Community Corner

150th Anniversary: Connecticut At Gettysburg

By Philip Devlin

The sesquicentennial of the Battle of Gettysburg rapidly approaches. The battle was fought in heat and extreme humidity on July 1, 2, and 3 in 1863. Its importance in saving the Union cannot be overstated. 

Five Connecticut regiments and one artillery battery played key roles in deciding this most pivotal Civil War battle. Today's column will focus on a general overview of the battle itself — highlighting Connecticut's involvement — while next week we'll take a closer look at some of the men from Connecticut who played a significant role in the outcome of the battle.

A total of about 164,000 men fought at Gettysburg — 94,000 from the North and 70,000 from the South. Connecticut supplied 1,285 of the men for the Union army.

The Battle of Gettysburg accounted for more casualties — dead, wounded, captured, and missing — in a single engagement than any other Civil War battle. The casualty rate for the North was just over 25 percent; it was just over 32 percent for the South. Connecticut's five regiments and one artillery battery incurred a total of 358 casualties or a casualty rate of 28.2 percent.

The daily casualty rate placed each day's totals in the top 15 of daily casualty rates for every battle in the war. The cumulative rate for all three days made it the worst total for any battle in the war. The highest daily total for casualties at Gettysburg was on the second day.

At the time, Gettysburg  had a population of 2,400, but only one civilian — 20-year-old Jenny Wade — was killed during the battle. Jenny was baking bread when a stray bullet penetrated a wall in her house and struck her in the head.

Neither side had planned to do battle at Gettysburg. A chance encounter between two patrols on one of the many roads near the town led to a skirmish. Each side sent for reinforcements, and the next thing you know two entire armies were set to fight. 

Interestingly, the South approached Gettysburg from the north, and the North approached Gettysburg from the south!

Here are some other interesting facts about the battle:

  • Over 3,000 horses were killed in the battle. One Gettysburg resident — Lydia Lyster — had 17 dead horses in her backyard. Lyster's home had served as Gen. George Meade's headquarters during the battle.
  • So many men from the South were wounded during the battle that a wagon train stretching over 17 miles long carried wounded men back to Virginia.
  • Though Gettysburg is considered the turning point in the war for the North, there were still 23 months of fighting ahead.
  • After the battle ended, over 37,000 rifles were collected from the battlefield. More than 2/3 of these were loaded. Of those that were loaded, more than 3/4 had more than one bullet in them — a sure sign of confusion and nervousness.
  • There are over 1,400 monuments at Gettysburg — more monuments per square foot than anywhere else on earth.
  • It is estimated that over 569 tons of ammunition were fired during the battle.
  • There were 59 generals at the battle — six from Connecticut. Among the casualties were 12 Union generals, nine of whom died. All of Connecticut's generals survived the battle. 
  • Gen. Daniel Sickles of the 3rd Corps was severely wounded on the second day by an artillery shell and had to have his leg amputated. Always controversial, Sickles had disobeyed orders by leaving his assigned defensive position near Little Round Top. The remaining three companies of the Connecticut 27th Regiment helped fill the gap created by Sickles. General Sickles later donated his amputated leg to the Army Medical Museum in Washington D.C. and used to visit it there on occasion.
  • Paul Revere's grandson and namesake, Col. Paul Joseph Revere of the 20th Massachusetts, was killed on Cemetery Hill on Day 2 of the battle. An artillery shell fragment tore into his lung.
  • A total of 63 men at Gettysburg earned the Congressional Medal Of Honor. One of Connecticut's six generals present at the battle, Alexander Shaler of Haddam, is the only soldier from Middlesex County ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He will be one of the soldiers profiled in next week's column.


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