Union Monuments - Massachusetts

12th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment
"The Webster Regiment"

The monument to the Twelfth Massachusetts Infantry is northwest of Gettysburg on Doubleday Avenue. It was dedicated in 1885 by the State of Massachusetts.

Location: 39.843697 N, 77.242068 W; see map

See an example of how many of the park's vistas have recently changed.

Two markers also show the regiment's location during the fighting on Hancock Avenue (center right) and in Ziegler's Grove (bottom right).

The 12th Massachusetts was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Colonel James L. Bates. He was wounded on July 1, and Lieutenant Colonel David Allen, Jr. took over the regiment. The 12th brought 301 men to the field, losing 5 killed, 52 wounded and 62 missing.

The regiment was named after its first colonel, Fletcher Webster, and in honor of his father, Daniel Webster.

From the front of the monument:

12th
Mass. Vols.

2nd Brig. 2nd Div. 1st Corps

From the circle around the bust of Webster:

Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable

From the back:

Erected by
survivors of the
Regiment
aided by its friends
and the
State of Massachusetts
1885.

Webster 61
Bates 64

From the left:

July 1, 1863.

From the right:

Webster Reg't

From the Hancock Avenue marker:

July 2, 1863
12th Massachusetts
Webster Reg't.
2nd Brig. 2nd Div. 1st Corps

From the Ziegler's Grove marker:

July 3, 1863
12th Massachusetts
Webster Reg't.
2nd Brig. 2nd Div. 1st Corps

See more on the 12th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment dueing the Civil War