Wright’s Brigade - CS Advance Tablet - Gettysburg, PA
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Math Teacher
N 39° 48.716 W 077° 14.205
18S E 308540 N 4409277
This monument is 1 of 100 Civil War tablets locating the positions of batteries & brigades not otherwise delineated. This tablet marks the position of Wright's Brigade on July 2, 1863 & narrates the events associated w/ the brigade during the battle.
Waymark Code: WMGEPH
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 02/23/2013
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member iconions
Views: 3

Wright’s Brigade served as a member of Anderson’s Division in the Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. The unit was commanded by Brigadier General Ambrose Ransom Wright (April 26, 1826 – December 21, 1872). Wright was a lawyer, and a Georgian politician after the war. Wright had the distinction of penetrating the farthest into the Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge on July 2, 1863.

The Wright's Brigade Advance Position Marker is located 333 feet to the left or west Hancock Avenue if traveling north, on the High Water Mark monument & walking trail which begins at the Copse of Trees - High Water Mark of the Rebellion site. Access to the walking trail can be had anywhere at multiple points at this part of the park, however if you go to N 39° 48.747 W 77° 14.135, you can start at the High Water Mark site and see all the other relevant monuments associated with the events narrated on this monument. I walked past the neatly mowed field with the various monuments and fought my way through the weeds and overgrowth to reach this monument, not realizing it was on a trail. There is a deer trail (made by people) which leads to the monument, but it is hard to find especially in the summer. This ares is called Cemetery Ridge, and is southwest of the Copse of Trees in Codori Field, West of US Regulars Monument at the “Slashing.” The monument was moved in 1993 after car accident from it’s original position on Emmitsburg Road. Parking is available everywhere as there are enlarged shoulders all over Hancock Avenue. I visited this monument on Monday, August 13, 2012 at approximately 4:12 P.M. I was at an elevation of 575 feet, ASL. I used a Canon PowerShot 14.1 Megapixel, SX210 IS digital camera for the photos.

These cast iron monuments were first built in 1900 and concluded in 1906 according to the NRHP nomination form. Some sites have the monuments being erected in 1910 or later. All of this tablet nonsense is very confusing and disorganized. 1910 seems to be the most reasonable, extremely conservative date so we will go with that. (These tablets are mentioned as early as 1902 in the yearly Commission reports.) This tablet is unique in that I have found no other ones that look like it which leads me to believe that this may be a replacement tablet, a fact which was later confirmed by one of my trusty sources. At any rate, it is amazing with all the work and effort exerted to make the Gettysburg National Military Park a reality, no one took the time to keep accurate records and correct installation dates. The work was done under the direction of the Gettysburg National Park Commission (established by the United States Department of War), after they took over the administration of the park from the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association (whose funds had expired) on March 3, 1893, and whose stewardship was then transferred to the National Park Service in 1933. SOURCE

Draw the Sword, using descriptive help from the NPS site (and me), offers the following description: Iron tablet denotes advanced position of the brigade during the battle. Cast iron tablet, 3’8" x 3’4", with raised inscription painted in a contrasting color and mounted on fluted cast iron post. All 4’4? H.

These battery tablets were cast by Calvin Gilbert. Gilbert joined the 87th Pennsylvania Volunteers when the "Rebellion" broke out. Since he was musically inclined, he was made a member of the regimental band. In early 1863, he was promoted to the rank of Captain and sent to Washington D.C. for commissary duty. He served in that capacity until the war ended in 1865, and at war’s end earned the brevet rank of Major. After returning home to Gettysburg, Major Gilbert moved his family to the town of Chambersburg, where he served as the Superintendent of Schools. He also opened an iron foundry there in 1868. When Calvin learned, nearly thirty years later, in 1894, that the Gettysburg Foundry was available, he purchased it with a business partner & moved his family back to Gettysburg. For the next twenty years, the Calvin Gilbert Foundry created ironworks that are still seen today on many historic forts and national battlefields (this tablet), from upstate New York to Florida to Lookout Mountain. Gilbert lived to be 100 years old and attended the Last Reunion of the Blue and Gray for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg when he was 99. He was a most remarkable man and lived an amazing life.

Look carefully on the reverse side of one of these tablets and his name might be there; I found a tablet or two like this. This one of course is devoid of his name. The inscription on the monument reads:

Army of Northern Virginia
Hill's Corps Anderson's Division
Wright's Brigade

3rd. 22nd. 48th. Regiments and 2nd.
Battalion Georgia Infantry

July 2 Formed line in forenoon. Advanced at 6 p.m. and dislodged Union troops posted near the Codori House capturing several guns and many prisoners. Pursuing on broke the Union line at the stone wall south of the angle reached the crest of ridge beyond capturing more guns. The supports on the right being repulsed and those on the left not coming up with both flanks assailed and converging columns threatening its rear it withdrew fighting its way out with heavy losses and unable to bring off the captured guns.

