Union Headquarters monuments > Cavalry Corps > 3rd Division
The monument to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division of the Cavalry Corps is east of Gettysburg on Custer Avenue on the East Cavalry Field. (East Cavalry Battlefield – south end tour map)
Monument to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, Cavalry Corps at Gettysburg
From the monument
Army of the Potomac
Cavalry Corps Third Division
Second Brigade
Brig. Gen. George A. Custer
1st 5th 6th 7th (10 Cos.) Michigan Cavalry
June 30. Skirmished with Major Gen. Stuart’s Cavalry at Hanover. Supported Battery M 2d U. S.
July 1. Not engaged.
July 2. Engaged with Brig. Gen. Hampton’s Brigade of Major Gen. Stuart’s Cavalry at Hunterstown and with the aid of Battery M 2d U. S. forced it from the field. The 7th Michigan dismounted as skirmishers.
July 3. Marched to Two Taverns arriving at daylight and at 8 A. M. moved to the right under orders to report to Brig. Gen. D. McM. Gregg. Took position north of the Hanover road and West of the Low Dutch Road Second Division coming up and connecting on the left. Soon after noon was ordered to join the Division on the extreme left but about 2 P. M. Major Gen. Stuart’s Division and Brig. Gen. Jenkins’ Brigade of Cavalry having been discovered on the right and front Brig. Gen. Custer under orders from Brig. Gen. D. McM. Gregg turned back his Brigade and with First Brigade Second Division was immediately engaged with the Confederate forces which were repulsed and forced from the field. Late in the day moved to the extreme left and rejoined the Division.
Casualties Killed 1 Officer 31 Men Wounded 13 Officers 134 Men Captured or Missing 78 Men Total 257
Colonel George Armstrong Custer
Colonel George Armstrong Custer commanded the brigade at Gettysburg. Custer graduated last in the West Point Class of June 1861, just in time to join the 2nd United States Cavalry Regiment at Bull Run. Custer distinguished himself on the staffs of Generals McClellan and Pleasonton for the first two years of the war. On June 22, 1863 he was promoted from captain to brigadier general and given a newly organized brigade of Michigan cavalry regiments. Custer turned the brigade into one of the crack units of the Union army. He was promoted to division command in May of 1864 and was instrumental in the Union victories in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864 and the victory at Five Forks that ended the Siege of Petersburg. And it was Custer’s cavalry that blocked Lee’s retreat at Appomattox Court House.
Union Brigadier General (later Major General) George A. Custer
Location of the monument to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division of the Cavalry Corps
The monument is about three and a half miles east of Gettysburg on the East Cavalry Battlefield. It is on the south side of Gregg Avenue about a third of a mile west of Low Dutch Road. (39°49’36.0″N 77°09’54.5″W)