Union Headquarters monuments > Cavalry Corps > 1st Division
The monument to the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Cavalry Corps is west of Gettysburg on Reynolds Avenue. (Tour map: South Reynolds Avenue tour map)
Monument to the 1st Brigade, 1st Division of the Cavalry Corps. The buildings of the Lutheran Theological Seminary are on Seminary Ridge in the distance.
From the monument
Army of the Potomac
Cavalry Corps First Division
First Brigade
Col. William Gamble
8th, 12th Illinois (4 Cos.)
3rd Indiana (6 Cos.)
8th New York Cavalry
June 30. Started early for Gettysburg and encountered two Mississippi regiments and a section of artillery and after a short skirmish proceeded to Gettysburg when a detachment of Major Gen. Heth’s Division about to enter the town withdrew towards Cashtown leaving pickets four and a half miles from Gettysburg.
July 1. Between 8 and 9 A. M. Confederates advanced in force from Cashtown. The Brigade dismounted and with Battery A 2d U. S. Artillery held its position for more than two hours against infantry and artillery in superior numbers and until Major Gen. J. F. Reynolds arrived with First Corps after which the Brigade was engaged on the left of the infantry On retiring to the Cemetery Hill the Brigade took position left of the town with Second Brigade and later in front of Little Round Top.
July 2. Relieved by Third Corps and marched to Taneytown en route to Westminster.
Casualties Killed 1 Officer 12 Men Wounded 6 Officers 52 Men Captured or Missing 28 Men Total 99
Colonel William Gamble
Colonel William Gamble commanded the brigade at Gettysburg. Gamble was from Duross, Ireland. He had served as a dragoon in the army and had studied and worked as an engineer before emigrating to the United States in 1838. He joined the 1st United States Dragoons and worked his way to sergeant major. He married Sophia Steingrandt and they had 13 (some accounts say 15) children. Gamble left the army in 1843 and worked as an engineer in Chicago.
Gamble became the lieutenant colonel of the 8th Illinois Cavalry Regiment in September of 1861. He was wounded during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. When he returned to the regiment he was promoted to colonel. He took command of the brigade as senior colonel but missed the battles of Chancellorsville and Brandy Station while he was on medical leave. Gamble’s health problems continued after Gettysburg and he was given command of a cavalry division in the defenses of Washington.
Location of the monument to the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Cavalry Corps
The monument is west of Gettysburg on the east side or Reynolds Avenue, which is one way northbound. It is about 575 feet feet north of the intersection with Meredith Avenue. (39°50’06.0″N 77°14’59.9″W)