There are hundreds of non-sculpted monumentation for the various Confederate States & Union units which fought at Gettysburg. There are about 10 different variations of tablets, markers and monoliths by my reckoning. Six designs represent brigade (2), division (2), corps (2), & army headquarters (2), each different in a subtle way so as to distinguish between armies. Battalion/battery/advance position markers and regimental monuments for United States Regulars & Confederate have their own distinct design (2), bringing the total to ten designs at the battlefield. The bronze tablets (the brigade monuments) were created by Albert Russell & Sons Co. of Newburyport, Massachusetts. The granite bases which accompany the various tablets were created by the Van Amringe Company out of Boston, Massachusetts. The cast iron tablets were of course manufactured by the aforementioned Calvin Gilbert. The 1910 Gettysburg Commission report lists the awarded contracts to these companies (not Gilbert) for the tablets. All of these tablets were designed by architect Colonel Emmor Bradley Cope (July 23, 1834 - May 28, 1927). He designed pretty much every tablet for both the Union and Confederate armies, each one distinct, with several different varieties. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg, as well he should be as this park and most of the things seen here today were designed by him and as such, are his legacy. These monuments/tablets were erected just after the turn of the century during the first and beginning of the second decade of the 20th century. Each one has since been preserved or restored at least twice since the turn of the 21st century. The plaques and tablets were erected by the Gettysburg Park Commission (established by the War Department). The Gettysburg Park Commission is also referred to as the Gettysburg National Military Park Commission or the Gettysburg National Park Commission, to clear up any confusions, especially my own.

On October 1, 1898, the Gettysburg National Park Commission in a letter to the Secretary of War set gave recommendations for continuing the task of organizing and progressing the work of the Gettysburg National Military Park. Every November they wrote their annual report which outlined the work of the GNPC for that year. The following is an excerpt from that report relevant to this waymark. The link at the end of the paragraph will take you to the entire report. The method of marking the positions of troops on this field, as approved by the War Department, is to place the principal tablet or monument of each command at the position occupied by the command in the main line of battle, and to mark the several important positions subsequently reached by each command in the course of the battle by subordinate and ancillary tablets, with appropriate brief inscriptions giving interesting details and occurrences and noting the day and hour as nearly as possible. SOURCE

Most of the Commission reports have been digitized and can be found HERE. The initial 1893 report up to and including 1921 can be found here. 1922 to 1926 are missing and have yet to be discovered. The years 1927 to 1933 were discovered in 1996 and are also included. To my knowledge this is the most comprehensive list of documents that illustrated the development and formation of the park.

Information about these specific types of monuments:
CONFEDERATE BATTERY TABLETS (ADVANCED POSITION MARKERS)
These tablets are 3’8" x 3’4" in dimensions, with carefully prepared inscriptions cast in raised letters painted in white (contrasting the black background) describing the part taken in the battle by each artillery battery, their position and stating its numbers and losses so far as practicable to obtain. Most of the CS battery markers state the losses were not reported in detail. The brigade which each battery served under is written first on the tablet, then proceeded by the battery name, usually accompanied by some colorful artillery name. They are mounted on iron pillars or fluted cast iron posts about 3 feet high, grouted in the ground, and the tablets are inclined at a suitable angle so that the inscriptions can easily be read by persons riding or driving on the avenue. Every tablet is 4’4" in height. The advance position markers were cast by Calvin Gilbert. SOURCE & SOURCE. These tablets usually have accompanying artillery pieces which flank the tablet on either side. There can be as little as one cannon and as many as four. The cannons usually represent the battery and the armaments that specific battery used at Gettysburg. The cannons presumably point in the same direction as they once fired at the enemy in 1863. Sometimes only the cannon pads are present as the guns are periodically removed for service, cleaning, restoration, maintenance, etc.


The Wright's Brigade Advance Position Marker is a contributing feature to the Gettysburg National Military Park Historic District which is nationally significant under NR Criteria A, B, C & D. Areas of Significance: Military, Politics/Government, Landscape Architecture, Conservation, Archeology-Historic. Period of Significance: 1863-1938. The original National Register Nomination was approved by the Keeper March 19, 1975. An update to this nomination was approved by the Keeper on January 23, 2004. The monument is catalogued as contributing structure number MN541.

From the Nomination Form:
1 of 100 Civil War tablets locating the positions of batteries and brigades not otherwise marked by monumentation. Marks position of Wright's Brigade Advance on July 2, 1863. Narrates events associated w/ Brigade during Battle.

Short Physical Description:
Cast iron tablet, 3'8" x 3'4", with raised inscription painted in a contrasting color and mounted on fluted cast iron post. All 4'4" H.

Long Physical Description:
Located along High Water Mark Trail in Codori Field, W of US Regulars Monument at the "Slashing." Moved in 1993 after car accident from original position on Emmitsburg Road.


My Sources
1. NRHP Nomination Form
2. Stone Sentinels
3. Virtual Gettysburg
4. Draw the Sword
5. Historical Marker Database

Date Installed or Dedicated: 07/01/1900

Name of Government Entity or Private Organization that built the monument: Gettysburg National Military Park Commission

Union, Confederate or Other Monument: Union

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Related Website: [Web Link]

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