North Carolina State Monument - Gettysburg, PA - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

North Carolina provided an important source of soldiers, supplies, and war materiel to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The city of Wilmington was among the leading ports of the Confederacy, providing a vital lifeline of trade with England and other countries, especially after the Union blockade choked off most other Confederate ports. Large supplies of weapons, ammunition, accoutrements, and military supplies flowed from Wilmington throughout the South. Troops from North Carolina played a major role in dozens of major battles, including the Battle of Gettysburg, where Tar Heels were prominent in Pickett's Charge. One of the last remaining major Confederate armies, that of Joseph E. Johnston, surrendered near Bennett Place in North Carolina after the Carolinas Campaign.

North Carolina provided 14,147 men to the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg, the second largest state contingent after Virginia. It lost close to 6,000 casualties, over 40% of its men engaged and, as the monument states, over one fourth of all Confederate casualties.

The North Carolina State Monument is located on the left or east side of West Confederate Avenue if traveling south, along Seminary Ridge, near McMillan Woods. There is convenient parking located across the street, along the avenue, at an expanded solider. Additional parking can be found at intermittent cutouts, also along the side of the road. It is important to only park on the asphalt and not on anything green less you be ticketed by the park police. I visited the monument on Saturday, March 10, 2012, 1:02 PM. I was at an elevation of 556 feet, ASL.

The monument is composed of several parts. At either end of the memorial property stands two giant 5 or 6 foot rectangular columns which serve as position markers. They are of granite and have the initials and date of NC 1863 incised upon the front face. They are separate from the principal monument but define the boundary that is reserved for this memorial. I found another one of these position markers identical to the other two mentioned but much, much smaller, like maybe a foot and a half or so off of the ground. The main sculpture/monument is centered upon a large, rectangular tract of land which is marked by four 2X2X1 granite markers, flush to the ground, are located at the four corners. They also bear the exact inscription as the position markers, but the NC 1863 is of course located on the top of the marker rather then the front face. In front of the sculpture are two gigantic, rectangular slabs of concrete, one upright, the other, lying down. The all bear incised inscriptions, all of which read as follows:

To the eternal glory of the North Carolina soldiers, who on this battlefield displayed heroism unsurpassed. Sacrificing all in support of their cause. Their valorous deeds will be enshrined in their hearts of men long after these transient memorials have crumbled into dust.

Thirty two North Carolina regiments were in action at Gettysburg July 1,2,3, 1863. One Confederate soldier in every four who fell here was a North Carolinian.

This tablet erected by the North Carolina Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy

(On the ground in front of the main tablet):
North Carolina Organizations in the Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Gettysburg
July 1-3, 1863
6th, 21st, 57th Infantry - Hoke's Brigade of Early's Division
1st, 3rd Infantry - Steuart's Brigade of Johnson's Division
32nd, 43rd, 45th, 53rd Infantry and 2nd Battalion - Daniel's Brigade of Rodes' Division
5th, 12th, 20th, 23rd Infantry - Iverson's Brigade of Rodes' Division
2nd, 4th, 14th, 30th Infantry - Ramseur's Brigade of Rodes' Division
11th, 26th, 47th, 52nd Infantry - Pettigrew's Brigade of Heth's Division
55th Infantry - Davis' Brigade of Heth's Division
7th, 18th, 28th, 33rd, 37th Infantry - Lane's Brigade of Pender's Division
13th, 16th, 22nd, 34th, 38th Infantry - Scales Division
1st North Carolina Artillery, Battery A - McLaws Division
Branch (North Carolina) Artillery and Rowan (North Carolina) Artillery - Hood's Division
Charlotte (North Carolina) Artillery - Pender's Division
1st Cavalry - Hampton's Brigade of Stuart's Division
2nd, 4th Cavalry - Robertson's Brigade of Stuart's Division
5th Cavalry - W.H.F. Lee's Brigade of Stuart's Division

Wikipedia has a more polished description for this monument than I could muster. They have borrowed from the SIRIS site, the NPS page and other more creative sources. They say: Surrounded by dogwood trees (the North Carolina state flower), the monument features figures of North Carolina infantrymen advancing during Pickett's Charge, where fifteen infantry regiments from North Carolina participated and suffered heavy casualties. One man kneels injured on the ground, pointing towards the enemy with his proper left hand while two men wield guns and look forward. A fourth man holds a flag in both hands as he glances forward.

