Each year, I solemnly anticipate a pilgrimage. A visit to hallowed ground in a far away place, a journey included in my summer plans every year. It is a forlorn feeling at times, to be far away from home, but it is a piece of our New Hampshire past that I travel to every year. I walk in the steps of the soldiers from New Hampshire that were in this very place 163 years ago in July 1863.
As I walk the hallowed fields late this afternoon, I am walking with the past, watching a spectacular sunset in a tranquil moment. I reflect and comment on the beauty of the battlefield as I stand next to a long silent cannon. How could a place with such intense and everlasting peace be the home of such a tragic event. With decades of visits to this hallowed place I continue to research, study and learn new facts each and every year. I visit the monuments representing each state, sometimes at multiple strategic locations about the battlefield. Places that represent the last views for many young soldiers. I breath deeply this Gettysburg evening and absorb more history to quench my desire for more answers. My heart is full as I return to our hotel for the evening with a camera full of new and interesting photographs. Photographs that I will enjoy long after my return to New Hampshire on cold winter nights, photographs that will keep me close to this special place.
New Hampshire served at Gettysburg with honor those days in July of 1863. Many of our ancestors were wounded, many were killed. Some came home but many did not. Those fortunate enough to return home carried something within themselves, they carried the burden of the battle of Gettysburg. The horror of war, the loss of friends. The fear of battle and the scar it leaves deep within your soul. Sometimes we learn but sadly the years dictate that we are destined to relive history time and time again.
As I walk the battlefield this year, I am focused on some key objectives. There are five distinct granite monuments on the battlefield, monuments that I will visit and reflect upon. My second day on the battlefield brings me to the first monument I visit. I stand in front of the monument that was placed in honor of the 5th New Hampshire Infantry. It was dedicated in 1886 and stands just over six feet tall. This monument has special meaning for me; it marks the location where New Hampshire Brigade Commander Colonel Edward Cross was mortally wounded. It is a unique monument that was once altered after its original placement. The carved granite monument includes five battlefield boulders and information about the 5th New Hampshire Infantry. It is a testament to the soldiers that did not survive this battle.
My next stop is the 12th New Hampshire Infantry. This monument depicts a carved granite rectangle stone with a soldier’s knapsack and blanket roll atop. History tells us our brave New Hampshire soldiers fought at this line where the ground was held against Wilcox’s Brigade until the order was sent to conduct a fighting withdrawal.
I leave that monument and walk to the peach orchard. The 2nd New Hampshire Infantry stood where I stand. It is a very unique monument with many carved angles and fine granite. I find this place particularly peaceful. The monument was dedicated in 1886 with its patterns and inverted triangle. It represents the 3rd corps and the engraving tells a story with few words — this place represents heavy casualties during the battle.
My Civil War research has time and again shown me there were many men from New Hampshire that had good aim. Perhaps hunting for game in the New Hampshire forest was a life long training ground for them. Regardless, these men that were talented with good aim were often recruited and placed in units as sharpshooters. New Hampshire soldiers functioning as sharpshooters were strategically placed at multiple locations to support the infantry and artillery units. My next stop is a fine granite stone placed in honor of Berdan’s U.S. Sharpshooters 2nd Company. A carved granite sharpshooter carved deeply and intricately in granite it represents soldiers from our state.
My final stop this day is at the monument for Edgell’s 1st New Hampshire Battery Light Artillery. The monument is engraved and placed somewhat near the location where Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address. This monument tells us the 1st New Hampshire fired 353 rounds of ammunition during the battle. The State of New Hampshire placed this monument on July 3, 1912.
The New Hampshire monuments that rest eternally on the Gettysburg battlefield are very symbolic for our state. Concord was a key Civil War recruiting location and soldiers from throughout the state bravely enlisted and served our country. The monuments were manufactured in New Hampshire with granite from Rattlesnake Hill in Concord. The first monuments dedicated were carved in the stone sheds of Thomas Nawn. Once the granite was taken from the quarries on Rattlesnake Hill, it was transported to the North State Street cutting sheds. Nawn processed and sculpted each stone. He engraved his name on the original monuments placed with the words “ Thos. Nawn Concord N.H.” Once completed, each battlefield monument was transported to Gettysburg by train and placed during dedication services.
As I prepare to conclude my visit at Gettysburg, the feeling is forlorn. I am pleased our local granite from Nawn represents us well on the battlefield. Sunrises and sunsets are reflected on granite from Rattlesnake Hill.
I leave the battlefield with the sunset is with me. Though I leave late this afternoon, I feel I have left a little behind. I have left my thoughts, my memories and the souls of the brave New Hampshire soldiers that have never left. The sunset concluding the last shadows have been cast on the east sides of the battlefield monuments. I will return again and again to honor those that have witnessed the horrors of war. Our New Hampshire regiments.