A History Written in Blood - Part 2

The evening charge on July 2nd did not end the 125th New York's involvement in the battle of Gettysburg. Returning to their position on the Brian Farm that evening, the survivors sought what rest they could, but were called under arms at 3 a.m. on July 3rd. That morning, details from each of the brigade's regiments went forward and resumed the deadly duel with Confederate skirmishers on the flat in front of Cemetery Hill and west of the Emmitsburg Road.

Those of the brigade not out on the picket line formed in two parallel lines behind a stone wall in an orchard near the Brian House, providing support for Thomas A. Smyth's brigade in their front and the six rifled guns of Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery commanded by William Arnold.

From this position, the 125th and its sister New York regiments bore the brunt of the Confederate bombardment preceding Pickett's Charge, and then assisted in repulsing the left flank of the Confederate assault force. In the engagement Colonel Eliakim Sherrill of the 126th - who had taken over brigade command upon Willard's death - was killed. In addition, Colonel Clinton D. MacDougall of the 111th fell wounded, though he refused to leave the field. By the end of the battle, the brigade command had passed to Lieutenant Colonel James M. Bull.

After two days of intense combat, the battle ended for the 125th New York. Entering with a total strength of 500, the regiment suffered 26 killed, 104 wounded, and 9 missing, for a total casualty list of 139.  In total the brigade suffered 714 casualties out of about 1,600 engaged, including two dead brigade commanders, George Willard and Eliakim Sherrill.

The 125th New York remained in the Army of the Potomac through the end of the war, seeing action at Bristoe Station, during the Mine Run and Overland Campaigns, and in engagements during the siege of Petersburg. The unit mustered out on June 5, 1865, its survivors returning home.

In the late 1880s, the survivors of the command, like those of many regiments, began to reflect on on the enthusiasms of their youth, and consider ways in which to honor their service. In the intervening years, much had happened to shape perceptions of the Civil War, and in particular the fight at Gettysburg.

By 1888, the 25th anniversary of the battle, memorial markers and regimental monuments dotted the fields of Gettysburg. The Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, an organization now dominated by veterans and dedicated to preserving the battlefield, encouraged the construction of monuments and set about carving out avenues to improve veteran and tourist access to the hallowed grounds. Aided by the growing influence of John Bachelder (a man best described as the official government-sanctioned historian of the battle) and "Lost Cause" proponents in the South, many came to see Gettysburg as the turning point of the Civil War. Bachelder himself coined the term "High Water Mark" of the Confederacy, and went a step further, by trying to establish the exact spot of ground where the tide 'turned.' His chosen location: the famed "Copse of Trees" (another Bachelder-inspired name), the furthest point reached by General George Pickett's men in their charge on the 3rd day. With Bachelder's influence, this culminating moment on the 3rd day became the center of fascination for those interested in studying and remembering the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg.

Amidst the backdrop of these influences, the 125th New York (along with the 126th and 39th) dedicated their Gettysburg monuments as the nation observed the 25th anniversary of the battle.

The 125th New York's monument located near Hancock Avenue on northern Cemetery Ridge. Note the old cyclorama building in the left background of the photo. Photo by Jenn Goellnitz.

In locating their monument the 125th (and the rest of Willard's brigade) had an interesting choice to make. Would they place emphasis on their charge into the Plum Run Swale at dusk on July 2nd? Or, would they instead choose to highlight their participation in the repulse of what had become known as Pickett's Charge?

In the end, the men of the 125th would dedicate their monument on October 3, 1888, placing it near the Brian farm on the northern stretch of Cemetery Ridge that the unit occupied for most of July 2nd, and from the vantage point the unit occupied during Pickett's Charge on July 3rd. They would place a smaller marker that same year in the Plum Run Swale, to denote the location where their Colonel, George Lamb Willard, fell in the waning hours of July 2nd.

The main monument on Cemetery Ridge bears the following inscription:

Front
125th New York Infantry,
3d Brig. 3d Div. 2d Corps.
Recruited in Rensselaer Co. N.Y.
Mustered in at Troy, N.Y. Aug. 27th 1862.
Engaged in 23 battles.
Mustered out at Albany, N.Y. June 5th 1865

On the reverse of the monument the regimental association received approval to place an additional plaque in 1902:

George Lamb Willard

Colonel 125th New York Infantry. Major 19th

United States Infantry and Brevet-Colonel United

States Army.

Born August 15, 1837. Killed in action July 2,

1863 while in command of his brigade at the place

marked by a granite monument 1,070 yards to the 

left.

