There are several monuments to the Union 5th Corps at Gettysburg. A War Department monument to the 5th Corps is on the north side of Little Round Top. (Tour map: Little Round Top) A monument and headquarters marker are located on Sedgwick Avenue. (Tour map: Sedgwick Avenue)
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Attached to the Army of the Potomac
The Fifth Corps flag is a blue swallowtail with the corps number in red |
Monument to the 5th Corps at Gettysburg
From the monument
Army of the Potomac
Fifth Corps
Major General George Sykes
First Division Brigadier General James Barnes
Second Division Brigadier General Romeyn B. Ayres
Third Division Brigadier General Samuel W. Crawford
Artillery Brigade Captain Augustus P. Martin
July 2. Arrived in the morning and went into position on the right of 12th Corps. Later crossed Rock Creek via Baltimore Pike and was massed in the field until late in the afternoon. Moved to the left between 4 and 5 P. M. Barnes’ and Ayres’ Divisions taking possession of Little Round Top and reinforcing the 3d Corps line Crawford’s Division in reserve. All Brigades of the Corps except Fisher’s were engaged at intervals until night.
July 3. Barnes’ Division except Tilton’s Brigade north of Little Round Top with Wright’s Division 6th Corps on the right, left and rear. Ayres’ and Crawford’s Divisions and Tilton’s Brigade on the Round Tops. These positions were held during the day.
July 4. In same positions except reconnaissances from each Division were made in front during the day.
Casualties Killed 28 Officers 337 Men Wounded 129 Officers 1481 Men Captured or Missing 1 Officer 210 Men Total 2186
Location of the 5th Corps monument at Gettysburg
The monument is on the north slope of Little Round Top. It is on the east side of Sykes Avenue about 550 feet south of the intersection with Wheatfield Road.
Each side of the monument forms the Maltese Cross symbol of the 5th Corps.
From the Sedgwick Avenue monument
Fifth Army Corps
arrived on the field from Hanover 5 p.m. via Bonaughtown July 2 1863.
Headquarters July 2-3-4-5.
5th Corps monument on Sedgwick Avenue
From the headquarters marker
Army of the Potomac
5th Corps Headquarters
Major General George Sykes
July 2,3,4, 1863
The Headquarters Marker for Union Major General George Sykes, commanding the 5th Corps. The 5th Corps monument is in the left background, and the right flank marker for the 37th Massachusetts Infantry in the center.
Location of the Sedgwick Avenue monument and the headquarters marker
The Sedgwick Avenue monument and the headquarters marker are next to each other on the east side of Sedgwick Avenue. Sedgwick Avenue is a continuation of Sykes Avenue north of Wheatfield Road.
Major General George Sykes
The Fifth Corps was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Major General George Sykes (West Point Class of 1842), a career Army officer from Delaware. Sykes had commanded the solid core of United States Regular Infantry that had been with the army since the first Battle of Bull Run. At Gettysburg the Regulars made up the Second Division of the Fifth Corps, which had been Sykes’ command before Meade’s promotion to commander of the Army of the Potomac on June 28 suddenly threw Sykes into command of the Fifth Corps.
See more on the life and career of George Sykes.
Major General George Sykes