Union monuments at Gettysburg > Pennsylvania > Cavalry
The monument to the 16th Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry Regiment is southeast of Gettysburg on Highland Avenue. It is one of the least visited monuments at Gettysburg due to its out of the way location.
Monument to the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment at Gettysburg
About the monument
The granite monument stands just over twelve feet tall. It is a statue of a dismounted cavalryman at ease, his hands resting on his saber. The front of the monument’s pedestal has a relief of crossed cavalry sabers hanging from a branch beneath a bronze tablet of the Coat of Arms of the State of Pennsylvania.
The 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry at Gettysburg
The 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Lieutenant Colonel John K. Robison. On the afternoon of July 3rd the regiment covered the area between the left flank of the infantry on Wolf Hill and Gregg’s Cavalry Division on what is now the East Cavalry Battlefield. It brought 411 men to the field, losing two killed and four wounded.
The monument lists the 16th Pennsylvania as being part of the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division, but at Gettysburg the regiment was part of the 3rd Brigade, and is listed as such on the War Department headquarters tablets. This was due to the reshuffling of the cavalry organization around the time of the battle. From the creation of the Union Cavalry Corps in February of 1863 the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry had been part of the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division. In mid-June, the entire brigade was redesignated as the 3rd Brigade and a new 2nd Brigade was created. This brigade, under Colonel Pennock Huey, was guarding the supply and ammunition trains at Manchester, Maryland during the battle. In mid-august Huey’s brigade was dissolved and the 3rd Brigade returned to being the 2nd Brigade for the rest of the war.
From the front of the monument:
Position occupied
on the afternoon
of July 3rd, 1863.
16th Pennsylvania Cavalry
From around the right, rear, and left of the monument:
2nd Brigade 2nd Cavalry Division
Cavalry Corps
Army of the Potomac
Location of the monument to the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry at Gettysburg
The monument to the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment is southeast of Gettysburg on the east side of Highland Avenue, 0.55 mile south of Hanover Road. (39°49’03.2″N 77°11’52.0″W)
See more on the history of the 16th Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry Regiment in the Civil War