July 2, 1863, Regiment in line at the stone wall until 7 p.m. when the Brigade went to the support of the Third Corps, charged and drove back Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade. Returned at 8:30 p.m.

July 3, 1863, Regiment in front on line of the stone wall west side of Hancock Avenue at time of Longstreet's Assault.

Number engaged, 500; killed 26; wounded, 104; missing, 9; total, 139. Regiment participated in all of the battles engaged in by the Army of the Potomac from that time up to and including Appomattox, Va., April 9, 1865.

The Willard marker in the Swale reads:

Colonel Willard

125th

N.Y. Infantry

was killed

at this place on the 

evening of July 2nd 1863

while leading in a charge the 

3d Brig. 3d Div 2nd Corps

Erected by the survivors of

the 12th N.Y. Infantry, 1888

While we cannot possible hope to know all of the reasons why the survivors of the 125th (not to mention the rest of Willard's brigade) chose the specific locations of their monuments, we can learn more about the battle through looking more closely at their choice and reflecting on how post-war perceptions of the battle may have influenced the veterans.

One potential, though not entirely satisfactory, explanation is "the line of battle" rule. Faced with an increasing number of veteran organizations desiring to place monuments on the field, the GBMA at the behest of John Bachelder established this rule in 1887. Basically, the rule stated that future regimental monuments on the battlefield must be placed where the regiment entered the fight, as opposed to marking the spot of their furthest advance. The GBMA believed that this rule would ensure the accurate placement of monuments, and help visitors make sense of the battle. Some have argued that the rule also sought to discourage the placement of Confederate monuments on the field. In the case of the 125th, perhaps one could argue that they 'entered the fight' on the Brian farm. Yet the regiment did form a line of battle in front of lower Cemetery Ridge before advancing towards the Plum Run Swale in their charge, an important enough detail to allow the construction of their main monument in that location. Other units who held two distinct positions in a line of battle built multiple monuments.

A far more convincing argument involves the state of the Gettysburg battlefield in 1888, and the public memory of the battle. As previously noted, by this time Gettysburg had gained its status as "the High Water Mark" of the Confederacy, and already John Bachelder had purportedly pinpointed the exact spot of the cresting tide. Clearly, the place of honor for the Rensselaer County regiment was along the stonewall, not one hundred yards from the Copse of Trees. In the interim years, the GBMA had constructed Hancock Avenue, traversing Cemetery Ridge and providing easy access for visitors hoping to visit the famed sites of the field. Meanwhile, the low marshy land of the Plum Run Swale remained in private hands, and no avenue gave easy access. Only the intrepid battlefield hiker could trace to the endpoint of the New Yorkers' July 2nd charge a full quarter mile in front of Cemetery Ridge. From the standpoint of visibility and notoriety, the Cemetery Ridge site clearly provided the superior alternative. But at what cost to the memory of Willard and the charge on July 2nd?

Perhaps the survivors eventually realized the unintentional slighting of their heroics on July 2nd. In the 1890s the brigade placed an advanced marker west of the Plum Run Swale. This monument contained a detailed account of the brigade's charge. Then, in 1902, the men of the 125th added a plaque to their original monument near the Brian farm, honoring Willard and denoting the exact location of the his death site marker placed back in 1888.

Despite their efforts, today the sacrifices of George Willard and his New Yorkers remain somewhat obscure to the novice Gettysburg visitor. Their monuments along Cemetery Ridge struggle to stand out among the sea of monuments located in the vicinity - it turns out that many veteran organizations desired to have some association with the High Water Mark of the Confederacy. In the Plum Run Swale, the small markers that tell the story of their July 2nd adventure fail to attract much attention. While the brigade's advance monument does sit near Sickles Avenue, the 125th's marker honoring their late commander sits alone in the marshy ground around Plum Run, far from the modern battlefield avenues and rarely visited excepting battlefield buffs.

Back along lower Cemetery Ridge, near the gigantic Pennsylvania Monument (constructed in 1910) stands the tall monument to the 1st Minnesota Regiment. This regiment also aided in the repulse of Pickett's Charge, but instead chose to emphasize its role in the July 2nd fighting, which was similar to the services performed by Willard's brigade. Today, the First Minnesota receives a great deal of attention from the battlefield tourists who stop to admire the Pennsylvania Memorial (auto tour stop 12). Many of these same visitors may leave Gettysburg without ever hearing the name of George Lamb Willard.

In the end it is sadly ironic. Today most historians believe that Pickett's Charge had no chance of success. Instead, they point to the crises along the Union line on the evening of July 2nd as the moment at which the battle turned. Yet despite the importance historians place upon the charge of Willard's New Yorkers today, the majority of battlefield tourists lack the interpretive tools to learn about their heroic sacrifice. 

