Union Monuments at Gettysburg > Massachusetts
The monument to the 1st Massachusetts Sharp Shooters is south of Gettysburg on Hancock Avenue. (Hancock Ave. at The Angle tour map) A position marker is about 425 yards north of the main monument in Ziegler’s Grove. It is on the south side of Cyclorama Drive about 60 yards east of the end of Hancock Avenue. (Taneytown Road tour map) It was displaced in the 1960’s with the construction of the Cyclorama complex but will return to its original location now that the Cyclorama building has been removed.
Originally formed for Colonel Hiram Berdan’s sharpshooter regiments, the two companies of Massachusetts sharpshooters decided to retain their state affiliation when told that they would lose the state enlistment bounty by joining Berdan’s Federal regiments. The two companies of Massachusetts Sharpshooters were nominally independent, although each operated with a Massachusetts regiment. The 1st Company operated with the 15th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.
The 1st Massachusetts Sharp Shooters at Gettysburg
The company was commanded at Gettysburg by Captain William Plumer, a Harvard graduate and lawyer from Lexington. He had been wounded in June and rode in an ambulance to Gettysburg. The company brought 50 men to the field, losing two killed and six wounded.
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Main monument to the Massachusetts Sharpshooters
The seven foot high marble shaft has a carved relief on its front of one of the company’s Sharp Shooters about to fire his target rifle as he peers through the telescopic sight. It was erected in 1886.
From the monument
1st Andrew Sharp Shooters
Unattached Mass. Vol.
In action
July 3, 4 & 5, 1863
in different positions.
In God we put our trust
but kept our powder dry.
Location of the main monument to the Massachusetts Sharpshooters
The map to the main monument for the 1st Massachusetts Sharpshooters is south of Gettysburg on Hancock Avenue just north of The Angle. Hancock Avenue is one way northbound. (39°48’49.8″N 77°14’07.6″W)
Position Marker in Ziegler’s Grove
From the marker in Ziegler’s Grove
First Massachusetts
Sharp Shooters
unattached
July 2nd, 1863
The view looks south from the driveway that runs through Ziegler’s Grove near the old Cyclorama site.
Location of the position marker
The position marker to the 1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters is south of Gettysburg on the south side of Cyclorama Drive about 60 yards east of the end of Hancock Avenue at Ziegler’s Grove. (39°49’01.2″N 77°14’02.9″W)
See more on the history of the 1st Company Massachusetts Sharp Shooters in the Civil War
Recommended reading:The Massachusetts
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