 334; 25 killed, 118 wounded, 7 missing

Monument: Ayres Avenue

18th Massachusetts Infantry

Elements of more than three Federal corps fought in the cramped area of the Wheatfield.

Amongst these units were two small brigades of the 5th Corps sent early in the fight to aid De Trobiand’s brigade.

The 18th Massachusetts was raised from the counties of Bristol, Norfolk, and Plymouth. It’s commander at Gettysburg was Col. Joseph Hayes (1835-1912), a Boston real estate broker.

The regiment was engaged in the Wheatfield near where the monument to the regiment now stands.

It’s simple monument is located along Sickles Avenue in the area that is known as the Loop.

18th Massachusetts Infantry

5th Corps, 1st Division, 1st Brigade

Col. Joseph Hayes (1835-1912)

Engaged: 281; 1 killed, 23 wounded, 3 missing

Monument: The Loop

1st Michigan Infantry

The 1st Michigan was raised at Ann Arbor from the counties of Jackson, Washtenaw, and Wayne.

Like most of Michigan’s infantry monuments, this one features a bas relief on the front of the die. The monument is located on “The Loop” near the Rose Farm and the Wheatfield. It “marks the position where the regiment fought” on the afternoon of July 2.

The regiment was commanded by Col. Ira C. Abbott (1824-1908), a grain dealer from Burr Oak. Abbott was wounded on July 2 and Lt. Col. William A. Throop took command. Throop (1838-1884) was a bookseller from Detroit.

1st Michigan Infantry

5th Corps, 1st Division, 1st Brigade

261; 5 killed, 33 wounded, 4 missing

Monument: Sickles Avenue

10th United States Infantry

The 10th United States Infantry’s monument is located with the rest of the U.S. Regular infantry monuments near the Wheatfield and Day’s Hill. For such a small regiment, it suffered severe casualties.

There were only 3 companies (D, G, and H) consisting of just over 100 men at Gettysburg under the command of Capt. William Clinton (1817-1871), a veteran of the Mexican War. (Sadly, no evidence exists on whether this Bill Clinton understood the meaning of “is”.) The original unit was organized at the Carlisle Barracks in 1855; in 1861, the unit was headquartered at Fort Laramie in the Nebraska Territory.

10th United States Infantry

5th Corps, 2nd Division, 2nd Brigade

Engaged: 106; 16 killed, 32 wounded, 3 missing

Monument: Ayres Avenue

11th United States Infantry

The 11th U.S. Infantry’s monument is located on Ayres Avenue on “Day’s Hill” near the Wheatfield.

The 11th contained 6 companies (B-G). It was enlisted in Suffolk County, Massachusetts from the counties of Marion (Indiana), Des Moines (Iowa), and St. Lawrence (New York). The regiment was formed in 1861 at Fort Independence in Boston.

The commander at Gettysburg was Maj. Delancey Floyd-Jones (1826-1902), an 1846 graduate of West Point.

11th United States Infantry

5th Corps, 2nd Division, 2nd Brigade

354; 19 killed, 92 wounded, 9 missing

Monument: Ayres Avenue

66th New York Infantry

The 66th New York was one of the many units sacrificed in the raging cauldron of the Wheatfield. So many units fought on the Federal side in the Wheatfield that there is a virtual sea of granite and stone and bronze in this area.

The 66th’s monument is rather plain and non-descript. The back of the monument, however, features a bronze relief entitled “Peace and Unity.” It depicts a Union and Confederate soldier shaking hands.

The monument was paid for using the state appropriation of $1,500.00. It was dedicated on October 8, 1889. It consists of Maine Hallowell granite and it was sculpted by Byron M. Pickett (1833-1907) of New York City. It is located on Sickles Avenue on the edge of the Wheatfield near the rise in the road that becomes the Loop.

The 66th New York was nicknamed the Governor’s Guard. It was raised in New York City in November 1861. Although a small regiment, it suffered heavily in the Wheatfield as reflected by the fact that it went through three commanders.

The first was Col. Orlando H. Morris (1835-1864), a Columbia-educated lawyer. He was wounded on July 2 and later killed at Cold Harbor.

After Morris, Lt. Col. John S. Hammell (1842-1873), a Philadelphia merchant, took command. After Hammell too fell wounded, Maj. Peter A. Nelson (d. 1899), a Danish born builder from Westchester took command.

66th New York Infantry

2d Corps, 1st Division, 3d Brigade

176; 5 killed, 29 wounded, 10 missing

Monument: Sickles Avenue

8th New Jersey Infantry

The 8th New Jersey Infantry was recruited from the counties of Essex, Hunterdon, and Hudson. It was mustered into Federal service on September 14, 1861.

A small regiment (even by Gettysburg standards), the approximately 150 men of the 8th New Jersey were commanded by Col. John Ramsey (1838-1901) a cigar maker. When Ramsey fell wounded, Capt. John G. Langston (1838-1903) took command.

The 8th’s simple regimental monument is located on De Trobriand Avenue in the Wheatfield. This marks the regiment’s position on July 2. On July 3, the unit was in support of batteries on Cemetery Ridge.

8th New Jersey Infantry

3d Corps, 2d Division, 3d Brigade

Col. John Ramsey (1838-1901)

Engaged: 148; 7 killed, 38 wounded, 2 missing

Monument: De Trobriand Avenue