Monument Types and Identification

This page describes the various types of monuments and memorials that visitors will find on the Gettysburg Battlefield.

Gettysburg is “one of the largest collections of outdoor sculpture in the world.” The GNMP is charged with managing 1,328 monuments and markers, 410 cannons, 148 historic buildings, and 41 miles  of roads (8 miles of them unpaved).

Erected by the Veterans and the States

Unit Monuments and Memorials

By far, the most common monuments at Gettysburg are memorials erected by the veterans or the respective states to the individual units which fought at Gettysburg. Ranging from very large (such as the 44th New York’s monument on Little Round Top) to the the very small, these monuments are the most unique and varied on the battlefield.

The vast majority of these monuments are to Union units; virtually every regiment and battery in the Army of the Potomac that fought at Gettysburg or played a role in the Gettysburg Campaign erected at least one monument at Gettysburg. But there are also a handful of Confederate monuments, the oldest of which belongs to the 1st Maryland Battalion on Culp’s Hill. The other Confederate regimental monuments on the battlefield are more recent additions to the park, mostly having been erected between 1980-2000. (The 1990s and early 2000s were a great time to be a Civil War buff!)

In 1887, the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association declared that unit monuments had to be placed according to the “Line of Battle” rule. This rule state that monuments “must be on the line of battle held by the brigade unless the regiment was detached, and if possible the right and left flanks of the battery must be marked with stones not less than two feet in height.” Accordingly, monument are usually located at the center of where a unit had it’s main line of battle at Gettysburg. Many regiments erected advanced position or other positional markers too. As mentioned, each monument was also supposed to be accompanied by a left and right flank marker, although not all units erected flank markers and a few have gone missing over the years.

State Monuments

Favored particularly by the Confederate states, which lacked the money in the post-war era to erect individual unit monuments and were not terribly interested in memoralizing the site of a significant defeat (at least not initially), the State Monuments collectively honor the contributions of a state’s units at Gettysburg. The largest Union state monument on the battlefield is, not surprisingly, the Pennsylvania State Memorial. The largest Confederate state monument is the Virginia State Memorial. All the Confederate states present at Gettysburg have a state memorial located on West or South Confederate Avenues (the oldest is the Virginia Monument; the most recent is the Tennessee Monument); Union states with monuments include New York, Indiana, Delaware, Vermont, and Pennsylvania. Maryland, which furnished troops to both sides, also has a state monument which fittingly reflects its divided status — it features a Union and Confederate soldier helping one another off of the battlefield.

Monuments to Individuals

Equestrian Monuments

The parks contains eight equestrian monuments. Six of these monuments are to Union commanders (Generals Meade, Reynolds, Hancock, Sedgwick, Howard, and Slocum) and two honor Confederate generals (R.E. Lee, as part of the Virginia State Monument, and Longstreet.) Three of these memorials were executed by noted sculptor Henry Kirke Bush-Brown (Reynolds, Meade, and Sedgwick).

Standing Bronzes

The park contains many standing bronze portrait statues which honor individuals, mostly Union division commanders. These statues represent the work of some of America’s most prominent sculptors of the 19th century, including John Quincy Adams Ward (Reynolds), James Kelly (Buford), and J. Massey Rhind (several New York generals).

Casualty Markers

Usually erected by regimental organizations, the battlefield also features multiple “Casualty Markers” which denote the location where an important officer fell wounded or was killed in action. All three Union corps commanders who were killed or wounded at Gettysburg have such a monument (Reynolds, Hancock, and Sickles), as do a few of the brigade commanders (including Willard and Vincent). But most of these monuments and markers are tributes to beloved company commanders or regimental leaders who were well-remembered by the men under their respective commands, such as Capt. Henry Fuller of the 64th New York, or Capt. Jed Chapman of the 27th Connecticut.

(There is only one marker where a Confederate officer fell – a stone erected where Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead fell mortally wounded inside the Angle on North Hancock Avenue.)

Commemorative Monuments

A final group of monuments at Gettysburg erected by individuals or the states are what I collectively call (for lack of a better term!) “Commemorative Monuments.” These monuments were erected to commemorate certain events or ideas and include some of the largest monuments on the battlefield, like the Eternal Peace Light Monument on Oak Hill. Other such monuments include the High Water Mark Monument, the Gregg Cavalry Field Shaft on the East Cavalry Battlefield, and the Soldiers and Sailors of the Confederacy Monument. Many of these monuments, unsurprisingly, are located within the confines of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on West Cemetery Hill. (And they represent some of the oldest monuments in the park.)

Erected by the War Department

Like all Civil War battlefields owned by the federal government in the late 19th century, Gettysburg was initially managed by the War Department. (Gettysburg was transferred to the National Park Service in 1933.) In the interest of educating young officers and as a study in military history, the War Department placed various markers and tablets to denote officer headquarters and troop locations and movements during the battle. As of 1912, there were 350 of these markers on the battlefield, and they continue to inform and educate visitors as to troop movements and to the armies Order of Battle.

Corps Markers

A Civil War Army was primarily made up of infantry corps which were supported by other troops, including cavalry, light artillery, and various support troops (e.g. engineers, medical staff, guards, and staff).

