Confederate Headquarters – Longstreet’s First Corps – Hood’s Division
The monument to Robertson’s Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia is south of Gettysburg on South Confederate Avenue. (South Confederate Avenue tour map) A marker showing the brigade’s position on July 2nd is on Sickles Avenue at the Devil’s Den. (Devil’s Den tour map)
Monument to Robertson’s Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg
From the monument
Army of Northern Virginia
Longstreet’s Corps Hood’s Division
Robertson’s Brigade
1st 4th 5th Texas and 3d Arkansas
July 2. Arrived on the field about 4 P. M. Advanced against the Union positions. The 4th and 5th Texas joined in the attack on Little Round Top which continued until dark. The 1st Texas and 3d Arkansas attacked and assisted in taking the Devil’s Den and Rocky Ridge with a number of prisoners and 3 guns of Smith’s 4th New York Battery.
July 3. At 2 A. M. the 1st Texas and 3d Arkansas were moved to the right and joined the 4th and 5th Texas on the northwest spur of Big Round Top. Three regiments occupied the breastworks there all day skirmishing hotly with Union sharpshooters. Early in the day the 1st Texas was sent to confront the Union Cavalry threatening the right flank. After night the Brigade took position near here.
July 5. About 5 A. M. began the march to Hagerstown Md.
Present about 1100 Losses about 540
Location of the monument
The monument is south of Gettysburg on the southwest side of South Confederate Avenue. It is about 300 feet south east of the intersection with Emmitsburg Road. (39°47’25.4″N 77°15’15.7″W)
Position marker at the Devil’s Den
Robertson’s Brigade position marker at Gettysburg
From the marker
Army of Northern Virginia
Longstreet’s Corps Hood’s Division
Robertson’s Brigade
1st 4th 5th Texas and 3d
Arkansas Infantry
July 2. Arrived on the field about 4 P. M. Advanced against the Union positions. The 4th and 5th Texas joined in the attack on Little Round Top which continued until dark. The 1st Texas and 3d Arkansas attacked and assisted in taking the Devil’s Den and Rocky Ridge with a number of prisoners and 3 guns of Smith’s 4th New York Battery.
Location of the marker
The marker is south of Gettysburg on the west side of Sickles Avenue. It is just north of the Devil’s Den at the Triangular Field. (39°47’31.8″N 77°14’33.8″W)
About Jerome B. Robertson
Brigadier General Jerome B. Robertson commanded the brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg. He was wounded in the fighting for the Devil’s Den and Little Round Top on July 2.
Robertson was born in Kentucky. He lost his father at a young age and was apprenticed to a man who moved with him to St. Louis. He studied medicine in Kentucky, graduating in 1835 from Transylvania University. During the Texas Revolution he went to Texas with a company of Kentucky volunteers, and became a captain in the Army of Texas. After the fighting ended Robertson resigned his commission and briefly returned to Kentucky to marry Mary Elizabeth Cummins, with whom he would have three children. He brought his new wife and several relatives back to Texas to Washington-on-the-brazos, where he was at various times the town doctor, an indian fighter, the coroner, and the mayor. He moved to Independence in 1845 and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives and then the Texas Senate.
In the war
When the Civil War began Robertson raised and was elected captain of a company that became part of the 5th Texas Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in November of 1861 and to colonel in June of 1862. He fought through the Peninsula Campaign and was distinguished for leading a charge at Gaines’s Mill that broke the Federal line. He continued to lead his regiment at Second Manassas (Second Bull Run) but his health was suffering due to the hard campaigning and at the Battle of South Mountain he collapsed and had to be carried off the field. He missed Sharpsburg (Antietam) but returned to the army and took over the Texas Brigade with a promotion to brigadier general when Hood was promoted to division command in November of 1862.
After Gettysburg Robinson was transferred west with Longstreet, playing an important role at Chickamauga. But Robinson got caught up in the politics of who would command Hood’s Division after Hood was wounded. He was court martialed for dereliction of duty and making pessimistic remarks during the Knoxville Campaign. Roberson was removed as brigade commander and transferred back to Texas, where he became commander of the state’s reserves until the end of the war.
Confederate Brigadier General Jerome B Robertson
See more on the history of the Regiments in Roberson’s Brigade
1st Texas Infantry Regiment – 4th Texas Infantry Regiment
5th Texas Infantry Regiment – 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment