THE COMPLETE GETTYSBURG GUIDE

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At the stoplight ahead, turn left onto the Chambersburg Pike (Rt. 30) and reset your odometer to 0.0. After .1 miles, turn left onto Stone Avenue. After .2 miles, you will see the statue of John Lawrence Burns on your left.

Tour Stop 6

The Iron Brigade and John Burns, the “Hero of Gettysburg”

On the morning of July 1, 1863, shortly after the battle opened, Burns walked out of his home, crossed in front of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, and walked east toward the fighting. Eminel P. Halstead, one of Gen. Abner Doubleday’s staffers, claimed to have met Burns at the time: “I met John Burns in the field east of the Seminary with an old [flintlock] musket on his shoulder . . . when near me he inquired, ‘Which way are the rebels? Where are our troops?’ I informed him they were just in front, that he would soon overtake them. He then said with much enthusiasm, ‘I know how to fight, I have fit before!’”

Accounts vary, but after securing a new rifle, Burns encountered the 150th Pennsylvania Infan-try near the McPherson farm. About an hour later, he joined the 7th Wisconsin Infantry of the Iron Brigade in the fighting at the eastern edge of Herbst’s Woods, close to where Federal Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds had been killed. (The 7th Wisconsin’s monument will appear in the tour shortly.) Burns participated in the heavy fighting in this area, and later in the afternoon was wounded as many as three times (he claimed as many as seven) when the Federals began retreating. A shot to his leg brought the old man down, with the Confederates sweeping past him as he lay on the field. Burns remained on the field that night among the wounded and dead. The following morning he walked or crawled to the home of a friend, Alexander Riggs, on the Chambersburg Pike, and was taken home to recuperate.

This bronze sculpture of Burns was created by Albert G. Bureau, and was dedicated on the for-tieth anniversary of the battle on July 1, 1903. The original location of the monument was far-ther east (likely closer to the site of his wound-ing) until Stone Avenue was built here and the monument relocated.

As you proceed on Stone Avenue, you will see the monument of the 7th Wisconsin Infantry, dedicated on June 30, 1888, on the right side of the road. This was the Iron Bri-gade regiment John Burns joined that morning. Confederate Maj. Gen. Henry Heth, who com-manded the division that began the battle with Buford’s cavalry, was wounded near here on the morning of July 1 while observing Archer’s fight with the Iron Brigade.

The woods and low ground west of the 7th Wisconsin’s monument is an area that in-trepid battlefield walkers also like to explore. If you wish to visit that area along Willoughby’s Run, park your vehicle on the right side of

This Matthew Brady photo shows the quarry just west of the McPherson barn and Herbst’s woods in the background. (LOC)

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the road near the monument. Behind the monument, look for a walking trail through the woods that follows the wooden fence. Carefully follow this trail until you reach the creek, and to your right, on the far side of the fencing, you will see the remains of a quarry. Stones excavated from this site were used for building structures before, during, and after the war. Confederates from Col. John M. Brockenbrough’s Bri-gade (Heth’s Division) had to circumnavigate this quarry dur-ing their advance, making them more vulnerable to the fire of the 150th Pennsylvania Infantry of Col. Stone’s “Bucktail Brigade” (Doubleday’s division). If you walk along the creek in either direction, note how steep the banks are in some places. These natural barriers provided Confederates with some brief cover, but they were also very difficult to negotiate under fire.

As you proceed along the park road, it becomes Meredith Avenue when it curves sharply to the left.

In this area of the curve, as well as to your immediate right, many Federals and Confederates killed during the first day’s fighting were buried in long trench graves. One of the few Confederate markers on the first day’s battlefield is on your right. The marker for the 26th North Carolina of John-ston Pettigrew’s Brigade was dedicated on October 5, 1985, to commemorate the regiment’s intense fighting on this ground. Over the three days of the battle, the 26th lost more men than any other regi-ment at Gettysburg — 687 out of 840 present, a startling casualty rate of eighty-two percent.

Across the road is the monument of the Iron Brigade’s 24th Michigan Infantry. Dedicated on June 12, 1889, the statue of the infantryman atop it features a regulation black dress hat instead of the typical kepi. Men of the brigade proudly wore this style of headgear as a badge of honor. When the Confederates saw who they faced on the morning of July 1, one was heard to say, “T’aint no militia. There’s them black-hatted fellers again. That’s the Army of the Potomac!”

Continue and pull up to the stop sign at the intersection with South Reynolds Avenue.

