Dedicated: July 1, 1899.
Location: North of Chambersburg Pike.
Description: An equestrian portrait of General John Fulton Reynolds, commander of the First Army Corps, as he was about to rush the left wing of the Army of the Potomac. He is depicted looking out to his proper left and pulling back on his horse’s reins with his proper left hand. The horse has stopped short in mid-stride with just two hoofs on the ground. The sculpture rests on a rectangular granite base adorned with bronze inscription plaques. The monument cost $27,666. The monument is something of a marvel in that all 9,000 pounds of the bronze sculpture rests only on two of the horses hooves. General Reynolds was one of the first to die at Gettysburg and his monument is installed within 400 yards of the spot where he fell.
National Park Service List of Classified Monuments Number: MN28.
Sculptor: Henry Kirke Brown
About Major General John Fulton Reynolds
A native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Reynolds was born on September 21, 1820. He graduated from West Point in 1841 and was posted to the artillery. He was awarded two brevets for gallantry during the Mexican War.
Reynolds’s Civil War career began in earnest when he was appointed to command a brigade in the “Pennsylvania Reserves” division during McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign. He had the misfortune of being captured in Boatswain’s Swamp, Virginia after the battle of Gaines Mill. He was exchanged quickly and resumed his post, commanding the division with great gallantry at Second Bull Run where his bravery helped save Pope’s Army from complete annihilation.
Reynolds was posted to command the Pennsylvania Militia during the Antietam Campaign, returning to the Army of the Potomac in time to command the I Corps at Fredericksburg. After Chancellorsville, Lincoln offered Reynolds command of the Army of the Potomac, but he declined the post and recommended his good friend, General George Meade.
On the morning of July 1, while in command of the Union’s left wing, Reynolds was killed instantly deploying his men in what is today known as Reynolds Woods. His final words, as recorded by his aides, were, “Forward men forward for God’s sake and drive those fellows out of those woods.” His body was taken back to his home in Lancaster where he is buried beside his parents.
One of the highest ranking Union generals killed in the Civil War, and as befitting of the native son, Reynolds is honored four times at Gettysburg: by an equestrian monument, by a standing bronze portrait statue in the National Cemetery, with a bronze statue on the Pennsylvania State Monument, and by a granite marker denoting where he was killed.
Other Monuments to Maj. Gen. John Reynolds at Gettysburg
Equestrian Monument | Spot Where Reynolds Fell | Standing Bronze