High Water Mark of the Rebellion Monument (Gettysburg)
Battlefield: Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania
Location: Hancock Avenue at the Copse of Trees
Map Coordinates: +39° 48' 45.00", -77° 14' 8.52"
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Monument Text
- "Commands Honored. In recognition of the patriotism and gallantry displayed by their respective troops who met or assisted to repulse Longstreet's Assault the following states have contributed to erect this tablet: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota."
- "High Water Mark of the Rebellion. This copse of trees was the landmark toward which Longstreet's Assault was directed July 3, 1863. The assaulting column was composed of Kemper's, Garnett's and Armistead's Brigades of Pickett's Division, Archer's Davis', Pettigrew's & Brockenbrough's Brigades of Heth's Division and Scales' and Lane's Brigades of Pender's Division, supported on the right by Wilcox' and Perry's Brigades of Anderson's Division; on the left by Thomas' and McGowan's Brigades of Anderson's Division, and assisted by the following artillery: Cabell's Battalion consisting of Manly's Fraser's, McCarthy's & Carlton's Batteries. Alexander's Battalion, Woolfolk's, Jordan's, Gilbert's, Moody's, Parker's & Taylor's Batteries, Eschelman's Battalion, Squires, Richardson's, Miller's & Norcom's Batteries, Dearing's Battalion, Stribling's, Caskie's, Macon's & Blount's Batteries, Cutt's Battalion, Ross's Patterson's & Wingfield's Batteries, Poague's Battalion, Wyatt's, Graham's, Ward's & Brooke's Batteries, Pegram's Battalion, Mc Craw's, Zimmerman's Brader's, Marye's & Crenshaw Battery. Mc Intosh's Battalion, Rice's Hurt's Wallace's & Johnson's Batteries, Carter's Battalion, Reese's, Carter's, Page's & Fry's Batteries, Brown's Battalion, Watson's Smith's Cunningham's & Griffin's Batteries."
- "Repulse of Longstreet's Assault. Longstreet's Assault was repulsed by Webb's, Hall's & Harrow's Brigades of Gibbon's Division Second Army Corps; Smyth's & Willard's Brigades and portions of Carroll' Brigade of Hays' Division Second Army Corps; and the First Massachusetts Sharp-Shooters (unattached) portions of Rowley's & Stannard's Brigades of Doubleday's Division First Army Corps; Hazard's Second Corps Artillery Brigade, consisting of Woodruff's, Arnold's, Cushing's Brown's & Rorty's Batteries, assited on the right by Hill's, Edgell's, Eakin's, Bancroft's, Dilger's & Taft's Batteries on Cemetery Hill; and on the left by Cowan's, Fitzhugh's, Parson's, Wheeler's, Thomas', Daniels' & Sterling's Batteries and McGilvery's Artillery Brigade consisting of Thompson's, Phillip's, Hart's, Cooper's, Dow's, & Ames' Batteries, and by Hazlett's Battery on Little Round Top. And supported by Doubleday's Division of the First Army Corps which was in position on the immeidate left of the troops assaulted. The Third Army Corps moved up to within supporting distance on the left, and Robinson's Division of the First Army Corps moved in to position to support the right."
- "Infantry Commands in Longstreet's Charging Column. Pickett's Division. Kemper's Va. Brigade, 1st, 3rd, 7th, 11th & 24th Regiments. Garnett's Va. Brigade, 8th, 18th, 19th, 28th & 56th Regiments. Armistead's Va. Brigade, 9th, 14th, 38th, 53rd & 57th Regiments. Heth's Division. Archer's Tenn. Brigade, 13th Ala., 5th Ala. Battalion, 1st, 7th & 14th Tenn. Regiment. Davis' Miss. Brigade, 2nd, 11th, 42nd Miss. & 55th N.C. Regiments. Pettigrew's N.C. Brigade, 11th, 26th, 44th & 52nd Regiments. Brockenbrough's Va. Brigade, 40th, 47th & 55th Regt's, 22nd Battalion. Pender's Division. Lane's North Carolina Brigade, 7th, 18th, 28th, 33rd & 37th Regiments. Scales' North Carolina Brigade, 13th, 16th, 22nd, 34th & 36th Regiments."
- "Infantry Commands Which Met Longstreet's Assault. Second Corps (Hancock's), Second Division (Gibbon's); The First Brigade, Harrow's, was composed of the 19th Maine, 15th Massachusetts, 1st Minnesota and 32nd New York Regiments. Second Brigade, Webb's, 69th, 71st, 72nd and 106th Pannsylvania. Third Brigade, Hall's, 19th and 20th Massachusetts, 42nd and 59th New York and 7th Michigan. United States Sharpshooters, First Regiment, Companies A,B,D,H, New York C,I,K, (detatched) Mich. E, N.H., F, Vt., G, Wis. Second Regiment, Companies A, Minn. B, Mich. C, Penn. D, Maine, E,H, Vt. F,G, N.H., First Co. Mass. Sharpshooters, Second Co. Minn. Sharpshooters. Third Division, Hays' First Brigade, Carroll's, 8th Ohio. Second Brigade, Smyth's, 14th Connecticut, 1st Delaware, 12th New Jersey, 108th New York and 10th New York Battalion. Third Brigade, Willard's, 39th, 111th, 125th and 126th New York. First Army Corps, Newton's. Third Division, Doubleday's. First Brigade, Rowley's, 80th New York, and the 151st Pennsylvania. Third Brigade, Stannard's, 13th, 14th, and 16th Vermont. Assisted by the Artillery, the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry and Co's. D and K, 6th New York Cavalry."
- "Designed by and erected under the Superintendence of John B. Batchelder"
- "Cast by the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co., New York, New York"
Monument Details
Artist: Bachelder, John B., designer; Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, founder
Dedicated: June 2, 1892
Dimensions: Sculpture: H. 4 ft. x W. 4 ft. 6 in.; Base: 9 ft. x 11 ft. 4 in. x 11 ft.; 1,272 lbs.
Description: An oversized open book is propped up on a pyramid of cannon balls. The work stands on a tapered square base, a tiered square base and a small, low-stepped plaza and is flanked by a cannons and small pyramidal stacks of cannon balls. The inscription on the pages of the open book lists the divisions and brigades from both the Union and Confederate armies who participated in Longstreet's assault.
Cost: $6,500 (June 1892)
Monument Notes
The High Water Mark is a small grove located on the northern portion of Cemetery Ridge. On July 3, 1863 it was the site of vicious hand-to-hand combat during the bloody climax of Pickett's Charge.
Colonel John Bachelder, the first government historian of the Gettysburg battlefield, deemed this area "High Water Mark of the Rebellion" and helped place the High Water Mark of the Rebellion Monument here in 1892. The monument lists the commands of both armies that participated in Pickett's Charge. This grouping of trees marked a Confederate crest of the battle and the war. After Gettysburg, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia would never reach such a high point again.
Monument Location Map
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