New Yorkers on Culp's Hill - Gettysburg

The 123rd NY Infantry monument rests among other Union markers on Culp's Hill at Gettysburg. The 123rd was one of several units dispatched from its works on the hill to support the Union left on the second day of fighting, only to return to find Confederates had taken their position in their absence. They later retook their works, then were sent off again to support the defense of Pickett's Charge. (Click image for larger view).

Reynolds in the Cemetery - Gettysburg

The Union's Major General John Reynolds, the highest ranking officer killed in the battle, is memorialized with a statue in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Reynolds is depicted in two other full size bronze statues elsewhere on the field. At right is the New York State Monument. (Click image for larger view).

In detail: the 111th New York - Gettysburg

The 111th New York Infantry monument in front of the Brian house on Cemetery Ridge marks only one spot the regiment occupied during its few days at Gettysburg. It helped stop the Confederate attacks on the second day of battle, south of its final position at the stonewall. And before helping repel Pickett's Charge at the little farmhouse members of the 111th performed the duties of skirmishing between the Cemetery and Seminary Ridge lines. "Line fighting is barbarous, but skirmishing is savage - nay, devilish," a captain of the 111th determined. "To juke and hide and skulk for men and deliberately aim at and murder them one by one is far too bloodthirsty business for Christian men." The Rebels exacted a toll in exchange. The 111th sent 390 men into the battle, 249 became casualties, 58 killed. (Click image for larger view).

111th NY at the Brian Farm - Gettysburg

The 111th New York Infantry monument stands on Cemetery Ridge in front of the Brian House at Gettysburg, behind the stone wall the men used as shelter first from the cannonade preceding Pickett's Charge, then during the infantry assault. The 111th NY and its neighboring units had the better of the action on the north end of the charge, punishing its attackers. "As the effect of each volley could be seen, the cheers and the confusion were wild," reported the 111th's colonel. (Click image for larger view).

The Brian Farm - Gettysburg

The 111th New York monument stands next to the Brian farm barn on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg. The barn was part of a farm owned by Abraham Brian, a free black man who fled as Confederates neared. His 12 acre farm would provide the setting for a large part of Pickett's Charge. After returning to Gettysburg and finding graves in his devestated farm fields and his modest house damaged and ransacked, Brian filed claims for $1028 in damages. He received $15. (Click image for larger view).

New York at Gettysburg

The New York State Monument stands over graves in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Only Pennsylvania supplied more troops at the battle, but the New Yorkers suffered the greatest number of casualties: 6,700 killed, wounded or missing out of 23,000 soldiers on hand. (Click image for larger view).

Old Glory over Gettysburg

The US flag flies over the Soldiers' National Cemetery and the New York State Monument at Gettysburg. (Click image for larger view).

Wadsworth - Gettysburg

The monument to Union Brigadier General James S. Wadsworth looks out over the battlefield of the first day at Gettysburg. Wadsworth, a division commander of the First Corps, was respected by his peers though he was not a career soldier. "A braver man never lived," wrote one. He would later die in the Battle of the Wilderness less than a year later. (Click image for larger view).

On the crest of Culp's Hill - Gettysburg

The monument to the 60th New York Infantry stands near the crest of Culp's Hill, where that unit joined others in building breastworks to defend the rugged slope just outside the town of Gettysburg. The hill appears here with thick underbrush, but at the time of the battle it had much less growth under its canopy of trees, making it easier for the defenders to find targets among advancing Confederates trying to take the hill from below. (Click image for larger view).

First Long Island - Culp's Hill, Gettysburg

The First Long Island (67th New York) Infantry monument stands on Culp's Hill, scene of fierce fighting at Gettysburg. The New Yorkers were fortunate in this battle, however, being ordered in after the heavy fighting had passed and suffering light casualties compared to others in the sector. (Click image for larger view).

Sunrise - Little Round Top

The sun breaks over the summit of Little Round Top and the 12th and 44th New York Infantry monument at Gettysburg. The marker is the largest regimental monument on the field, memorializing the nearly 600 men the combined regiments brought to the battle. (Click image for larger view).

Coster Ave. Mural - Gettysburg

The 154th New York Infantry monument stands in front of the Coster Avenue mural on the battlefield of the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. The mural depicts the fighting that took place at this location as members of Coster's brigade - forming a rear guard as the Union line collapsed north of town - were routed by superior numbers of Confederates. Ten-year-old Charles McCurdy, watching the stream of soldiers in Gettysburg, remembered later: "If there is a more thrilling spectacle than an army in frenzied retreat through the narrow streets of a town, I cannot imagine it." (Click image for larger view).

Artillery of The Wheatfield - Gettysburg

The position held by Captain George Winslow's Battery D, First New York Light Artillery, is marked in The Wheatfield at Gettysburg. Operating in the restricted space of a farmer's field hemmed in by trees, Winslow's guns helped slow the Confederate attacks on the second day. But in the back-and-forth fighting of The Wheatfield they were forced back. "All of my pieces could not have been brought off had my men been less brave," Winslow reported. (Click image for larger view).

Mozart Regiment in the Valley of Death - Gettysburg

A soldier peers over a protective boulder in the monument to the 40th New York on the floor of the Valley of Death at Gettysburg, site of fighting on the second day at Gettysburg. Nicknamed the Mozart Regiment after the Mozart Hall Committee of the New York City Democratic party which sponsored it, the 40th entered the fight between Devils Den and Little Round Top as the Confederates where taking control of the sector. Despite being credited with "fighting like tigers," the 40th did not last long in the valley. (Click image for larger view).

Four-legged soldiers - Gettysburg

Horses relax in a green field in front of Union monuments to New Yorkers of the Third Corps that fought in vain to repel attacks at the Peach Orchard on the second day of fighting at Gettysburg. An estimated 72,000 horses were in service with both armies at Gettysburg, with 3000 to 5000 killed during the fighting. Many had names we know today and served high-placed riders, such as Old Baldy, Hero or Lucy Long. The majority were anonymous and toiled at the back-breaking work of moving armies. (Click image for larger view.)

44th and 12th New York, Little Round Top - Gettysburg

The towering monument to the 44th and 12th New York stands out on Little Round Top, seen above a screen of trees. The castle-like monument is one of several for Union units that defended the hill on the second day of fighting at Gettysburg. The virtually unguarded hill - "the key of the whole position" - nearly fell into rebel hands save for troops rushed to its summit before Confederate attackers. (Click image for larger view).

Smith's Battery - Devil's Den, Gettysburg

The monument to Captain James Smith's 4th New York battery of Parrott rifles stands above Devil's Den, in a precarious position that only allowed four of his six guns to be posted before the fight on the second day at Gettysburg. The cannoneers soon went from dueling with Confederate batteries on the opposite Seminary Ridge and long-range fire against infantry to fighting for their lives and their guns at close range. A different fight continues today. Incidents of vandalism in the area were first recorded more than one hundred years ago and in 1995 the artillerist on the Smith battery monument was wrenched from its base. More recently the statue was dragged down and decapitated, damage that has yet to be repaired. (Click image for larger view).

The Second Day

The 15th New York artillery monument stands on the Wheatfield Road at the Peach Orchard, where 145 years ago today a line of 40 cannon was hard pressed, then overrun, by Confederates in the second day of fighting at Gettysburg. Here, at a salient that was created when Union General Dan Sickles over-extended his line, the Union line crumbled as Lt. General James Longstreet's forces pushed their relentless attacks. This battery, its ammunition exhausted, escaped the field with 3 cannoneers killed and 13 wounded. (Click on image for larger view).