State of Texas Monument

The Texas monument is south of Gettysburg on South Confederate Avenue just past Emmitsburg Road.
see map

From the monument:

TEXAS

Remembers the valor and devotion of
her sons that served at Gettysburg
July 2-3, 1863.

From near this spot the Texas Brigade
at about 4:30 p.m. on July 2 crossed
Emmitsburg Road and advanced with
Hood's Division across Plum Run toward
Little Round Top. The Texas Brigade
after severe fighting on the slopes
of Little Round Top retired to a
position on the south side of Devil's
Den. The Brigade held this position the
night of July 2 and during the day on
July 3 then fell back to a
position near this memorial on the
evening of July 3. On the field at
Gettysburg the Texas Brigade suffered
597 casualties."

Texas troops at Gettysburg were:
1st Texas Inf. Lt. Col. P.A. Work; 4th
Texas Inf., Col. J.C.G. Key, Lt. Col. B.F.
Carter, Maj. J.P. Bane, 5th Texas Inf.,
Col. R.M. Powell, Lt. Col. K. Bryan, Maj. S.C.
Rogers. The Texas Brigade included the
3rd Arkansas Inf. Col. Van H. Manning
(Brig. Gen. J.B. Robertson's Texas Brigade,
Hood's Division, Longstreet's Corps.)
Of all the gallant fights they made
none was grander than Gettysburg.

A memorial to the Texans
who served the Confederacy.
Erected by the State of Texas, 1964.

Texas provided a small contingent of 1,250 to the Army of Northern Virginia, but these men were justifiably considered the shock troops of the Confederacy. Their 420 casualties at Gettysburg (the monument's figure of 597 men for the brigade includes casualties from the 3rd Arkansas) totaled over one third of their number. Not included in this tally was another prominent Texan, their division commander John Bell Hood, who was badly wounded at the beginning of the attack on July 2nd, losing the use of his arm.

The monument was dedicated in September of 1964 and consists of Texas Red Granite simply adorned with the lone star of Texas. It is one of eleven identical monuments placed at battlefields around the country, showing that the sacrifice of Texas’ soldiers was equally honored on each battlefield.

The Texas State Monument is just a short distance from the monument to Hood's Texas Brigade, honoring the same men.

There is a State of Texas monument at Antietam, identical in appearance but with a different inscription.

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