Another source (Stone Sentinels - citation below) writes: The statue represents a wounded officer pointing the way forward to the enemy while a veteran and younger comrade lead a color bearer in the charge. The statue was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum of Mt. Rushmore fame, using photographs of Confederate veterans as models. Orren Smith of North Carolina, the model for the color bearer, was the designer of the Confederate national flag. It was dedicated on July 3, 1929. Kunst Foundry was also used for the project. SIRIS lists the dimensions as: Sculpture: approx. H. 15 ft. 9 in.; Base: approx. 9 ft. 9 in. x 6 ft. 6 in.

Finally, Draw the Sword (citation below) writes: A bronze group of five figures representing North Carolina infantrymen charging forward in the midst of battle. Three of the figures carry guns, one carries a flag, and one kneels on the ground and points toward the enemy with his proper left hand. The monument is enclosed with a metal fence. The bronze sculpture is located approximately where Pettigrew’s brigade would have stepped off in “Pickett’s Charge.” A wounded officer urges his men on while pointing towards Cemetery Ridge. A color bearer carries the all important symbolic flag, while a veteran whispers encouragement to a younger comrade. Borglum modeled the faces on those of actual Confederate veterans. Orren Randolph Smith, designer of the “Stars and Bars,” served as the model for the face of the color bearer.

History of the Monument
A 1913 North Carolina commission of Civil War veterans presented a monument proposal after visiting the Gettysburg Battlefield, and after World War I, the North Carolina United Daughters of the Confederacy and Governor Angus McLean continued the planning in 1927. with a commission visiting the battlefield on September 28th, 1926. North Carolina appropriated $50,000 to purchase and landscape the site and to commission Gutzon Borglum, who was approached while working on Mount Rushmore. Borglum designed the monument in Texas and posed the Confederate flag designer (Orren Smith) as the flag bearer, while the other soldiers were sculpted from photographs of posed Confederate soldiers. Postponed from May 1929, the US Navy and 6th Field Artillery bands played at the monument's dedicationon July 3, 1929. By 1949, a glass-faced display at the site, and a wooden marker for the site was cut down by vandals in 1954. President Kennedy left his car to visit the monument in April 1963 prior to the rededication on the 100th anniversary. After a 1985 restoration required lifting by helicopter for shipment to Cincinnati, a fence was added in 1993; and after the 1995 Smithsonian's Save Outdoor Sculpture! survey reported the sculpture needed treatment, the monument was rehabilitated in 1999. SOURCE

The North Carolina State Monument 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 statue is referenced in the NRHP document as structure number MN071-F.

From the Nomination Form:
Placed in vicinity of massing point of Pettigrew's & Scales' North Carolina Brigades prior to Longstreet's Assault on July 3, 1863. 1 of 19 mns in Park to NC commands in Gettysburg. Faces E on E side of W Confederate Ave.

Short Physical Description:
Mn, 2 narrative markers & 4 plot markers. Statuary group of 5 NC infantry man, 15'9' high on stone base, 9'9"x6'6". Inscribed monolith, 9'7"x1'5"x6'3" & inscribed slab, 10'x6'x6', both W of Mn. Plot markers, 2'x2'x5'6", mark plot granted to NC.

Long Physical Description:
Monument has two narrative marker monoliths and four plot markers. Monument consists of a bronze statuary group depicting five North Carolina infantrymen moving into battle. The statuary is almost 16 feet in height and rests on a 9.9 x 6.6 foot base. Designed by Gutzon Borglum. The narrative monoliths are of inscribed granite, one being 9.7 x 1.5 feet and the other 6.3 feet. The latter monolith lies as a slab in the ground. The plot markers are two-foot square. It is located on the east side of West Confederate Avenue, just north of the McMillan Woods.