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 Bigelow's Desperate Stand - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 48.119 W 077° 14.577
18S E 307981 N 4408186
This interpretive tells of the events on July, 2, 1863 @ the Trostle farmstead in which Bigelow's Battery suffered terrible losses. An iconic picture on the interpretive tells the complete story.
Waymark Code: WMH8WP
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 06/08/2013
Views: 6
On July 2, 1863, Major General Daniel Sickles (who was later was seriously injured, near the Trostle barn, by a Confederate shell, which caused his leg to be amputated) moved his troops to an exposed position on Emmitsburg Road. Due to mounting pressure by the Confederate Army, the Union troops began retreating from the area of Peach Orchard. Their goal was to make it to Cemetery Ridge. The path of their retreat included the farm lane located on the Trostle Farm. Most of the batteries were able to reach the ridge. One exception was the "green" 9th Massachusetts Light Artillery Battery. This was to be their first battle. Captain John Bigelow commanded this battery. Captain Bigelow sustained severe wounds to his side and hand during the battle at the Trostle Farm. Reportedly the troops took cover in the Trostle building, waiting for the ranks of the Rebel Army to get closer. As the enemy troops approached over the knoll, the 9th Massachusetts Battery opened fire. The Confederates continued their advance on the farm. The battery was now trapped inside by the 21st Mississippi Infantry. The rebels then began shooting the horses, who were still strapped to their harnesses. The reasoning for this was so that the cannons could not be pulled out. The 9th Mass. Battery continued to fight, in the end, the remaining survivors fled, leaving behind their guns, limbers and also the wounded and dead, both man and animal alike. During this battle, the 9th Massachusetts Battery lost five of it's six guns and reportedly 80 of their 86 horses. Their guns were later regained by Union Troops. SOURCE
These interpretives dot the battlefield landscape. They are horizontal, held in a thick, black, metal frame, about four feet off of the ground and tilted upward for easy viewing. Representatives of the series can be found at every possible civil war site that "saw action" during the Great Battle. The interpretive is directly in front of the barn. The Trostle Farm is south of Gettysburg on what is now United States Avenue. The farm and barn are on the left or northeast side of the road if traveling southwest along the Avenue. Owned by Peter Trostle, it was occupied at the time of the battle by his son Abraham, Abraham's wife Catherine, and their nine children. The 134 acre farm included a new frame house, brick barn, corn crib, wagon shed, springhouse, and a brick smokehouse. Parking is available in front of the barn and in front of the farm house. I visited the interpretive on Thursday, July 5, 2012 @ 4:46 PM, EDT & @ an altitude of 555 feet, ASL. I used a Canon PowerShot 14.1 Megapixel, SX210 IS digital camera for the photos.
The interpretive reads:
"...horses were plunging and laying all around.... The enemy were yelling like demons, yet my men kept up a rapid fire...."
Capt. John Bigelow, U.S.A.
9th Massachusetts Artillery
Here at the farm of Abraham Trostle on the afternoon of July 2, Capt. John Bigelow positioned the six cannon of his 9th Massachusetts Battery. Attacking Confederates who had driven Bigelow back from the Peach Orchard had him backed up against the stone wall to your right.
As Bigelow prepared to "limber up" and retreat again, his superior, Lt. Col. Freeman McGilvery, rode up with the order to hold the position "at all hazards" until a Union line could be established in the rear (to your right). Bigelow's gunners would have to face the Confederate onslaught without infantry support.
The cannoneers piled ammunition beside the guns for rapid loading. Soon Mississippians and South Carolinians crowded right up to the muzzles of the Union guns, only to be "blown away." When Confederate marksmen reached the farm buildings and began shooting cannoneers and their horses, Bigelow's men made their escape. The Confederates captured four cannon, but Bigelow had bought valuable time.
Sickles' Headquarters
Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, controversial commander of the Union Third Corps, established his headquarters beside the Trostle barn here. As Sickles' line began to collapse on the afternoon of July 2, a Confederate cannonball struck the general's right leg. A stretcher-bearer slowed the bleeding with a saddle-strap tourniquet. Army surgeons amputated the leg that night.
Although many believe Sickles nearly lost Gettysburg for the Union, he helped to save it in 1895 by introducing legislation establishing Gettysburg National Military Park.
Group that erected the marker: Gettysburg National Military Park Commission
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Gettysburg National Military Park
United States Avenue
Gettysburg, PA USA
17325
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Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.
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