A History Written in Blood - Part 1

We like to think that the monuments placed on the Gettysburg battlefield by veterans help to preserve the memory of those veterans and their deeds during the first three days of July, 1863. Surely the veterans believed this. Occasionally though, the placement of some monuments combine with outside factors (such as the post war development of the battlefield) to cause our collective memories to dim, and over time some of the battle's most significant moments are relegated to an obscure status.

In my next series of posts I will explore this phenomenon with regard to the story of the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac. On the evening of July 2nd, 1863, this brigade, commanded by Colonel George Lamb Willard, helped to plug an enormous gap in the federal line along lower Cemetery Ridge, and turn back the surging Mississippians of William Barksdale's brigade. In theory, their sacrifice should stand on par with other units who performed similar duties that very evening - such as Vincent's and Weed's brigades fighting on Little Round Top, or the First Minnesota, fighting on Cemetery Ridge.

Yet often the deeds of Willard's brigade are overshadowed by these other incidents. While well known to battlefield buffs and scholars, most visitors who tour the battlefield likely leave without ever hearing about George Lamb Willard and the redemption his brigade won at the battle of Gettysburg.
 
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George L. Willard during the Civil War

In the inky pre-dawn blackness of July 2nd, the men of the 125th New York trudged up the Taneytown Road toward Gettysburg. Arriving just south of town, the Rensselaer County men passed by the Round Tops, and pulled into the fields east of the road, perhaps in the area of the William Patterson Farm.  Here the men of the 125th awaited further orders.

Recruited in Rensselaer County and organized at Troy, the 125th mustered into the United States service for three years at the end of August 1862. Arriving in Washington just weeks later amidst the crisis following the disaster at 2nd Manassas, the regiment, commanded by Colonel George Lamb Willard, rushed to reinforce the garrison at Harpers Ferry, present-day West Virginia. They arrived just before Stonewall Jackson surrounded the town, and a few days later suffered the disgrace of having to surrender along with the rest of the 11,500 man garrison.

Paroled, the 125th was sent to Camp Douglas in Chicago to await a formal exchange of prisoners, which took place that November. Willard and his men returned to Virginia and were assigned to the defenses of Washington, with the stain of the capitulation at Harpers Ferry hanging over their heads.  As part of the Capital defenses, the 125th remained encamped at Centreville, Virginia until June 24th, 1863, when they received orders to join the 2nd Corps of the Army of the Potomac as it headed north towards a date with destiny at Gettysburg.

The 125th brigaded with three other New York regiments: the 39th New York (Garibaldi Guards), the 111th New York, and the 126th New York. Each of these regiments had been present for the surrender at Harper's Ferry, and anxiously awaited their moment to prove their worth to the Union cause. General Alexander Hays had commanded this brigade, but upon its addition to the 2nd Corps of the Army of the Potomac, Hays had assumed command of the 3rd division of that corps. Colonel Willard replaced Hays as brigade commander and on July 2nd Lieutenant Colonel Levin Crandall commanded the 125th. The brigade numbered just over 1,600 men when it arrived on the field that morning.

After resting in a field on the east side of the Taneytown Road for about an hour or so, Willard's brigade moved up closer to the town and crossed over to the west side of the Taneytown Road, ascending the slope of Cemetery Ridge. The men came to a halt just east of the ridge crest, facing the farmhouse and orchard of a free African American, Abraham Brian. The brigade deployed by battalion in mass, with each regiment stacked one behind the other facing westward. Almost immediately Colonel Willard ordered 3 companies of the 125th forward into the fields that lay between Cemetery and Seminary Ridge as skirmishers. These companies and others from the brigade spent much of the early afternoon hours sparring with Confederate skirmishers.

Born on August 15th, 1863 in New York City, George Lamb Willard always dreamed of gaining martial glory. Willard descended from generals in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. However, as a young man Willard's family sent him to live with a relative in Ohio, hoping he would turn his interest toward business. Instead, at the start of the Mexican War Willard enlisted in the 15th Ohio Volunteers, eventually becoming first sergeant of the regiment. Willard received a commission as second lieutenant in the 8th U.S. infantry in 1848, electing to stay in the army following the end of the war. He rose through the peacetime army and was serving as captain of the 8th infantry at the start of the Civil War. After a promotion to Major of the 19th U.S. in February of 1862, Willard received permission to take leave of this regiment that summer and became colonel of the 125th New York. At Gettysburg Willard will have his first chance to lead a full brigade.

