A Monumental Lie: The Statue at ‘Bloody Angle’

connecticut yankee

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Jun 2, 2017
The placement of the 72nd’s Pennsylvania Infantry monument at Gettysburg was at the center of a controversy that eventually reached all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Some veterans had argued that the 72nd Pennsylvania had not really fought at the Angle and didn’t deserve to be honored at that forward position. One embittered former soldier asked, “What is the value of a Monument on the field anyhow, when it attempts to enforce a lie?”....

http://www.historynet.com/monumental-lie-statue-bloody-angle.htm
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I think I read somewhere that their were several controversies such as this, although not as toxic. The disputes being that GBMA thought the monuments should be placed where the units positions were in line of battle while some veterans believed they should be where their most forward position became.
I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when they were discussing about where to put the monuments and the stories they told .
 
I know around the copse of trees and near the wall you will see these position markers for units. Telling you their monument is some distance behind you but they at some point made their way here.
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The 72nd Pennsylvania aka "The Philadelphia Fire Zouaves" seemed to be dogged by controversy from their inception to their dissolution, including the assertion by some that they had to be forced forward to the stone wall at the point of another unit's bayonets. To be honest though, as a retired firefighter; their monument and the monument to the NYC Fire Zouaves are my two favorite Union monuments on the battlefield. And after all, what is to be done 155 years after the fact.
 
I seem to remember that General Webb, their brigade commander kept ordering them to charge to the wall, but they wouldn't listen. Some say that the men of the 72nd didn't recognize him because he was fairly new.

Webb took command of the Philadelphia Brigade on June 28th. It's certainly possible that the color-bearer of the 72nd didn't recognize Webb on sight but it's also possible that the regiment preferred to blast away at range rather than advance into hand-to-hand combat, as evidenced by the fact that they advanced only after the attack had been broken.

Ryan
 
This is mentioned in the book Pickett's charge, a guide to the most famous battle in American history. I'll have a look when I get home in a couple of hours, to me the monument honours the service and sacrifice. I doubt all the monuments are 100% accurate anyway. Battlefields are confusing places, combatants aren't exactly taking notes and memories are hazy. There was no safe place in and around the area of the Angle on July 3rd, it's easier for us to look back and know what happened, where units were, what they did etc.

The Meade monument a little back over the road from the Angle isn't at all accurate but he deserved a prominent place on the battlefield.
 
So the book concludes quite a bit with the link provided above, the 72nd were held in reserve approx 50 yards behind the angle(where another monument to them is), Webb did order them forward when some rebels broke through between 69th and 71st PA, they fell back. At some point whether ordered by Webb or not the 72nd advanced to fill the gap. They took serious casualties - 192 killed, wounded or captured. More than the 69th or 71st. So their original line of battle was not where the monument was but they definitely fought and died there

As an interesting aside a week before the 150th anniversary a large wind storm blew the statue of its base as it was never secured properly in the first place but the good diligent staff at the National park were able to repair it in time for the actual anniversary.
 
The placement of the 72nd’s Pennsylvania Infantry monument at Gettysburg was at the center of a controversy that eventually reached all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Some veterans had argued that the 72nd Pennsylvania had not really fought at the Angle and didn’t deserve to be honored at that forward position. One embittered former soldier asked, “What is the value of a Monument on the field anyhow, when it attempts to enforce a lie?”....

http://www.historynet.com/monumental-lie-statue-bloody-angle.htm
I thought that was just called "The Angle". "Bloody Angle" is at Spotsylvania.
 
So the book concludes quite a bit with the link provided above, the 72nd were held in reserve approx 50 yards behind the angle(where another monument to them is), Webb did order them forward when some rebels broke through between 69th and 71st PA, they fell back. At some point whether ordered by Webb or not the 72nd advanced to fill the gap. They took serious casualties - 192 killed, wounded or captured. More than the 69th or 71st. So their original line of battle was not where the monument was but they definitely fought and died there

As an interesting aside a week before the 150th anniversary a large wind storm blew the statue of its base as it was never secured properly in the first place but the good diligent staff at the National park were able to repair it in time for the actual anniversary.

The general understanding is that the 72nd Pennsylvania did not advance until after Armistead fell and Confederate resistance collapsed. I would argue that most of their casualties were taken in their position along the crest since they would have stood out against the skyline behind them, even with the smoke in the air.

That said, you are correct, they certainly fought and died there.

Ryan
 
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