Sculpted by Gary Casteel

1863 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Monument Replicas
 
Captured in stone, Sergeant Ben Crippen, the 143rd Pennsylvania’s color bearer, permanently shakes his fist in the direction from which the Confederates advanced.  Part of Doubleday’s division of the 1st Corps, the 143rd was falling back from the rebels on July 1, 1863, when Crippen expressed his defiance.  He paid the ultimate price, falling to enemy bullets.  His body was not recovered and is assumed to be one of the “unknowns” in the National Cemetery.  The regiment saved its colors and retreated through Gettysburg and up Cemetery Hill.
 
The 143rd was commanded at Gettysburg by Colonel Edmund L. Dana, who took over command of the brigade on July 1 from the wounded Colonel Roy Stone.  When Colonel Dana was wounded Lieutenant Colonel John D. Musser then took command of the regiment.
 
The monument is located on Chambersburg Road and was dedicated in 1889.