Throughout that afternoon Willard has his men busy keeping Confederate skirmishers at bay to the west. At around 4:00 the smattering of skirmish fire and occasional bark of a battery were overcome by the roar of a full fledged battle to south, announcing the beginning of Longstreet's assault. Simultaneously Confederates east of Gettysburg opened a cannonade on Cemetery Hill. As evening drew on the battle on the left began to go against the Army of the Potomac, and as the 3rd Corps line collapsed at the Peach Orchard, its commander Dan Sickles fell wounded.

Ordered to assume command of the 3rd corps in addition to his own, General Winfield Scott Hancock was also directed to send a brigade to the left to help stem the tide. He had already sent an entire division to the left earlier in the evening. Hancock reported:

I immediately led the Third Brigade, Third Division, under Colonel Willard... toward the left of the original line of battle of the Third Corps, and was about proceeding with it to the front, when I encountered General Birney, who informed me that his troops had all been driven to the rear, and had left the position to which I was moving.

Looking towards Cemetery Ridge (Pennsylvania Memorial in background) from modern day Sickles Avenue. Note how the ground slopes down to the Plum Run Swale (medium background) and then slopes upward toward Cemetery Ridge beyond. On the evening of July second Willard's brigade charged from Cemetery Ridge toward the Plum Run Swale. Emerging from the swale, Willard's men would be raked by Confederate artillery fire positioned to the right and rear of this camera angle.
Photo by lcm1863. Licensing.

The battle had reached a crisis. As the 125th and the rest of Willard's brigade reached the area, hardly any troops occupied lower cemetery ridge, creating an enormous gap between the lines of the 2nd corps to the north and Little Round Top, held currently by the 5th Corps. To the west, the New Yorkers could see the disintegrating masses of Sickles' 3rd Corps fleeing their lines along the Emmitsburg Road, with masses of Confederate infantry in hot pursuit. Reinforcements were on the way, but for the moment this one brigade would have to try and halt what looked like a growing rout.

In the growing darkness and with General Hancock personally observing, Willard swung his New Yorkers into line of battle. The 125th and 126th formed the front line, with the 111th in support and 39th held in reserve on Cemetery Ridge (the 39th would eventually be called on to fight on its own further to the south). The 125th's Regimental historian Ezra D. Simons remembered what happened next:

We were halted amid the smoke in front of some swale - a new growth of trees - in which we could see, dimly because of the smoke covering the field - men moving. The brigade was dressed on the colors, an unusual thing under such circumstances. Our men commenced to fire, but word was shouted: 'Firing on your own men!' Upon which the command was given by Colonel Willard: 'Cease firing!' Officers, as did the writer, rushed in front of our line repeating the order. But the interval permitted the enemy to reload, and we swiftly learned our mistake. A man to the left of the writer fell in an instant prostrated by a bullet. Then, doubt removed, the men await no orders, but press on, firing as they move.... On, on we rushed, through storm of fire and death, thundering above and darting around us like the thunder and lightning of heaven.

In the swale below waited Mississippians of General William Barksdale's brigade, fresh off of breaking the 3rd Corps line at the Peach Orchard. As the 125th and 126th approached the men began to shout "remember Harpers Ferry!", and the two regiments unleashed a deadly volley, killing many Mississippians and mortally wounding General Barksdale. Gradually, the Mississippians began to give way, leaving their leader wounded and a prisoner. Lieutenant Colonel James. M. Bull of the 126th reported what happened next:

Reaching the base of the hill, the brigade advanced at 'charge bayonets' up the hill mentioned, and within a few minutes recaptured part of a battery previously taken from us. After taking the battery, the brigade continued to advance under the fire of a battery higher up the hill to the left  and a concentric fire of musketry on the right. The commander, finding his brigade unable to stand so severe a fire, ordered the regiments to retire, which was done in good order down the hill and through the underbrush before mentioned.

As the men retreated to the swale and splashed across Plum Run  they continued to suffer heavily from the Confederate artillery along the Emmitsburg Road. As Willard went about reforming the brigade a shell fragment tore into his face, killing him instantly. Colonel Eliakim Sherrill of the 126th assumed command of the brigade. By this time, with the Confederates in retreat and reinforcements arriving, the crisis had passed. Colonel Sherrill and his New Yorkers fell back to Cemetery Ridge and returned to their original line by the Brian farm to see what else the battle had in store for them.

In this charge the brigade suffered fearful losses in addition to the tragic death of its commander. In his report written just six days later on July 8, division commander Alexander Hays wrote:

The history of this brigade's operations is written in blood.... The loss of this brigade amounts to one-half the casualties in the division. The acts of traitors at Harper's Ferry had not tainted their patriotism.