Touring the Civil War Monuments on McPherson Ridge - Gettysburg Battlefield

Over the past year we've been making several visits down to Gettysburg to tour the Gettysburg Battlefield. In my honest opinion, if you really want to study the monuments and memorials, it needs to be done over several days and if possible, on several trips.

Every time we go down there we take along our Official Guidebook from the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. If you're looking for one of the best guidebooks, I highly recommend this one. The ISBN: 978-1-935442-07-3 and it's published by the Gettysburg Foundation and Beckon Books.

On a recent trip down to the Gettysburg Battlefield we spent close to two hours exploring all of the Civil War monuments in the McPherson Ridge section of the battlefield tour. To make things easier for our readers, we've been breaking down the Gettysburg Battlefield tour into smaller features here on the blog.

Here's a partial list of some of the Civil War monuments and memorials that we saw in McPherson Ridge. They're not in any particular order. We did find some information about them online and included links that you can click on to learn more about those monuments. This is just a SMALL sampling of the ones that you'll see.

The 142nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment Monument is located along Reynolds Avenue and it was dedicated in 1889 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I really liked this monument as it's a lot different than most that you'll see. When you come across it, make sure you walk behind it to read all of the information about the infantry regiment on it. A lot of people don't look at the reverse-side of the monuments and this one has some important information on it.

The 147th New York Infantry Monument is located along Reynolds Avenue and was dedicated on July 1st, 1888 by the State of New York. When you come across this one you'll want to get out of your car and walk around it. You'll find information about the 147th New York Infantry printed on all four sides of the monument.

The 80th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment Monument is located along Reynolds Avenue and was dedicated in 1888 by the State of New York. This is another one of those Civil War monuments that you really need to get out and look at. You'll find information about this infantry regiment printed on all four sides of the monument.

The Brigadier General James Wadsworth Monument is located on Reynolds Avenue and is quite impressive in size. If you would like to learn more about him and the important part that he played in the Battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War in general, you should visit THIS WEBSITE to learn more. It was dedicated in 1914 by the State of New York.

The Major General Abner Doubleday Monument is located along Reynolds Avenue and was dedicated on September 25th, 1917 by the State of New York. He was the Commander of the 3rd Division, 1st Corps, Army of the Potomac. It's impressive in size and includes information about his time as Major General in the Civil War.

As you can see, you'll find some very impressive and important Civil War monuments in the McPherson Ridge section on the Gettysburg Battlefield in Pennsylvania. They're pretty spread out, so you'll drive, park and walk. Drive, park and walk again. That's pretty much the pattern in this particular area.

During the summer tourist season you'll find an official Gettysburg information center that's open from May through September and you'll find public restrooms at the information center that you can use. Also located in the McPherson Ridge area is the Seminary Ridge Museum. A must-see and must-do museum stop while you're in the area.