Union monuments at Gettysburg > Wisconsin
The monument to the 26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment is north of Gettysburg on Howard Avenue east of Carlisle Road. (Howard Avenue East tour map) It was dedicated by the State of Wisconsin on June 30, 1888.
Monument to the 26th Wisconsin Infantry at Gettysburg
About the monument
The granite monument is an obelisk standing 14′ 10″ tall. Most of the monument is rough hewn, with a section of polished finish just above the base that is inscribed on all four sides. A relief of the Eleventh Corps crescent moon symbol is part way up the front of the monument.
The 26th Wisconsin Infantry at Gettysburg
The 26th Wisconsin was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Lieutenant Colonel Hans Boebel, a printer from Milwaukee who was wounded in the fighting on July 1. Major Baetz had been wounded by this time, and Captain John W. Fuchs took command.
The regiment arrived on the battlefield in the early afternoon of July 1st and marched through Gettysburg to the plains north of town. The 26th was on the right flank of the brigade, with a large gap between them and Barlow’s division to the east.
The brigade was heavily attacked from the front and was holding its own when Barlow’s division collapsed. Suddenly the 26th was hit from the flank by overwhelmiing numbers, and the brigade was forced to fall back to Gettysburg, which one member of the regment later admitted was “not as orderly as it should have been.”
The regiment’s loss of line officers was especially heavy. Four were killed, nine were wounded, and one was missing.
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Text from the front of the monument:
July 1, 1863.
On Cemetery Hill July 2 and 3.
Effective Strength 516
Killed 46
Wounded 134
Missing 37
26th Reg’t. Wis. Vol. Inf.
Text from the left (east) side of the monument:
Chancellorsville
Gettysburg
Wauhatchie
Chatanooga
Atlanta Campaign
To the Sea
Averysboro
Bentonville
Text from the right (west) side of the monument:
Mustered in at Milwaukee Sept. 17, 1862
Mustered out June 28, 1865
Killed in Action 128
Died of wounds 56
Died of disease 63
Text from the rear of the monument:
2d Brig 3d Div 11th Corps
Location of the monument to the 26th Wisconsin Infantry
The monument to the 26th Wisconsin is north of Gettysburg on the south side of Howard Avenue about 175 yards east of Carlisle Road. (39°50’36.2″N 77°13’45.5″W)
Left Flank marker of the 26th Wisconsin next to the Right Flank Marker of the 75th Pennsylvania
Right flank marker for the 26th Wisconsin