Union monuments at Gettysburg > Ohio
The monument to the 55th Ohio Infantry Regiment is south of Gettysburg at the intersection of Taneytown Road and Steinwehr Avenue. (National Cemetery tour map) It was dedicated on September 14, 1887.
The monument to the 55th Ohio
The monument is made of Ohio sandstone. It is the only use of that type of stone at Gettysburg. Unfortunately, the soft stone is weathering heavily. Bronze inscription plates were added in 1989 to replace lettering on both sides that had eroded so badly that they became difficult to read. The front of the monument has a relief of a soldier crouched behind a stone wall, aiming at the enemy.
About the 55th Ohio at Gettysburg
Colonel Charles B. Gambee, a dry goods merchant from Bellevue, commanded the 55th Ohio Infantry at Gettysburg. The regiment brought 375 men to the field and lost 6 men killed. 31 wounded, and 12 missing.
The regiment reached Gettysburg on the afternoon of July 1 and was posted at the south edge of town where Emmitsburg Road and Taneytown road intersect. It is a bustling itersection today, but in 1863 was the beginning of open countryside with numerous stone walls. They held the position for three days throughout the battle, skirmishing with the enemy and suffering from sharpshooters firing from the buildings of the town.
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Private Charles Stacey of Company D was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg on July 2nd. He “voluntarily took an advanced position on the skirmish line for the purpose of ascertaining the location of Confederate sharpshooters, and under heavy fire held the position thus taken until the company of which he was a member went back to the main line.” |
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Text from the front of the monument:
55th Ohio Infantry
2d Brigade, 2d Division, 11th Corps
Erected by the State of Ohio
Side view of the monument
Text from the bronze tablet on the left side of the monument:
55th Ohio Infantry
Arrived at 2:20 pm. July 1, in
this position, which it held
throughout the battle. With severe loss,
its skirmishers drove back
those of the enemy
and seized a barn between
the lines,
where 12 of its men were
surrounded and captured by
the enemy’s main line.
Casualties
6 killed. 31 wounded.
12 missing.
Text from the bronze tablet on the right side of the monument:
55th
Ohio Infantry
Organized for 3 years
at Norwalk, Ohio,
Autumn of 1861. Served in
the Mountain Department,
1st Corps, Army of Virginia,
and 11th Corps,
Army of the Potomac.
Was transferred in September,
1863, to Army of the
Cumberland.
Served in Grant’s Chattanooga
Campaign
and with the 20th Corps in
Sherman’s Georgia and Carolina
Campaigns.
Mustered out July 11, 1865
Location of the monument to the 55th Ohio Infantry
The monument to the 55th Ohio Infantry is south of Gettysburg. It is on the east side of the intersection of Steinwehr Avenue and Washington Street. (39°49’17.3″N 77°13’58.5″W)