Union monuments at Gettysburg > New York > Infantry
“National Guard Rifles” “Clinton Rifles” “Zook’s Voltigeurs”
The monument to the 57th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment is south of Gettysburg on Sickles Avenue at the west edge of the Wheatfield. (Sickles Ave. at the Rose Woods tour map or DeTrobriand Avenue – the Wheatfield tour map)
About the monument to the 57th New York
The granite monument is a square shaft standing 14′ 8″ tall. On its front is an inset circular bronze tablet of the Seal of the State of New York above the trefoil symbol of the Second Corps and a pair of crossed bayonets beneath a cartridge box. Bronze tabets with inscriptions are on all four sides at just above the base. The monument was dedicated by the State of New York on October 6, 1889.
The 57th New York Infantry at Gettysburg
The 57th New York was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Lieutenant Colonel Alford B. Chapman, a New York City merchant. On the afternoon of July 2nd it was part of Caldwell’s counterattack into the Wheatfield to support Sickles’ Third Corps.
The 57th was the second line of Zook’s Brigade in the attack, which moved south from Trostle’s Woods and into the woods on the west side of the Wheatfield. The attack lost coordination after Zook was mortally wounded and collapsed when Wofford’s Confederate Brigade struck their flank and threatened to get behind them. In its support role the 57th tried to hold back the crumbling first line but was unsuccessful, and the regiment fell back with the rest of the brigade north of the Wheatfield.
The division returned to its starting point on Cemetery Ridge and built breastworks, which provided shelter during the artillery barage preceding Pickett’s Charge. But other than picket firing, the regiment was unengaged for the rest of the battle.
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See Lt. Colonel Chapman’s Official Report on the 57th New York at Gettysburg |
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Attached to the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 2d Corps, Army of the Potomac
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From the front of the monument:
57th New York Infantry
3d Brigade, 1st Division, 2d Corps
From the rear of the monument:
Engaged the enemy here July 2, 1863.
July 3, on Cemetery Ridge resisting Pickett’s attack.
Total number engaged 175.
Killed 4, wounded 28, missing 2.
From the right side of the monument:
Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Gaines’ Mills, Peach Orchard, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville.
From the left side of the monument:
Gettysburg, Mine Run, Auburn Hill, Bristoe Station, Wilderness, Todd’s Tavern, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Deep Bottom, Ream’s Station.
See more on the history of the 57th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment in Civil War
Location of the monument
The monument to the 57th New York is south of Gettysburg on the north side of Sickles Avenue at the very west edge of The Wheatfeld at the Rose Woods. (39°47’48.8″N 77°14’40.2″W)