3,155 Soliders Were Killed at Gettysburg

Over 160,000 armed combatants struggled for three days over more than twenty-five square miles of rolling Pennsylvania farmland. When the fighting had ended, over 51,000 casualties had been suffered (10,000 dead or mortally wounded, 30,000 wounded, 10,000 missing or captured)[1] The official Union casualty figures for the engagement at Gettysburg is 3,155 killed, 14,529 wounded and 5,365 captured or missing for a total of 23,049[2]

Who were these "armed combatants"? Where did they come from? What were their last thoughts? Of the 3,155 dead or mortally wounded, did they leave some love ones behind? Some of these questions will never be answered, known only to God.

All of these men, some were mere boys and there are reports that a few women may have been among the killed at Gettysburg, had dreams and wishes to fulfill in their lifetime. None wanted to die, some far away from home without a chance to see their loved ones again. The lucky ones had friends close by when killed so they received a battlefield burial, and their names were preserved. You can visit many of the graves and read their names in the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The unlucky ones, many who fell on the first day, laid out on the battlefield for 3 or more days before being buried are now resting in the Unknown Section of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

What was it like after the two armies left the battlefield? Following the battle torrential rains fell and made the work of caring for wounded and burying the dead difficult. One volunteer nurse, a member of the Sisters of Charity wrote of her journey "The rains had filled the roads with water, and here it was red with blood. Our horses could hardly be forced to proceed with the horrid objects before them the very carriage wheels rolling through blood"[3] John W. Storrs, from the 20^th Connecticut Regiment wrote of his sightings as he walked the battlefield "The dead lay all about, some with a smile upon their faces, and others horribly contorted as if the death agony had there been photographed or modeled in clay.

One was seen with his back against a tree, with arms folded calmly across his breast, and but for the swollen appearance of his face might readily have been taken for one asleep. He had been mortally wounded. Placing his musket against a tree he calmly, as it seemed, and resignedly sat down to die. In another place, a soldier had been engaged in bandaging the limb of a wounded comrade and was himself instantly shot dead, his body falling upon his friend and both dying together".[4]

Most of the time, the killed were buried where they fell, in shallow graves barely enough dirt to cover their bodies. If time permitted and resources available, their names would be written on a piece of wood for friends and family to find. Often times items found on the body could be used for identification such as letters, photographs, sometime the soldiers would pin a piece of paper with their name on in their person in case they were killed.

Perhaps one of the most famous known soldier killed was Sergeant Amos Humiston, He was in Company C, 154 NY Regiment part of Colonel Coster's Brigade. On July 1^st, late in the afternoon, they were ordered to advance to the northern end of town to hold back approaching Confederate forces of Gen Early's Division. Sgt Humiston was killed while retreating up Stratton Street somewhere in the area of the northeastern corner York and Stratton Streets. When found he had nothing on his body to identify him except clutched in his hand was the ambrotype of his three children.

The ambrotype was eventually given to a Dr. Boruns who would publish the picture in an attempt to find out who was their father. Philinda Humiston, wife of Amos after some time seen the picture and article and finally realized the fate of her husband, the rest is history. To read more about this emotional story, read the book, Gettysburg's Unknown Soldier, The Life, Death, and Celebrity of Amos Humiston by Mark H. Dunkelman.

Every soldier buried in the Gettysburg National Cemetery has a name and their own unique story to tell. Many buried in the unknown section we don't know their names but they still have a story to tell. Here are some of their stories.

Private John Aeigle, Company K, 107^th Ohio Infantry, was 38 years old when he was shot in the right side, lungs and legs near Cemetery Hill. He died July 19^th and was buried on George Bushman's Farm; today he is entombed in D-6, Ohio Plot, only a few yards from where he was shot.

2^nd Lt William H. Beaver, Company D, 153^rd Pennsylvania Regiment was 21 years old when he was shot in the chest near the heart July 1^st and died the same day. He is buried in C-80, Pennsylvania Plot.

Private George Nixon, Company B, 73^rd Ohio Regiment was 42 years old and the father of nine children at the time of his death. He was the great grandfather of the 37^th President, Richard M. Nixon. Private Nixon was shot in the right hip and side July 2^nd[5] and laid between the two opposing lines until rescued by Richard Enderlin, a nineteen year old musician. His moans and cries for help could be heard distinctly by his comrades across the intervening wheatfield. Private Nixon would die July 14th[6] and buried on George Spangler's Farm. Today he rest in C-4, Ohio Plot.

Private Dennis Wallace was 27 years old and the bugler of Battery I, 5^th U.S. Artillery. On July 2^nd during the fighting on the slopes of Little Round Top, a Confederate shell exploded beneath him, splintering both of his legs. He had both of his legs amputated just below his hips. Lt Rittenhouse, Commander of the Battery while visiting Private Wallace states that a sergeant lying next to Private Wallace was making a considerable fuss and Wallace grew impatient and sung out "Stop your noise, what is the use of making such a devil of a racket. I don't make any fuss, and I have been trimmed down until I am not as long as a yard stick"[7] He would die at Camp Letterman Hospital on August 2^nd and was buried in Sec 3, Grave #18 in the Hospital's graveyard. He left his wife Abby Delia Dunn and a 7 year old son behind. Today his is buried in D-16, United States Plot.

These are just a few examples of the brave men who fell at Gettysburg, shedding their life's blood so that we may have the freedoms that we enjoy today. Each one of the Union dead had a name, a family either a wife, children or mother and father, sister or brother. They had dreams, desires; they wanted to live but for whatever reason, risked their lives in their country's defense.

I will close with a paragraph from John W. Busey's book "These Honored Dead - The Union Casualties at Gettysburg" "They lie there in the hot, hazy mist of July, 1863. Five Federal soldiers, known but to God, their stomachs bloated by the summer heat, sleeping their last sleep in a field trampled flat by the feet of hundreds of soldiers in mortal combat. A worm fence, some of which has been destroyed during the fighting, traverses the middle background of the scene, while on the horizon in the distance, a growth of timber flourishes, a silent witness to the devastation below. A cup lies close to the left hand on one of the men, while a blanket covers the left knee and thigh of another. Photographed from a different direction, the bodies become part of a montage of destruction. Five, possibly six, more bodies dot a flat, seemingly desolate landscape, shrouded in mist and strewn with shoes, papers, blankets, and knapsacks. Four men of a Union burial party, one mounted, stand ready to lay these men to their final rest"

Take time to reflect on what these men did and never forget their names and their deeds.

[1] A Strange and Blighted Land - Gettysburg: The Aftermath of a Battle by Gregory A. Coco

[2] These Honored Dead - The Union Casualties at Gettysburg by John W. Busey

[3] Lincoln And The Human Interest Stories of The Gettysburg National Cemetery by James M. Cole & Rev Roy E. Frampton

[4] A Strange and Blighted Land - Gettysburg: The Aftermath of a Battle by Gregory A. Coco

[5] John W. Busey in his book These Honored Dead list Private Nixon as being wounded July 3^rd and dying July 10.

[6] Lincoln and the Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg National Cemetery by James M. Cole & Rev Roy E. Frampton

[7] Lincoln and the Human Interest Stories of The Gettysburg National Cemetery by James M. Cole & Rev Roy E. Frampton