Union monuments at Gettysburg • Maine at Gettysburg
The monument to Company D, 2nd United States Sharpshooters (the Maine Sharpshooters) is south of Gettysburg on the road to the Slyder farm. (Tour map: Bushman Hill & Slyder Farm)
About the United States Sharphooters
Colonel Hiram Berdan’s two regiments of sharpshooters were unique in the Union army, wearing different uniforms and using different weapons, equipment and tactics from the “line units”. The regiments operated as United States Army units, but each company within the regiments was formed of recruits from a single state. After the war the states (Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin) erected monuments to their respective companies.
The Maine Sharpshooters were attached to the 2nd Regiment of United States Sharpshooters, 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 3rd Corps.
The 2nd Regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Homer R. Stoughton. It brought 204 men to the field and lost 5 killed, 23 wounded and 15 missing.
Text from the monument:
Company D
Maine Volunteers
2nd U.S. Sharpshooters
July 2, 1863.
Killed – 1
Wounded – 5
Missing – 5
Location of the monument to the Maine Sharpshooters at Gettysburg
The monument is south of Gettysburg on Slyder Farm Lane, the driveway leading from Emmitsburg Road to the Slyder Farm. It is on the south side of the lane about 475 yards east of Emmitsburg Road.(39°47’26.3″N 77°14’58.7″W)
See more about the history of the 2nd United States Sharpshooters in the Civil War.