151st Pennsylvania Infantry

Monument front.

Note the Pennsylvania State Seal in the middle and the parent unit inscription at the base.

Looking from the right flank marker stone toward the monument. The 151st moved forward to cover the withdrawal Meredith's Iron Brigade (1st Brigade, 1st Division, I Corps) from McPherson's Woods. However, the Regiment also stood in place to cover the withdrawal of the three other regiments of Biddle's First Brigade, 3rd Divison, I Corps. The stand was made on the southeast corner of McPherson's Woods. The time given for the two brigades to reform on Seminary Ridge was paid for in heavy losses. The regiment lost nearly 70% of its men here. General Doubleday would later write, I believe they saved the First Corps, and were among the chief instruments to save the Army of the Potomac, and the country from unimaginable disaster.

Looking east of Reyonlds Avenue at Seminary Ridge. Note the Seminary buildings poking above the tree line. The stand of trees just right of center is not the historical wood line, and open fields existed there during the battle. The 151st was initially posted as the reserve for the Division just in front of the ridge, protecting the artillery of the Corps deployed there. When the front began to collapse in McPherson's Woods, the 151st was ordered forward to cover the retreat (see photo above). What was left of the regiment retreated across the open fields in the foreground here, returning to the original position on the ridge. The location of that final line is close to the tennis courts on the Seminary Grounds today.

When the monument was dedicated on July 1, 1888, it originally featured a knapsack, cartridge box, and canteen wrapped around a stand of three muskets carved into the granite on the upper half of the western face of the monument. Today the monument displays a bronze stand of rifles above the front inscription. Colorized by Bruce Noland.