Signal Corps Memorial

Located on Little Round Top near General Warren's statue. See map >

The memorial is a bronze tablet set into a boulder.

From the tablet:

Memorial Tablet
to the
Signal Corps U.S.A.
which
through valiant and heroic
services at
Little Round Top
July 2-4 1863
and on many historic battle fields
throughout the war of 1861-1865
contributed so greatly to the
success of the Union Armies.
This tablet is placed by their
surviving comrades in tribute
to their
memory

The first body of troops on Little Round Top on July 2nd was a handful of men from the Signal Corps. Armed with large flags and a telescope, they could communicate with signal stations miles away and were part of a network of stations that linked Meade's headquarters with different parts of the the battlefield and, in theory, with the telegraph wire-head down in Maryland.

The detachment on Little Round Top played a major role in the battle by causing Longstreet to detour the approach march to his attack on July 2nd. Longstreet realized he was coming into view of the clearly visible Union signalmen and rerouted his march to a more concealed route, delaying the attack by a considerable time. The signalmen also played a less substantial role when Union General Warren ordered them to try to look like a much larger body of troops to deter Confederate attack while he went for troops to man the strategic position.

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