The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was made up of three corps at Gettysburg, numbered one through three, and commanded by James Longstreet, Richard Ewell, and A.P. Hill. The Union Army of the Potomac was made up of seven infantry corps plus one corps of cavalry. The Army of the Potomac infantry corps included the I (John Reynolds), II (Winfield Scott Hancock), III (Daniel Sickles), V (George Sykes), VI (John Sedgwick), XI (Oliver Howard), and XII (Henry Slocum.) The AOP’s Cavalry Corps was commanded by Alfred Pleasanton.

At Gettysburg, Union and Confederate corps are denoted by rock-faced granite monoliths with large bronze tablets which describe that corps engagements and movements. These monoliths stand seven feet high. The Union corps differ slightly in that each contains that corps’ distinctive badge.

Corps Badges

Each infantry corps in the Army of the Potomac had a distinctive badge which was red for the first division, white for the second division, and blue for the third division. Each soldier was supposed to wear his appropriate corps badge; typically, these were on the top of the soldier’s cap (called a kepi). These badges can often be found adorning the monuments at Gettysburg.

The corps badges were:

• First Corps – Full circle / Full moon.
• Second Corps – Trefoil / Club / Cloverleaf
• Third Corps – Lozenge / Diamond
• Fifth Corps – Maltese Cross
• Sixth Corps – Greek Cross
• Eleventh Corps – Crescent Moon
• Twelfth Corps – Five-pointed Star

Headquarters Markers

Union and Confederate corps headquarters, as well as both Meade and Lee’s headquarters, are marked with a cannon mounted on a granite base. The Confederate markers are a heavy 12-pounder bronze cannon mounted on a granite base. The Union markers are a cast iron cannon tube, 4.5-inch rifled siege gun, mounted on a granite base.

Division Markers

A corps at Gettysburg was made up of at least two, and as many as four, divisions, typically commanded by a major general or by a senior brigadier general. There are twenty-two Union division monuments that describe the movements and itinerary of each division of the Army of the Potomac. These monuments consist of a concrete foundation, are made primarily of Winnsboro (South Carolina) granite with a rough cut front face, and contain a bronze inscription tablet that describes what the division did during the battle. The AOP’s division markers also feature each unit’s respective corps badge above the tablet.

There are ten Confederate division monuments. They are identical to the Union monuments except that they do not contain a corps badge.

Like the corps monuments, the division monuments at Gettysburg are monoliths which stand seven feet tall.

Brigade Markers

Union Brigades

A division at Gettysburg was made up of two or more brigades. There are seventy-four Union brigade monuments at Gettysburg. (A few brigades on both sides have more than one monument.) The Union numbered its brigades (a few brigades had nicknames, including the Iron Brigade, Irish Brigade, and Gibralter Brigade) although they were often referred to simply by the names of their commanders because that was simpler than remembering which was the first, second, third, etc. (the commander was a brigadier general or, often, a senior colonel). Artillery brigades are marked by these monuments as well; artillery brigades were often commanded by a major or senior captain.

The pedestal of Union brigade markers consist of sea-green granite with a square base. The base tapers to a smaller dimension at the tablet. On each pedestal is mounted a bronze inscription tablet describing the movements and actions of the unit during the battle. The Union brigade markers always feature the unit’s corps badge. Many of these inscription tablets for these monuments were made of bronze melted down from Civil War cannons.

The Union brigade tablets were completed around 1912.

Confederate Brigades and Artillery Battalions

There are sixty-four Confederate brigade and artillery battalion markers on the Gettysburg battlefield. The base of these monuments were made from polished smooth red Maine granite pedestal with a circular base. (The square versus circular base is the easiest way you can tell the Confederate and Union markers apart.) These markers indicate the general location of the centers of the various Confederate brigades and artillery battalions during several phases of the battle.

In the Confederate Army, brigades were not numbered; they were instead named after their usual commander and were commanded by a brigadier general, although a few brigades at Gettysburg were commanded by a senior colonel because the regular commander had been wounded and had not yet returned. Additionally, unlike in the Union army where most brigades contained a mix of different state troops, most Confederate brigades consisted of units from a single state.

An artillery battalion was typically commanded by a senior captain up through the rank of colonel. Each division had a battalion of artillery attached to it; the corps commander also had two battalions of “reserve” artillery he could use and call on.

Bronze from melted Civil War cannons was used to create many of the inscription tablets for the Confederate brigade markers as well.

Artillery Tablets

Each Confederate artillery battery at Gettysburg has its position marked by a cast iron tablet. These tablets were cast by Calvin Gilbert. The inscription on the tablets is raised letters which are painted in a contrasting color. Many of these markers are showing significant signs of wear and a few are broken.

Artillery batteries on both sides are also represented on the battlefield by the park’s artillery collection; the park has about 400 cannons, including Ordnance Rifles, Napoleons, Parrotts, etc.

There are a few Union batteries which also have their secondary positions marked by these tablets. Many Confederate brigades (especially those which fought on July 2) have a similar “advanced position tablet” in this style which marks that unit’s furthest advance.

So that’s the basics of the monuments you’ll see on the Gettysburg battlefield!