First Shot Marker

Located on Chambersburg Pike (US 30) at Knoxlyn Road, three miles west of town. The monument is on the north side of US 30. See map >

There are several claims as to which Union soldier fired the first shot at Gettysburg. Three men from the 8th Illinois Cavalry felt their claim to be strong enough to erect their own monument.

Lieutenant (later Captain) Marcellus Jones' Company E of the 8th Illinois Cavalry was picketing the Chambersburg Pike at this location when he saw a strong force of Confederate infantry begin to cross Marsh Creek about a half mile to the west. Jones borrowed a carbine from Sergeant Levi S. Shafer and fired a single shot. There is no record that he hit anyone.

In 1886, Jones, Shafer and Riddler had the five-foot limestone shaft hewn in a Naperville quarry and brought it the 600 miles to Gettysburg, erecting it on land purchased from the owner of the house which still stands behind it. It was one of the first memorials erected on the battlefield.

From the monument: "First shot Gettysburg July 1st 1863, 7:30 a.m. By Capt. Jones, Lieut Riddler, Sergt. Shafer. Fired by Capt. Jones with Sergt. Shafer's carbine, Co. E, 8th Ills. Cavalry. Erected 1886"

Jones' first shot claim ignited a controversey that raged for years, primarily with the 9th New York Cavalry.

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