1. Anthony McDermott to John Bachelder, June 2, 1886. Bachelder Papers, New Hampshire Historical Society. (Hereafter
abbreviated as BP). See also, John Busey and David Martin,
Regimental Strengths at Gettysburg. (Longstreet House: Hightstown, New Jersey, 1982); The War of the Rebellion.- A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies, 1880-1901, Washington, D.C., Ser. 1, Vol. xxvii, Pt. 1,
p. 431 (cited hereafter as O.R. and unless otherwise noted,
Series 1).
2. Anthony McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, BP; Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 2 vols.
(Harrisburg: William Stanley Ray, State Printer, 1904), Vol. 1,
p. 377; 69th Pennsylvania Vertical File, Gettysburg NMP
Library.
3. McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, BP; Pennsylvania at
Gettysburg, Vol. 1, P. 377; 69th Pennsylvania Vertical File,
GNMP Library.
4. O.R., Vol. XXXVII, Pt. 1, pp. 430-431; Pennsylvania at Gettysburg,
Vol. 1, P. 379; McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, BP.
5. McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, BP; Survivors of the
Seventy-Second Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. Plaintiffs
vs. Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association; Testimony in
the Court of the Common Pleas of Adams County; In Equity,
No. 1, January Term, 1889, testimony of Robert Whittick, P. 81.
6. O.R., Vol. xxvii, Pt. 1, pp. 419-420, 430-431, 477-480.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid., pp. 428, 431, 477, 435; McDermott to Bachelder, October
21, 1889; R. Penn Smith, "Gettysburg Once More," Philadelphia
Weekly Times, June 11, 1887.
9. Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, Vol. 1, pp. 379-380; O.R., Vol.
xxvii, Pt. 1, pp. 428, 430-431. it should be noted that the soil
where the 69th was positioned is thin and underlain by granite rock.
10. GK. Collins, Memoirs of the 149th Regiment N.Y.V. (Privately
printed Syracuse, 1891), p. 137. For another statement on this attitude with the army, see William B. Hazen, A Narrative of Military Service. (Ticknowr & Company.: Boston, 1885), pp. 280-281. Webb was dissatisfied with the defenses the 69th established. He wrote in his report they "were not well built." See O.R. Vol xxvii, Pt. 1, p. 428.
11. Testimony of Robert Whittick, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania GBMA, it as, p. 80; John Buckley to Bachelder, no date, BP. Buckley recalled each man had between 2 to 5 rifle-muskets.
12. Henry Fuller, Personal Reminiscences of the War of 1861
(New Printing House: Shepburne, New York, 1906), p.
Also see, William J. Hardee, Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics.
(Benchmark: Glendale, New York, 1970, reprint).
13. McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, BP.
14. For further details on skirmishing see,. Kathleen Georg, "Grim
Ridges of War," Blue and Gray, Vol. V, No. 6, pp. 24-28.
15, T. M. Aldrich, \\\The History of Battery A, First Regimen
Light Artillery (Snow & Farnham: Providence, 1904), p. 210.
16. McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, BP.
17. Ibid.; Robert K. Krick,The Gettysburg Death Roster. The
Confederate Dead at Gettysburg, Second Edition, Revised
Morningside Press, Dayton, Ohio, 1985).
18. John Reynolds Reminiscences, Typescript copy, GNMP Library
G. A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts
Volunteer infantry, 1861-1865, (Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.,
1906), p. 288.
19. Frank A. Haskell, The Battle of Gettysburg. (Mudge
Boston, 1908), p. 41
.
20. Joseph McKeever testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania
vs. GBMA, el al, P. 259; McDermott to Bachelder, June
2, 1886, BP.
21. Christopher Smith, "Bloody Angle," Gettysburg Newspaper
Clippings, Vol. 4, pp. 41-42; J. W. Nesbit, Recollections of
Pickett's Charge," National Tribune, November 16, 1916.
22. Haskell, pp. 51, 53; John Gibbon, Personal Recollections of the
Civil War. (Morningside Press: Dayton, 1978 reprint), pp. 146-
147.
23. Joseph McKeever testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs. GBMA, et al, P. 266; Smith: "Bloody Angle," p. 42;
Gibbon: p. 147.
24. John H. Rhodes, The History of Battery B, 1st R.I. Light Artillery (Providence, Rhode Island, 1894), pp. 209-210; Haskell:
p. 52.
