Fisher's Brigade - US Brigade Tablet - Gettysburg National Military Park Historic District - Gettysburg, PA - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

The 5th Corps, 3rd Division, 3rd Brigade was also known as Fisher’s Brigade. During the battle of Gettysburg, it served as a member of Crawford’s Division in the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac. Colonel Joseph Washington Fisher (October 16, 1814 – October 18, 1900) was a Pennsylvania politician and soldier who commanded a brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves in some of the most important battles of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.

The monument is located 93 feet from South Confederate Avenue, on the right or south side if traveling east. This site is the foot of Big Round Top. The Ninth Massachusetts Infantry Monument is a few feet away. The monument is 350 feet away from a four way intersection of S. Confederate Avenue/Sykes Avenue and Warren Avenue/Wright Avenue. The monument faces the south. Parking is tricky around here so exercise caution. Please do not park on the grass, park on the side of the road. I cannot emphasize that enough! I visited this monument on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 5:12 PM, just before the clocks were set ahead for the Spring. I was at a 561 foot ASL elevation.

These monuments were first built in 1900 and concluded in 1906 according to the NRHP nomination form. One site has the monument being erected in 1911; the NRHP has it at 1912. It is amazing with all the work and effort exerted to make the Gettysburg National Military Park a reality, no one took the time to keep accurate records and correct installation dates. The work was done under the direction of the Gettysburg National Military Park Commission, after they took over the administration of the park from the War Department.

Draw the Sword, with descriptive help from the NPS site, offers the following description: One of 74 brigade monuments erected at Gettysburg by the United States War Department to describe the movements and itinerary of each Union brigade of the Army of the Potomac. Monuments were designed by E.B. Cope. Pedestals: Monolith consisting of polished smooth sea-green granite pedestal with a square 36? by 36? base. Base tapers to a smaller dimension at the tablet. On each pedestal is mounted a bronze inscription tablet measuring 4’0? x 3’8” with rounded corners weighing 300 pounds. Each brigade monument stands 5’4? high and weigh 3,500 pounds. Completed between 1911 and 1912. The inscription on this tablet reads:

Army of the Potomac
Fifth Corps Third Division
Third Brigade
Col. Joseph W. Fisher
34th. 38th. 39th. 40th. 41st. Penna. Infantry
(5th. 9th. 10th. 11th. 12th. (9 cos.) Reserves)
July 2 Moved with the Division from the Baltimore Pike near Rock Creek to Little Round Top and at dusk took position in rear of Third Brigade First Division. The 5th and 12th Penna. Reserves and 20th and 20th Maine of the Third Brigade First Division took possession of the north slope of Round Top after a slight resistance and constructed a stone wall from base to summit for defense. This position was held until the close of the battle.

Casualties. Killed 1 officer 5 men. Wounded 3 officers 46 men. Total 55.

There are scores of similar monuments for the various Confederate States & Union units which fought at Gettysburg. Four designs represent brigade, division, corps and army headquarters, and each has elements which identify it as Union or Confederate. Many of the tablets were created by Albert Russell & Sons Co. of Newburyport, Massachusetts and are made of granite, bronze and concrete or like this one, cast iron. All of these tablets were designed by architect E.B. Cope. He designed pretty much every tablet for both the Union and Confederate armies, each one distinct, with several different varieties. The monuments were erected just after the turn of the century during the first and beginning of the second decade of the 20th century. Each one has since been preserved or restored at least twice since the turn of the 21st century. The plaques and tablets were erected by the War Department and then, in later years, by the Gettysburg Battlefield Commission, which was created and then assumed responsibility for the park in the early 20th century.

On October 1, 1898, the Gettysburg National Military Park Commission in a letter to the Secretary of War set gave recommendations for continuing the task of organizing and progressing the work of the Gettysburg National Military Park. The following is an excerpt from that report relevant to this waymark. The link at the end of the paragraph will take you to the entire report. The method of marking the positions of troops on this field, as approved by the War Department, is to place the principal tablet or monument of each command at the position occupied by the command in the main line of battle, and to mark the several important positions subsequently reached by each command in the course of the battle by subordinate and ancillary tablets, with appropriate brief inscriptions giving interesting details and occurrences and noting the day and hour as nearly as possible. SOURCE

Information about these specific types of monuments:
BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS MARKERS (FOR UNION & CONFEDERATE TABLETS)
Brigade Headquarters (and Confederate artillery battalions, equivalent to Union artillery brigades) are bronze tablets mounted at an angle on a stone pedestal. They are the most numerous headquarters at Gettysburg, with over 70 Union and over 60 Confederate examples on the field. Union headquarters are marked with their corps or service branch symbol (like a cross, clover or crescent moon), while Confederate headquarters are simply labeled "C.S.A.". There are seventy-four brigade markers at Gettysburg honoring the AOP’s various brigades. (Other sources say there are 75). They were built by Albert Russell & Sons Co. of Newburyport, Massachusetts and Charles Kappes. The pedestals consist of sea-green granite with a square 36” x 36” base; they weigh 3500 pounds. On each pedestal is mounted a bronze tablet with rounded corners weighing 300 pounds. There are sixty-four brigade markers honoring the Army of North Virginia's various brigades. They were built by Van Amringe Granite Company (pedestals), Albert Russell & Sons Co., Newburyport, Mass (tablets) and Charles Kappes (foundations). The last was completed in December 1910. The 1910 date is disputed by other sites listing the end dates as 1912. The monuments consist of red circular Maine granite bases 34 1/2 inches diameter and weighing 3,000 pounds. On each base is mounted a 300 pound bronze tablet. SOURCE & SOURCE

The Fisher's Brigade - US Brigade Tablet is a contributing feature to the Gettysburg National Military Park Historic District which is nationally significant under NR Criteria A, B, C & D. Areas of Significance: Military, Politics/Government, Landscape Architecture, Conservation, Archeology-Historic. Period of Significance: 1863-1938. The original National Register Nomination was approved by the Keeper March 19, 1975. An update to this nomination was approved by the Keeper on January 23, 2004. The monument is identified as structure number MN493.

From the Nomination Form:
1 of 75 Civil War US Brigade Tablets in Park. Records movement & itinerary of Fisher's Brigade during Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863.

Short Physical Description:
Bronze inscription tablet, 4”0’ x 3’8”, attached to slant face of polished sea green granite monolith. 3’0” squared base of monument tapers to a smaller dimension at the tablet. All 5’4” H.

Long Physical Description:
Located off Sykes Avenue near its junction with So. Confederate Avenue, at the foot/lower slope of Big Round Top.