At this intersection (remember these roads did not exist at the time), many Federal and Confed-erate dead were buried in long trench graves. Federals were buried in the trenches dug through the area of the intersection, and Confederates were buried in trenches immediately behind you to the west.

Turn left and drive .2 miles. You will return to the stoplight at the intersection with the

Chambersburg Pike (Rt. 30). Drive straight to continue onto North Reynolds Avenue. Park

in the first space to the right, just before you reach the bridge over the railroad cut. There

are several monuments here on the right and in the distance to the left.

Archer’s Brigade splashed across Willoughby’s Run, from left to right. This view is taken 100 yards west of the 7th Wisconsin monument. (Stanley)

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The first on the right belongs to the 12th Illinois Cavalry of Gamble’s cavalry brigade. During the opening fighting here, this regiment held Buford’s line between the pike and the railroad cut ahead. At the time of the battle, the excavation for the railroad bed was nearly complete, but the tracks had not yet been laid. At the time of the battle, the railroad bed extended northwest only as far as Wil-loughby’s Run. The cut, especially in its deepest section where it traversed the ridges here, served as both a natural breastwork and a death trap. The ridge to your right (east) is Oak Ridge. This bridge traverses what is known as the Middle (or Second) Cut.

Drive over the bridge and park on the right side of the road just on the other side.

Before Archer’s Brigade engaged the Iron Brigade in the morning behind you to the south, Brig. Gen. Davis’ Confederates fought Brig. Gen. Lysander Cutler’s brigade (the first Federal infantry to arrive on the field) of the 1st Corps in the fields to your front left (northwest). The lead regiments in Cutler’s marching column, about 630 men in the 76th New York and 56th Pennsylvania Infantries, crossed the Chambersburg Pike to the north and took up a position ahead of you along the ridge, fac-ing west against Davis’ men. The other three regiments of Cutler’s brigade, the 84th, 95th, and 147th New York (nearly 900 soldiers in all) remained just south of the pike along the McPherson farm build-ings. Pegram’s Confederate gunners pounded away at their new Federal targets as Davis’ 2,300 Missis-sippians and North Carolinians confidently marched behind their skirmishers toward the ridge.

Look in the distance to your left front (northwest). On Davis’ left, the 640 men of the 55th North Carolina began angling their march toward you to envelop the Federals of the 76th New York arriv-ing on Cutler’s right flank. Seeing the flanking attempt, Col. William Hoffmann, commanding the 56th Pennsylvania to the New Yorkers’ left, yelled for his men to angle to their right and fire a volley into the North Carolinians. These shots, the first documented shots fired by Federal infantry of the Battle of Gettysburg, struck down two members of the 55th North Carolina’s color guard.

The 55th North Carolina and 2nd Mississippi answered with hot lead of their own, killing and wounding many. Maj. Andrew Grover, commander of the 76th New York, knew he was about to be flanked and ordered his right-most companies to face directly north at the North Carolinians. Seconds later, Grover fell with a mortal wound. In the meantime, the 147th New York of Cutler’s brigade marched across the pike and the railroad cut to support Hall’s Maine Battery, which had replaced Calef’s two battery sections positioned near the Buford statue to your left rear (southwest). The men of the 42nd Mississippi of Davis’ Brigade immediately fired volleys into the New Yorkers. Federal Division commander Brig. Gen. James Wadsworth recognized the position was untenable and ordered the Pennsylvanians and New Yorkers to the rear along Oak Ridge to your right (east). Hall likewise limbered his guns and rolled them down the pike to escape the onslaught. Cutler’s men suffered horribly in their thirty minutes here. Only 79 of the 380 men of the 147th New York made it to safety. Overall, half the men of Cutler’s three regiments north of the Chambersburg Pike were killed, wounded, or captured.

The Southerners successfully drove the Federals back, then many of Davis’ men began running after them. While the other regiments of the Iron Brigade began battling Archer’s Brigade to the south, the 6th Wisconsin and Cutler’s 84th and 95th New York advanced to the pike from the McPher-son farm and fired into Davis’ exultant soldiers. The volley drew the Southerners’ attention away from Cutler’s three regiments taking cover in the woods along Oak Ridge. For protection, hundreds of Davis’ men jumped into the railroad cut here and to your left (west), not realizing it was too deep to fire from and readily retreat out of if necessary. The Federals flooded the edge of the cut. Many Confederates were shot down and the rest could do little but surrender. On the left side of the road, note the monument of the 14th Brooklyn (84th New York Infantry). The soldier atop the monument was designed and placed to look down upon the men helplessly trapped in the railroad cut. It was placed here in October 1887.