25. Anna H. Hage, "The Battle of Gettysburg as Seen by Minnesota Soldiers," Minnesota History, Vol. 38 (June, 1963), p. 255;
McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, BP.
26. Busey, These Honored Dead (Longstreet House: Hightstown,
New Jersey, 1988), p. 203; O.R., Vol. xxvii, Pt. 1, p. 428. Most
of the cannonade casualties in Webb's brigade likely were incurred in the 71st and 72nd Pennsylvania.
27. Robert U. Johnson and Clarence C. Buel, ed., Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (The Century Co.: New York, 1884,
1889), Vol. 3, p. 386.
28. McKeever testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs.
GBMA et al, p. 259; McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886,
BP.
29. "'Bertie's' Ignorance Pains 69th," The North American, May
of March, 1904; Brake Collection, U.S. Military History
Institute.
30. McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, BP.
31. McKeever testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs. GBMA et al, P. 259.
32. McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, BP; Anthony McDermott, "The 69th at Gettysburg," Philadelphia Weekly Press,
June 11, 1887.
33. O.R., Vol. xxvii, Pt. 1, P. 690; Andrew Cowan, Address of
Captain Andrew Cowan at the Dedication of General Webb's
Monument, Copy GNMP library files, P. 27.
34. B & L, Vol. 3, pp. 387-388; Joseph Garrett testimony, Survivors
of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs. GBMA, et al, P. 251; McDermott,
"The 69th at Gettysburg."
35. Cowan, pp. 27-28; Buckley to Bachelder, no date, BP; McDermott, "The 69th at Gettysburg."
36. Cowan, pp. 27-28; Buckley and McKeever testimony, Survivors
of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs. GBMA, et al, pp. 135, 260. A
number of these men were undoubtedly from the 59th New
York.
37. Cowan, P. 28; McDermott testimony, Survivors of the 72nd
Pennsylvania vs. GBMA, P. 220.
38. Alexander Webb, McDermott and McKeever testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs. GBMA, et al, pp. 172, 229, 263.
The testimony of survivors of the 69th indicates that Captain
Thompson was almost certainly killed by musketry fire and not
by artillery fire.
39. McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, October 21, 1889, BP;
Joseph Garrett testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania
VS. GBMA, et al, p. 251; Busey, These Honored Dead, p. 205.
40. Busey, These Honored Dead, pp. 203-205; McDermott to Bach
elder, January 2, 1887, BP. This document contains a complete
casualty report for the regiment, by company.
41. McDermott to Bachelder, October 21, 1889, BP; Robert Whittick testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs. GBMA,
et al, P. 81.
42. McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, BP; Buckley and
McKeever testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs.
GBMA, et al, pp. 135, 259-260; Anthony McDermott, A Brief
History of the 69th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. (D. J.
Gallagher & Co.: Philadelphia, 1889), P. 80; 69th Pennsylvania
Infantry vertical file, GNMP library.
43. McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, October 21, 1889, BP;
Also see Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs. GBMA, et al,
pp. 220-221, 252.
44. William A. Hill (19th Massachusetts), Robert Whittick, and
McKeever testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs
GBMA, et al, pp. 208-211, 81, 259-260; McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, October 21, 1889, BP; Also see O.R, Vol xxvii, Pt. 1, pp. 332, 420, 437-438.
45. McDermott to Bachelder, June 2, 1886, October 21, 1889, BP
Hill testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs. GBMA
et al, pp. 208-211. The testimony of most witnesses outside the 72nd Pennsylvania, at this trial, conclusively established the organized fighting had ceased by the time the 72nd Pennsylvania and Hall's and Harrow's men reached the stone wall.
46. Hill testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs. GBM)
et at, pp. 208-211; McDermott to Bachelder, October 21, 1881.
June 2, 1886, BP; Buckley to Bachelder, no date, BP; Ralph Sturtevant, Pictorial History of 13th Regiment Vermont Volunteers in the War of 1861-1865 (Regimental Assoc.: Burlington 1910), pp. 385-389.
47. O.R., Vol. xxvii, Pt. 1, P. 431; McDermott to Bachelder, Oct
her 21, 1889, BP; McKeever testimony, Survivors of the 72nd Pennsylvania vs. GBMA, et al, p. 265.
48. McDermott to Bachelder, October 21, 1889, June 2, 1886, BP
The soldier belonged to the 42nd New York.