Monuments to Individuals at Gettysburg
The monument to Brigadier General Alexander Webb is south of Gettysburg on Hancock Avenue, across from the Copse of Trees. (Hancock Avenue at The Angle tour map)
About the monument
The monument is just over sixteen feet high. The bronze statue, created by John Massey Rhind, stands on a nine foot high base inscribed with the trefoil symbol of the Second Corps on each side. A bronze tablet on the front tells General Webb’s story. The monument was dedicated on October 12, 1915 by the State of New York.
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From the monument
Alexander Stewart Webb
Brevet Major General U.S. Army
1835 – 1911
Commanded 69th, 71st, 72nd, and 106th
Pennsylvania Infantry (Philadelphia
Brigade) which resisted Longstreet’s
Assault – July 3, 1863
Cadet U.S.M.A. July 1, 1851, Brevet Second Lieutenant Forth U.S. Artillery July 1, 1855, Second Lieutenant Second Artillery Oct. 20, 1855, First Lieutenant April 26, 1861, Captain Eleventh Infantry May 14, 1861, Lieut.-Colonel Forty-Fourth Infantry July 28, 1866, Fifth Infantry March 15, 1869, Honorably discharged at his own request Dec. 5, 1870.
Major First Rhode Island Light Artillery Sept. 14, 1861, Lieut-Colonel Asst. Inspector General by assignment, Aug. 20, 1862 to June 28, 1863.
Brig.-General U.S.V. June 23, 1863, Honorably mustered out of volunteer service Jan. 15, 1866.
In command of 2nd Division, 2nd Corps in the Rapidan Campaign, and 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 2nd Corps in the Wilderness. Severely wounded at Spotsylvania May 12, 1864. Chief of Staff, Army of Potomac Jan 11, 1865 to June 28, 1865. Asst. Inspector General, Division of the Atlantic July 1, 1865 to Feb. 21, 1866.
Awarded Congressional Medal of Honor “For distinguished personal gallantry at the battle of Gettysburg” where he was wounded.
Brevetted Major, U.S.A. July 3, 1863, “For gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Gettysburg, Pa.” Lieut.-Colonel Oct. 11, 1863 “for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Bristoe Station, Va.” Colonel May 13, 1864, “For gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Spotsylvania, Va.” Brig.-General March 13, 1865 “for gallant and meritorious services in the campaign terminating with the surrender of the insurgent army under General R.E. Lee.” Major-General March 13, 1865 “For gallant and meritorious services during the war.”
Brevetted Major-General U.S.V. Aug. 1, 1864 “For gallant and distinguished conduct at the battles of Gettysburg, Pa., Bristoe Station, The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania, Va.”
More about Alexander Webb
Alexander Stewart Webb was born on February 15, 1835, in New York City. His grandfather had fought at Bunker Hill and served on Washington’s staff. Alexander graduated from West Point in 1856, serving in the artillery against the Seminoles, and returned to the Academy as a mathematics professor.
With the outbreak of the war he served in a variety of posts, including Assistant to the Chief of Artillery of the Army of the Potomac and Chief of Staff for the 5th Army Corps.
He took command of the 2nd Brigade of Gibbon’s Division just before Gettysburg, putting him in command at the “Clump of Trees” during Pickett’s Charge, when he was lightly wounded.
Webb commanded the division while Gibbon was recuperating from his Gettysburg wound, but was back with his brigade again when he was seriously wounded at Spotsylvania in 1864. He returned to duty in January of 1865 as Meade’s Chief of Staff, staying in that position until the end of the war.
After the war he served as lieutenant colonel in the infantry and returned for a time to teaching at West Point. In 1870 he left the army to accept the Presidency of the College of the City of New York, a post he held for the next 33 years.
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On September 28, 1891 Alexander Webb was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg on July 3rd for “Distinguished personal gallantry in leading his men forward at a critical period in the contest.” |
Webb died in Riverdale, New York in 1911 and is buried at West Point.
Monument to Union Brigadier General Alexander Webb at Gettysburg
Location of the monument to Alexander Webb at Gettysburg
The map to the monument to Brigadier General Alexander Webb is south of Gettysburg on the east side of Hancock Avenue across from the Copse of Trees. (39°48’46.7″N 77°14’07.3″W)