Union monuments at Gettysburg > Michigan
The monument to the 1st Michigan Infantry Regiment is south of Gettysburg on Sickles Avenue on the Stony Hill east of the Rose farmhouse. (Sickles Avenue at the Rose Woods tour map)
Monument to the 1st Michigan Infantry Regiment at Gettysburg
About the Monument to the 1st Michigan
The monument is a granite shaft on a four foot square rough hewn granite base, and stands a little over ten feet tall. The front has a carved relief of crossed rifles hung with a cap, canteen, and cartridge box. An inscription of the Maltese Cross symbol of the Fifth Corps is on the left side, and a brass tablet with the Seal of the State of Michigan is on the front base. The monument was erected in 1888 and dedicated on June 12,1889 by the State of Michigan.
The 1st Michigan Infantry at the Battle of Gettysburg
The First Michigan was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Colonel Ira C. Abbott, a merchant from Burr Oak, Michigan. He was wounded on July 2nd, and Lieutenant Colonel William A. Throop took command, despite also being wounded. The regiment brought 21 officers and 240 men present for duty to Gettysburg, and lost First Lieutenant Amos Ladd of Company K and four enlisted men killed, 6 officers and 27 men wounded, and 4 men missing.
The regiment reached the field on July 2, part of Colonel William Tilton’s brigade of four regiments. At about 4:00 pm they advanced to the top of a rocky hill just east of the Rose Farm buildings to support Sickles’ badly overextended Third Corps. The First Michigan was in the middle of the brigade line, facing “slightly southwest.” In the distance they could see Longstreet’s Confederate First Corps advancing directly at them. Abbott ordered the men to load, fix bayonets, and lay down. They were not to fire until ordered; Abbott wanted his first volley to be at short and deadly range.
The Fight for the Stony Hill
One Confederate brigade passed by to the left while Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Kershaw’s South Carolina Brigade came in from the front, overlapping Tilton’s northern flank. This would fall heaviest on the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry on the right of the Union line. Abbott prepared the 1st Michigan to move into an “L” shape, reinforcing the flank in case the Pennsylvanians could not hold. When the 118th broke to the rear, Abbott ordered the 1st Michigan to stand and open fire by files, a volume of fire that staggered the Confederates.
It was at this time that Colonel Abbott was struck in the face, shattering his mouth. He turned command over to Lieutenant Colonel Throop, who was also wounded at this time, although lightly. The brutal short range firefight continued until Tilton, in a controversial move, withdrew the brigade to the north of Wheatfield Road. Union reinforcements from Caldwell’s Division of the Second Corps came up to fill the gap. At around 7:30 p.m. the First Michigan was withdrawn with the rest of the brigade. Colonel Abbott, having received medical attention, returned to the regiment.
On July 3 the regiment moved to relieve De Trobriand’s brigade on Little Round Top.
After the battle Lieutenant Colonel Throop counted 62 dead Confederates in front of the First Michigan’s position on the Stony Hill.
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Attached to the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Corps, Army of the Potomac |  |
Text from the front of the monument:
First Mich. Inftry.
1st Brig., 1st Div. 5th Corps
Text from the rear:
Mustered in at Detroit Mich. May 1, 1861 for 3 months.
Mustered in at Ann Arbor, Mich. Aug. 17, 1861 for 3 years.
Re-enlisted as Veterans Feb. 23, 1864.
Mustered out at Jefersonville, Ind. July 9, 1865.
Total enrollment 2144 officers and men.
Killed in action officers 12, men 135.
Died of wounds officers 6, men 22.
Died of disease officers 1, men 95.
Total 252.
—-
“From the first to the last.”
Entry into Virginia and capture
of Alexandria May 24, 1861
to Appomattox April 8, 1865.
Participated in 54 skirmishes
and general engagements.
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This monument marks the position
where the regiment fought, July 2, 1863.
Present for duty 21 officers 240 men, total 261.
Killed 1 officer 4 men. Wounded 6 officers 27 men.
Missing 4 men. Total 42
Location of the monument to the 1st Michigan Infantry at Gettysburg
The monument to the 1st Michigan Infantry is south of Gettysburg about 30 feet west of Sickles Avenue in the Rose Woods at The Loop. Sickles Avenue is one-way west and north, and must be entered from Ayers Avenue or the Devils Den area. (39°47’50.5″N 77°14’47.6″W)