Union Monuments - Massachusetts

15th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment

The monument to the 15th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment is south of Gettysburg on Hancock Avenue near the Copse of Trees.

Location: 39.810739 N, 77.2361; see map

The regiment was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Colonel George H. Ward. He was mortally wounded on July 2 and Lieutenant Colonel George C. Joslin then took command.

The regiment brought 304 men to the field, losing 23 killed, 97 wounded and 28 missing.

A marker near Emmitsburg Road shows where Colonel Ward fell on July 2, and there is an iron marker just south of the Copse of Trees, one of three dedicated to the three Massachusetts regiments near The Angle.

From the front of the monument:

15th Mass.

From the rear:

15th Regt. Mass. Vols.
1st Brig. 2nd Div. 2nd Corps.
July 3. 1863.

From one of a series of iron signs south of the Copse of Trees (below right):

Fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteers.
The position of this regiment in line of battle
is marked by its monument
235 yards due south.

It charged up to this point and attacked Pickett's
Division in flank as his troops were coming
over the stonewall.

See more about the 15th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the Civil War