May 06, 2013

If you’re familiar with the battle of Gettysburg on the first day, you’ve probably pictured the combat . . . men of Mississippi, New York, and Wisconsin struggling in the Railroad Cut, Virginians and Pennsylvanians battling at the McPherson barn, North Carolinians and Iron Brigaders dueling in Herbst Woods. But maybe you never gave much thought to the artillery brought into action that day, like I didn’t. Actually, though we had some great photos, it was only recently that I noticed there was an artillery battery located along Chambersburg Pike / Route 30 between the statues of Gen. Reynolds and Gen. Buford.

The artillerists of Hall’s 2^nd Maine Battery, captained by James A. Hall, already had a lot of experience by the time they went forward at Gettysburg to do or die. Bull Run, Manassas, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville . . . the words, written in blood, attested to that. They provided much needed service to the Union Army from November 1861 through June 1865. Along Chambersburg Pike at McPherson’s Ridge, those mighty guns were busy answering and deflecting Confederate artillery in a loud and belligerent voice. The monument to this battery, tall and sleek and garnished both with a granite portrait and five cannonballs on top, was erected in 1889 and lists this battery’s great deeds at Gettysburg.

**HONORED TODAY**

PVT. WILLIAM D. MARSH

Co. G, 14^th Connecticut Infantry

Born January 26, 1846 --- Died July 1863 at age 17 (or 20 if born in 1843)

Pvt. Marsh’s pre-war residence was Madison, Connecticut. Personal information varies, with some sources giving his birth year as 1843 and others giving it as 1846. Also, conflicting death dates are July 3^rd and July 5^th, 1863. Though there is a stone erected to Pvt. Marsh’s memory in Madison’s West Cemetery, he is buried at Gettysburg National Cemetery.


(c) 2013 Skies of Blue and Gray