Sculpted by Gary Casteel
 
1863 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Monument Replicas
 
Due to their positioning as rear guard in the march into Gettysburg, the 1st Delaware Volunteer Infantry did not arrive until the evening of July 1st, well after the battle had begun.  During the early morning hours of July 2, the regiment assumed their position on the left of Cemetery Hill, acting as a defensive skirmish line facing Emmitsburg Road.  During the day, the Confederates attacked the flanks of the Cemetery Ridge line, leaving the 1st Delaware with little action in the center. In the center of the Cemetery Ridge line, the explosive sounds of cannons and muskets surrounded the 1st Delaware for three straight hours. A detachment of the regiment was sent to clear out Confederate skirmishers from the Bliss farm buildings, while a majority of the 1st Delaware remained in their defensive line throughout the day. 
 
The 1st Delaware remained adjacent to Cemetery Hill into July 3rd, with artillery resuming at 9:00 a.m.  As abruptly as it had begun, the firing stopped at 10:00 a.m.  An uncomfortable silence lasted until 1:30 p.m., when Confederate artillery began bombarding the Union center at Cemetery Hill and along adjacent Cemetery Ridge for an entire two hours, suggesting an imminent attack.  At around 3:00 p.m., Longstreet’s assault began, as nearly 15,000 Confederate troops pushed towards the Union center in what would eventually become known as the Pickett-Pettigrew assault.
 
As to the fighting during this assault, a veteran from the 1st Delaware recalled that “such an appalling sheet of flame burst from our line that the rebel ranks melted away like wax.”  For the 
Confederates, “there was no semblance of formation remaining, only a great mass of desperate men pushing on, the color-bearers keeping well to the front.”  As this mass neared the 1st Delaware, the regiment “with iron will stubbornly maintained its position, and repulsed the combined attack.”  One veteran remembered that “none of them reached a point in our front nearer than fifty yards.”
 
Lt. John L. Brady, 1st Delaware, reported that his regimental flag had fallen.  He placed the flag in the hands of Sgt. Thomas Seymour, “advising him to assume a kneeling attitude … and thus while partly shielding his body behind the crest of our works, support the colors in that position.” About two minutes later Sergeant Seymour, “a faithful and earnest soldier, and true Christian gentleman,” was hit in the chest by a solid shot and instantly killed.
 
After the charge was broken, the 1st Delaware “sprang over the wall and gave them a countercharge, capturing many prisoners and flags.”  In this charge Lt. William Smith, commanding the regiment, “fell, and, when picked up, his sword was found in one hand and a captured rebel flag in the other.”
 
At the Battle of Gettysburg, the 1st Delaware had three soldiers later awarded the Medal of Honor.  Private Bernard McCarren of Company C was awarded the medal for capturing a Confederate battle flag.  Private John B. Maberry of Company F was awarded the medal for capturing a Confederate battle flag, and Captain James P. Postles of Company A received the medal for voluntarily carrying a message under heavy fire at Gettysburg.
 
The monument was dedicated in 1885 and is located west side of Hancock Avenue near the Brian Farm.