Union monuments at Gettysburg > Connecticut
There are two monuments to the 27th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Regiment on the Gettysburg battlefield. The main monument is near Ayers Avenue in The Wheatfield. (Ayers Avenue – Wheatfield Tour map) A secondary monument is on Brooke Avenue near the Rose farm. (Brooke Avenue Tour Map) Markers also show where the regiment’s Lieutenant Colonel Merwin and Captain Jed Chapman fell, and the advanced position of the regiment.
The 27th Connecticut Infantry at Gettysburg
New Haven businessman Lieutenant Colonel Henry Merwin commanded the 27th Connecticut at the Battle of Gettysburg. Major James H. Coburn took command when Merwin was mortally wounded during the charge across the Wheatfield on July 2. Most of the 27th Connecticut had been captured at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, and at Gettysburg it was reduced to two companies totaling 75 men. It lost a further 10 men killed, 23 wounded and 4 missing – a casualty rate of almost 50%. The regiment was raised for nine months service, and the survivors mustered out at the end of its term on July 27, three weeks after the battle.
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Attached to the 4th Brigade, 1st Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac
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Main monument to the 27th Connecticut in the Wheatfield
Monument to the 27th Connecticut in the Wheatfield at Gettysburg
From the monument in The Wheatfield:
27th Conn.
Erected 1885.
The 27th Regt. Conn. Vols. commanded by Lieut. Colonel Henry C. Merwin, and forming a part of the 4th Brigade, 1st Division, 2nd Corps charged over this ground, the afternoon of July 2, 1863.
The 4th Brigade forced the enemy from the Wheat Field and beyond the woods in front where the advanced position of the 27th Regt. is indicated by a tablet on the crest of the ledge.
On this spot Lieut. Col. Merwin was killed while gallantly leading his command of 75 officers and men. 38 of whom were killed or wounded in the charge. Eight companies of the Regt. captured at Chancellorsvile were still prisoners of war.
Capt. Jedediah Chapman Jr. was also killed in the charge while commanding a company organized from detached members of the eight companies taken prisoners at Chancellorsville.
The 27th Regt. Conn. Vols. was recruited and organized in New Haven County State of Connecticut.
July 2, 1863
Location of the main monument to the 27th Connecticut
The monument in the Wheatfield is 85 yards northwest of Ayers Avenue and 90 yards south of Wheatfield Road. (39°47’49.5″N 77°14’29.6″W)
Secondary monument to the 27th Connecticut in the Rose Woods
From the front of the monument on Brooke Avenue :
7th Conn. Vol’s.
4th Brigade. 1st Division. 2nd Corps.
Advanced position of this regiment in the Brigade charge July 2nd 1863
27th Conn. Infantry
From the back of the monument:
Erected by the Commonwealth of Connecticut
As a Memorial to the Valor of Her Loyal Sons
Location of the secondary monument to the 27th Connecticut in the Rose Woods
The secondary monument to the 27th in the Rose Woods is south of Gettysburg on Brooke Avenue. Brooke Avenue is one way west and north, and must be entered from the east on Cross Avenue via Sickles or Ayers Avenues. (39°47’43.3″N 77°14’49.5″W)
Markers to Lieutenant Colonel Merwin and Captain Chapman
Markers are nearby to the regiment’s Captain Jedediah Chapman and Lieutenant Colonel Henry Merwyn, who were killed at Gettysburg. The links lead to individual pages for each monument.